Train Wreck Artie Lange on Joe Buck Live
by bobsblitz
Part 2 is here:
http://deadspin.com/5292467/watch-artie-lange-crap-all-over-joe-bucks-first-show?
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Artie Vs. Buck
Train Wreck Artie Lange on Joe Buck Live
by bobsblitz
Part 2 is here:
http://deadspin.com/5292467/watch-artie-lange-crap-all-over-joe-bucks-first-show?
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Old Spike Stories 2 - Dead Ipod Battery
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Dead iPod Battery... A Tribute
From the title you might be guessing that I'm writing a tribute to a fallen iPod, much in the same way that I wrote a blog as a tribute to a padlock. That'd be wrong. Though when the day comes that one of my 2 current iPods actually dies, you can expect a long writing about it. My iPods are probably the important material posession that I own. I own two because I have a real one, and a shuffle for when I run. That's right. Two of them. Running with a big iPod is a pain in the ass.
Anyway, I'll get to the real point of the tribute halfway through. Maybe it'll be at the end. I don't have it mapped out. I'm starting this one off with a story.
"Want to do you... right where you're standing... YEAH!" - Say Anything
I was in Los Angeles this weekend for my brother's graduation from USC. As he reminded me several times, he was the first one in the family to graduate on time. SUE ME. I transferred, I lost a few credits, I didn't work very hard at making them up, so I stayed at Syracuse an extra semester. That, and I failed Music Appreciation. No joke. That class was bullshit though, seriously. Well I showed that guy. Now I pick the music for the masses. VICTORY. I'll show you music appreciation, asshole. Appreciate DAUGHTRY. In any case, I was in LA for a few days to visit with my brother. On Sunday morning, we decided to go take a run at what I THINK was Manhattan Beach.
"Cause I'm young and I'm black, and my hat's real low. Do I look like a mind reader sir? I don't know." - Jay-Z
We had been there once before a couple of years ago. Jason is a better runner than I am. He's got a couple of years experience on me. He was pretty much my inspiration to run. He decided one day while in college, on a bet, to run the Los Angeles Marathon. He trained for about 6 weeks. A week before, he couldn't even walk because of shin splints. The kid finished the race. He's a badass. Another time, at an Ultramarathon in California (a 50k), he passed out around mile 26 from heat exhaustion. A couple of hours later, after he came to, he got up, and finished the race. He's a badass. He's also my brother. He's also an idiot. Just like me. He's pretty much what I would have been had I had me for an older brother. If that makes any sense.
"What if I wanted to break?" - 30 Seconds To Mars
So in any case we roll up to the beach, both with seperate iPod Shuffles. I had given mine to him the night before to charge at his computer, because mine had gotten very low. He swears he did it. I think he's a fucking liar. Why do I think he's a liar? Because about one mile into a 7 or so mile run, mine dies. Let me explain what a big deal this is. We both have our retarded little things we do while we run. I sing, LOUD. I swing my arms. I get into it. I'm not underestimating this. It's exactly what it sounds like. Jason doesn't sing, he kind of mouths the words, but he swings his arms none the less. Needless to say, the both of us running together with our ipods on is a HORRIBLE sight to see. It's ridiculous and upsetting.
"And then the water reached the West coast." - Jack's Mannequin
In any case, I complained to him...
"Dog, my iPod's dead. You didn't charge it."
"Dog, yes I did, the light was green."
"Dog, you forgot, just admit it. It's cool though, I can listen to the fucking waves and myself breathe. It's fine."
I'll add another fact in here. He overslept this particular morning. I'm just pointing out that he's not reliable.
"Dog, take my fucking iPod, it's fine. Take it."
"No Dog, waves and panting, it's all good. You should have charged it."
"Dog, I charged the iPod."
"Whatever you say Dog."
So we continue running, and I'm listening to myself breathe and the ocean to our right. I'm reminding you, Jason does NOT sing out loud when he runs. He's said he has no idea how I do it, that he'd get too tired. Then all of the sudden, I hear him blurt out... "THERE'S A DOWNTOWN CORNER, PEOPLE DOWNTOWN KNOW." I just look over. What is he doing?
"AND A BACK BEAT RHYTHM, ON THE RADIO." What the hell song is he singing? "AND THE GIRL WHO LISTENS, TO A YOUNG MAN'S SONG. ON THE BLOCK I LIVE IN, IN THE PLACE I'M FROM."
And then I knew. It was from the new Hanson album. It was "Been There Before." He was singing because my ipod was broken. I was supposed to sing along. He could hear the music, all I could hear was him. I joined in. Laughing, smiling, joyous, I joined in. You haven't lived until you've seen two moronic white boys swinging their arms while running next to the beach and singing "DOES IT FILL YOUR HEART AND SOUL WITH THE, ROOTS OF ROCK AND ROLL?" Some people at the beach on Sunday lived. A bunch of them lived.
"So what the hell are you waiting for?" - Linkin Park
Jason continued to do this for the entire 7 mile run. He'd blurt out the first line of the song, and sing as loudly as he possibly could, and I would sing along. The best part was hearing him attempt to sing like whomever he was singing. From Say Anything to Jay Z to Jack's Mannequin to 30 Seconds To Mars to Fall Out Boy, it was all equally amusing, and I enjoyed every minute of it. One of the crowning moments was to hear him do every single word of "Admit It!!!" by Say Anything. If you don't know the song, seriously, go listen to it, and imagine someone singing that loudly while running. Hearing somebody scream "you are a vacuous soldier of the thrift store gestapo" while swinging his arms is a sight to be seen, no doubt.
"BULLSHIT!" - Say Anything
This is who Jason is. He's a showman. He's an idiot. He's a runner. He's my brother, and he's as great a friend as I have on this planet. Incredibly, at 22 years old, he's everything that I aspire to be. There's nobody that doesn't like him, which is an incredible feat when you're as weird as he is. He just graduated Cum Laude from the school that I went running from after my freshman year. He's a kind, smart kid, who has all the integrity that a person could ever hope for. He's one of a very small number of things that could ever make me want to live in that soul free, vacuous city.
"Used to barbecue with burgers and ribs." - Fort Minor
This blog is a tribute to my brother, who graduated from USC on Friday, and is moving on to what will no doubt become an even greater time in his life. He's going on to the time where he'll be incredibly successful, so much so that I'll be able to quit my job and go live off of him. It's a tribute to everything he's done, and everything that he's become.
"Every word, from every song, I ever heard, that makes me wanna stay, is what's playing through the in flight radio. Now I, I am, finally waking up." - Jack's Mannequin
It's a tribute to knowing that there's someone in this world who will sing for me for 6 miles because my iPod died. Thank you for everything dude, good luck. I'm proud to call you my brother.
Dead iPod Battery... A Tribute
From the title you might be guessing that I'm writing a tribute to a fallen iPod, much in the same way that I wrote a blog as a tribute to a padlock. That'd be wrong. Though when the day comes that one of my 2 current iPods actually dies, you can expect a long writing about it. My iPods are probably the important material posession that I own. I own two because I have a real one, and a shuffle for when I run. That's right. Two of them. Running with a big iPod is a pain in the ass.
Anyway, I'll get to the real point of the tribute halfway through. Maybe it'll be at the end. I don't have it mapped out. I'm starting this one off with a story.
"Want to do you... right where you're standing... YEAH!" - Say Anything
I was in Los Angeles this weekend for my brother's graduation from USC. As he reminded me several times, he was the first one in the family to graduate on time. SUE ME. I transferred, I lost a few credits, I didn't work very hard at making them up, so I stayed at Syracuse an extra semester. That, and I failed Music Appreciation. No joke. That class was bullshit though, seriously. Well I showed that guy. Now I pick the music for the masses. VICTORY. I'll show you music appreciation, asshole. Appreciate DAUGHTRY. In any case, I was in LA for a few days to visit with my brother. On Sunday morning, we decided to go take a run at what I THINK was Manhattan Beach.
"Cause I'm young and I'm black, and my hat's real low. Do I look like a mind reader sir? I don't know." - Jay-Z
We had been there once before a couple of years ago. Jason is a better runner than I am. He's got a couple of years experience on me. He was pretty much my inspiration to run. He decided one day while in college, on a bet, to run the Los Angeles Marathon. He trained for about 6 weeks. A week before, he couldn't even walk because of shin splints. The kid finished the race. He's a badass. Another time, at an Ultramarathon in California (a 50k), he passed out around mile 26 from heat exhaustion. A couple of hours later, after he came to, he got up, and finished the race. He's a badass. He's also my brother. He's also an idiot. Just like me. He's pretty much what I would have been had I had me for an older brother. If that makes any sense.
"What if I wanted to break?" - 30 Seconds To Mars
So in any case we roll up to the beach, both with seperate iPod Shuffles. I had given mine to him the night before to charge at his computer, because mine had gotten very low. He swears he did it. I think he's a fucking liar. Why do I think he's a liar? Because about one mile into a 7 or so mile run, mine dies. Let me explain what a big deal this is. We both have our retarded little things we do while we run. I sing, LOUD. I swing my arms. I get into it. I'm not underestimating this. It's exactly what it sounds like. Jason doesn't sing, he kind of mouths the words, but he swings his arms none the less. Needless to say, the both of us running together with our ipods on is a HORRIBLE sight to see. It's ridiculous and upsetting.
"And then the water reached the West coast." - Jack's Mannequin
In any case, I complained to him...
"Dog, my iPod's dead. You didn't charge it."
"Dog, yes I did, the light was green."
"Dog, you forgot, just admit it. It's cool though, I can listen to the fucking waves and myself breathe. It's fine."
I'll add another fact in here. He overslept this particular morning. I'm just pointing out that he's not reliable.
"Dog, take my fucking iPod, it's fine. Take it."
"No Dog, waves and panting, it's all good. You should have charged it."
"Dog, I charged the iPod."
"Whatever you say Dog."
So we continue running, and I'm listening to myself breathe and the ocean to our right. I'm reminding you, Jason does NOT sing out loud when he runs. He's said he has no idea how I do it, that he'd get too tired. Then all of the sudden, I hear him blurt out... "THERE'S A DOWNTOWN CORNER, PEOPLE DOWNTOWN KNOW." I just look over. What is he doing?
"AND A BACK BEAT RHYTHM, ON THE RADIO." What the hell song is he singing? "AND THE GIRL WHO LISTENS, TO A YOUNG MAN'S SONG. ON THE BLOCK I LIVE IN, IN THE PLACE I'M FROM."
And then I knew. It was from the new Hanson album. It was "Been There Before." He was singing because my ipod was broken. I was supposed to sing along. He could hear the music, all I could hear was him. I joined in. Laughing, smiling, joyous, I joined in. You haven't lived until you've seen two moronic white boys swinging their arms while running next to the beach and singing "DOES IT FILL YOUR HEART AND SOUL WITH THE, ROOTS OF ROCK AND ROLL?" Some people at the beach on Sunday lived. A bunch of them lived.
"So what the hell are you waiting for?" - Linkin Park
Jason continued to do this for the entire 7 mile run. He'd blurt out the first line of the song, and sing as loudly as he possibly could, and I would sing along. The best part was hearing him attempt to sing like whomever he was singing. From Say Anything to Jay Z to Jack's Mannequin to 30 Seconds To Mars to Fall Out Boy, it was all equally amusing, and I enjoyed every minute of it. One of the crowning moments was to hear him do every single word of "Admit It!!!" by Say Anything. If you don't know the song, seriously, go listen to it, and imagine someone singing that loudly while running. Hearing somebody scream "you are a vacuous soldier of the thrift store gestapo" while swinging his arms is a sight to be seen, no doubt.
"BULLSHIT!" - Say Anything
This is who Jason is. He's a showman. He's an idiot. He's a runner. He's my brother, and he's as great a friend as I have on this planet. Incredibly, at 22 years old, he's everything that I aspire to be. There's nobody that doesn't like him, which is an incredible feat when you're as weird as he is. He just graduated Cum Laude from the school that I went running from after my freshman year. He's a kind, smart kid, who has all the integrity that a person could ever hope for. He's one of a very small number of things that could ever make me want to live in that soul free, vacuous city.
"Used to barbecue with burgers and ribs." - Fort Minor
This blog is a tribute to my brother, who graduated from USC on Friday, and is moving on to what will no doubt become an even greater time in his life. He's going on to the time where he'll be incredibly successful, so much so that I'll be able to quit my job and go live off of him. It's a tribute to everything he's done, and everything that he's become.
"Every word, from every song, I ever heard, that makes me wanna stay, is what's playing through the in flight radio. Now I, I am, finally waking up." - Jack's Mannequin
It's a tribute to knowing that there's someone in this world who will sing for me for 6 miles because my iPod died. Thank you for everything dude, good luck. I'm proud to call you my brother.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Spike: Greatest Hits
Since my best blogging was done on Myspace, and a couple of years ago, I've decided to reprint some of what I thought, were my better ones.
You know Myspace right? It was what everyone used to use on the internet to waste time. You know, before Twitter and Facebook.
I'm hoping this will get me back in the practice of writing good blogs.
WARNING: They're all very long.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Worst Possible Decision (A Way Of Life)
For about 3 years, maybe it was two years, I lived with a guy named Dustin Everett. It was right out of college, and I had a job in Philly. I knew Dustin from my college radio station in Syracuse. I wouldn't say we were really friends in college, just knew each other. We did have one awesome night when we got in a car chase with the night guy of Hot 107.9, this kid named Marv Zimmerman. That wasn't the name he used on the air. He showed up at the radio station one night to kick my ass for some reason. Dustin showed up with a bat. It ended in the most retarded car chase of all time. I say this, because I didn't know who was chasing whom at any one point. I also didn't know what would happen if anyone caught anyone else. In any case, Dustin's a good guy. Anyone who would come and get into a car chase and possible battle with a tiny little top 40 DJ, for some guy he barely knew, is a swell guy. Or a guy looking for a fight.
Either way, Dustin and I agreed to become roomates when Dustin accepted his job in Princeton, New Jersey. Dustin agreed to an apartment without ever seeing it. This should have been a sign of things to come. The apartment was fine, this decision ended up being fine. But deciding to live in a place you've never seen with a guy you barely know is a bad decision. This was just the first of many. We developed a series of decisions that we liked to refer to as WPD, or for novices, The Worst Possible Decision.
WPD could be anything. Ordering buffalo wings? Get the hottest sauce and get too many. WPD. You meet a girl out at a cover band show who has a coke problem and goes by the name "Angel?" Date her. You want to go see Metallica, Korn, Kid Rock, Powerman 5000 and System Of A Down? Sure, there's a show 90 minutes away on a weekend, but the WPD would be to go to Boston on a weekday on no sleep and stay with a friend. This is the story of that very decision.
At the time, I was doing late nights at WYSP in Philadelphia. That shift is until 2am. On that Friday, we were going to see the very first Summer Sanitarium show of all time in Boston at Foxboro Stadium. The lineup was Metallica, Korn, Kid Rock, Powerman 5000 and System Of A Down. For us, a perfect line up. We would drive out early on Friday morning (I think Boston was 6 or 7 hours), and go right to the show. I would not sleep. I would get home from work, shower, pack and we'd go. We'd also be taking my then, horrible girlfriend Carolyn. Carolyn had some awful friend in Boston that she'd visit while we were at the show. Carolyn was an awful person, so I can only assume her friend was also awful. I'm not just being bitter, Carolyn was awful.
I did not sleep on the drive up. I even think I drove. I don't remember. What I do rememeber, is exactly what I was wearing. Let me paint this picture for you. First of all, at the time, I was a fat guy. Probably like 225-230. I had bleached hair, but it only looked good if I did it just right, this day, it was not done just right. I was wearing orange shorts, which was actually a bathing suit. I was wearing high top blue and grey Nike basketball sneakers, and a grey New Balance t shirt that said "Sponsored By No One." I'll get more into the look later on, because it got worse.
So we drop awful Carolyn off at her awful friend's house. Then we head to the stadium. Early. Dustin and I got to every single fucking show early. That's what you do when you're stupid and don't know any better. We were pissed off that Dustin's Metallica Club Tickets were in seats on the side, so we traded someone for seats on the ground, with no seats, just GA. Let me lay this out for you here, and what WPD means. This is a 10 hour concert in the middle of the Summer. WE GAVE UP SEATS TO NOT HAVE SEATS. We roll into the stadium and decide it's a good time for a Sam Adams. It's 100 degrees, I haven't slept, I haven't eaten, and now I'm drinking beer.
We venture to the grass. Only, it wasn't grass...
To protect the field in the stadium, they had covered the grass with hard white plastic. Hard plastic is the perfect material to make your stay at an all day, 100 degree concert the worst it can be. Want to sit on the ground and relax? No problem. Just be prepared for whatever skin that touches the plastic to be burnt away.
At this point, the red started.
See, when I'm hot, and I haven't slept, my face gets blotchy. Red and blotchy. Big fat guy, orange shorts, blue and grey sneakers, bleached hair. A big, fat fucking mess at Metallica. No sleep. Hot. Sweating. BAD.
So we casually watch SOAD from the back. Neither of us cared too much at the time, and I didn't think they were very good. We DID however, really like Powerman 5000. So we decided to go up front for them. Before we went up front, Dustin reminded me of the last time he saw Metallica. It was at a free show they did in Philly called the Million Decibel March. Dustin drove from Syracuse to Philly, by himself, without a ticket, and got in. Dustin lost his shoe pushing toward the front. I don't know if he ever got it back. How did he lose the shoe? We don't know. I do know that we bought a bootleg video of that show to try and find him and his shoe. No luck. About halfway through the video, the guy shooting it found two girls in bikini tops who were making out with each other and doing other things to each other. You know, other things. It was interesting.
So we're in the pit. We're doing fine. We're right up front. A giant football stadium, and we're right up front. KILLER. Moshing the day away. And then it happened. I saw a shoe fly up in the air. I look over, and I see Dustin. A look of panic. I start laughing. That was obviously his shoe. He lost his shoe again. Luckily, he recovered the shoe and finished the set unharmed. It was a successful first mosh of the day.
Through Kid Rock, the heat started to wear on us and the rest of the crowd. The only thing to buy down on the field to cool off was this lemon ice stuff, for like 7 bills. It was a cup of lemon Italian Ice, that got less and less "ice" as the day went on. By the end of the day it was like paying 7 dollars for luke warm melted lemon popcicle. It was disgusting. But at this point, it was a God send. It was all we had. We cherished the lemon ice.
By the time Korn came on (probably my favorite band at the time), I was gone. I was no longer living in the same reality as everyone else at the show. I'll remind you though, I was at a Metallica show, and though I love a Metallica show, it's full of some of the worst people in the world. Bad sunburns. Everyone's got a limp. Old drunk guys. Just the worst. So maybe it was BETTER to not be in their reality. In any case, I wasi n my own little world. All I could think about was destroying everyone during Korn. I was going to let loose all of my fat rage on everyone during this set.
I lost my mind. I remember Dustin pulling me aside and telling me that a couple of people have asked that he ask me to settle down. In the pit, during Korn, with 50,000 people, I was asked to settle down. I did not settle down. During their song "Faget," I think I lost my mind more than I've ever lost my mind. I don't remeber parts of the experience. I do remember however, that once Korn was done, I was done. I had nothing left. I hadn't slept, I don't think I had eaten, and it was 123 degrees that day. I didn't even want to stay for Metallica. We were not leaving though, Dustin is a much bigger Metallica fan than I am. He was in the Metallica club. Also, the worst possible decision would be to stay the entire time. So we did.
Metallica played for a minimum of 5 and a half hours that night. They played songs they had never played before. They played some songs three times. They did a couple of Violent Femmes covers, and then they did a whole spoken word part in the middle. They also shared some of their favorite quiche recipes. It was a long set. We stayed till the very end. But finally, it was over. The worst possible decision that we made, somehow, was over. Also, somehow, even though we stayed the whole time, we got our car out of there first, and we were on the road within minutes. Somehow, the WPD Gods were not going to punish us. Somehow, we were going to survive this one.
Or. Not.
We were staying with a friend of mine named Mike Traylor. Mike used to work with me at WYSP, but had gotten fired and was now working at WFNX in Boston. Traylor was a good dude, and insisted that we stay with him. He didn't mention that he didn't have anywhere for us to sleep. He didn't mention also that we had to help him move the next day. I'm not lying. This is why I prefer staying in hotels. Always. Fucking Traylor. This was only going to get worse. WPD was in full effect.
So we arrive, and somehow I launch into an argument that his station was silly to be playing DMX. It was a long argument. This was on no sleep. Dustin wanted to kill us. It never ended. If there's someone on this earth that's more stubborn than me, well, I know maybe someone or two in Chicago that are plenty stubborn, but Traylor was #1. Mike used to insist that only people from Texas knew how to drive drunk, and he was one of them. As I was saying, there was nowhere for us to sleep. I slept on a chair, and Dustin slept on a hardwood floor. And like I said, the next day, we were going to help him move. Poor Dustin, he didn't even know Traylor.
Mike insisted that moving would be a piece of cake, even though he had a lot of stuff, most of which not packed. It would be easy, because Mike had TONS of friends coming over to help. So we wake up to the phone ringing over and over again. All I'd hear was "dude, no problem." By the time I finally admitted to being awake, I found out that all of the "helpers" had bailed. So 3 people were moving his entire apartment. Me, Mike and Dustin. I wanted to kill him.
At some point, Dustin found crack cocaine in Traylor's bathroom, in chapstick. Mike had hid the crack in there when his father visited. I'm not lying. There was crack in there.
So we go to pick up the U Haul. Of course, they don't have a truck for him even though Mike had reserved one. That's U Haul's specialty. Somehow I imagine the U Haul reservation office looking like this... A guy, in a room, with a phone. No computer, no pen, no paper. Just pretending like he's taking down information, but not recording a thing, and just hoping it all works out for the best. So we wind up with a truck that's like 3 times the size we needed. It didn't go in reverse. It also didn't have brakes that worked properly. It was also a stick shift. It was 100 feet long if it was an inch. As we drove away, Dustin and I screamed out the window for someone to help us. No one helped. No one cared. I screamed at some guy outside of Newbury comics to help us. He did not help us. We didn't deserve help. We asked for this.
We began to move Traylor. He had shit stored everywhere. TV's in closets. Bikes. So many bikes. So many boxes of records. There was even a big huge TV that I refused to move. After Dustin and I had a huge TV moving mishap at our place, I swore to never ever move a giant TV again. So it was just Dustin, who was just an innocent victim, and Traylor. I directed traffic.
Mike owned several large farm animals, a 2 ton weight and a few fat people. We had to move all of it. Finally, I lost my mind again.
I walked down the street, and screamed at the top of my lungs. My fury had reached it's limit. It was reported to me that the following happened.
Traylor: What was that?
Dustin: That was Spike.
Traylor: What's he mad at?
Dustin: I'm pretty sure it's you.
So we had this big huge truck, way more huge than Mike had ordered, and it was full. Up and down, front to back, completely full. Completely filled by the three of us. It had taken all day. It was 7 or 8 o'clock as I remembered. This is when Mike dropped the bomb that he expected us to move it all into his new house that night. Up several flights of skinny stairs. HAHAHAHA. You must be kidding. You fucking moron. I hate you. You've ruined this trip. I'm going to fucking kill you. I was full of fury, full of rage. We were not moving this shit into the house. I called Carolyn that if I had to, we were instructing her to call us, and lie about a flood at her apartment. We would make pretend we were leaving to drive back to Philly. We would go stay with Caroyln and her awful friend. I'm sure this was going to put a crimp in Carolyn's cheating on me that weekend, but I needed an out.
Luckily, he decided against having us move the stuff in. "Should I just leave the U Haul with all my stuff out here? Will anyone steal it?" I don't care Traylor. I hope you die. Really. I can't believe you just made me do this. This must be pay back for something awful I did. I'm sorry I shoplifted when I was younger. I'm sorry I eat too much. I'm sorry that I made of Chris Sutton for smelling bad in grade school. Whatever it was, I was sorry for it.
We made up some story about having to leave early the next morning. We stayed at Traylor's new house, woke up early, and drove up. I think Dustin convinced me to not set fire to the U-Haul truck, which I definitely would have done.
We drove back, unfortunately not leaving Carolyn in Boston. She came back to Philly and made me pay for every other mistake I ever made. She was a human WPD. She's married I hear somewhere. The last name is now Lutz, and she lives in Boston. Poor fucking guy. He must have lied to a lot of people and is paying for a lot of sins. She likes being tied up and hit because she's a bad person with issues, not because she's fun. You'll find that out pal. You'll be sorry. She's only gonna get fatter too, she looked WAY better in college.
That was Summer Sanitarium in Boston. The first one ever, and the first in a series of several bad decisions Dustin and I made. If this one goes over well, maybe you'll get some other stories. Maybe you'll get "Black Label Society At John's." Maybe you'll get "Tesla at John's" or "Warrant At John's." Perhaps you'll wind up with the "Horrible Girlfriends We Dated." Or maybe "Cheesesteak Eating Contest." Or maybe "Working Together And Drinking Too Much Water One Day." Maybe I'll hit you with "Project Mayhem Night With #1, #2 and the Jens. The White One And The Asian One." Or maybe just "The Band." I look forward to it.
Good talk.
You know Myspace right? It was what everyone used to use on the internet to waste time. You know, before Twitter and Facebook.
I'm hoping this will get me back in the practice of writing good blogs.
WARNING: They're all very long.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Worst Possible Decision (A Way Of Life)
For about 3 years, maybe it was two years, I lived with a guy named Dustin Everett. It was right out of college, and I had a job in Philly. I knew Dustin from my college radio station in Syracuse. I wouldn't say we were really friends in college, just knew each other. We did have one awesome night when we got in a car chase with the night guy of Hot 107.9, this kid named Marv Zimmerman. That wasn't the name he used on the air. He showed up at the radio station one night to kick my ass for some reason. Dustin showed up with a bat. It ended in the most retarded car chase of all time. I say this, because I didn't know who was chasing whom at any one point. I also didn't know what would happen if anyone caught anyone else. In any case, Dustin's a good guy. Anyone who would come and get into a car chase and possible battle with a tiny little top 40 DJ, for some guy he barely knew, is a swell guy. Or a guy looking for a fight.
Either way, Dustin and I agreed to become roomates when Dustin accepted his job in Princeton, New Jersey. Dustin agreed to an apartment without ever seeing it. This should have been a sign of things to come. The apartment was fine, this decision ended up being fine. But deciding to live in a place you've never seen with a guy you barely know is a bad decision. This was just the first of many. We developed a series of decisions that we liked to refer to as WPD, or for novices, The Worst Possible Decision.
WPD could be anything. Ordering buffalo wings? Get the hottest sauce and get too many. WPD. You meet a girl out at a cover band show who has a coke problem and goes by the name "Angel?" Date her. You want to go see Metallica, Korn, Kid Rock, Powerman 5000 and System Of A Down? Sure, there's a show 90 minutes away on a weekend, but the WPD would be to go to Boston on a weekday on no sleep and stay with a friend. This is the story of that very decision.
At the time, I was doing late nights at WYSP in Philadelphia. That shift is until 2am. On that Friday, we were going to see the very first Summer Sanitarium show of all time in Boston at Foxboro Stadium. The lineup was Metallica, Korn, Kid Rock, Powerman 5000 and System Of A Down. For us, a perfect line up. We would drive out early on Friday morning (I think Boston was 6 or 7 hours), and go right to the show. I would not sleep. I would get home from work, shower, pack and we'd go. We'd also be taking my then, horrible girlfriend Carolyn. Carolyn had some awful friend in Boston that she'd visit while we were at the show. Carolyn was an awful person, so I can only assume her friend was also awful. I'm not just being bitter, Carolyn was awful.
I did not sleep on the drive up. I even think I drove. I don't remember. What I do rememeber, is exactly what I was wearing. Let me paint this picture for you. First of all, at the time, I was a fat guy. Probably like 225-230. I had bleached hair, but it only looked good if I did it just right, this day, it was not done just right. I was wearing orange shorts, which was actually a bathing suit. I was wearing high top blue and grey Nike basketball sneakers, and a grey New Balance t shirt that said "Sponsored By No One." I'll get more into the look later on, because it got worse.
So we drop awful Carolyn off at her awful friend's house. Then we head to the stadium. Early. Dustin and I got to every single fucking show early. That's what you do when you're stupid and don't know any better. We were pissed off that Dustin's Metallica Club Tickets were in seats on the side, so we traded someone for seats on the ground, with no seats, just GA. Let me lay this out for you here, and what WPD means. This is a 10 hour concert in the middle of the Summer. WE GAVE UP SEATS TO NOT HAVE SEATS. We roll into the stadium and decide it's a good time for a Sam Adams. It's 100 degrees, I haven't slept, I haven't eaten, and now I'm drinking beer.
We venture to the grass. Only, it wasn't grass...
To protect the field in the stadium, they had covered the grass with hard white plastic. Hard plastic is the perfect material to make your stay at an all day, 100 degree concert the worst it can be. Want to sit on the ground and relax? No problem. Just be prepared for whatever skin that touches the plastic to be burnt away.
At this point, the red started.
See, when I'm hot, and I haven't slept, my face gets blotchy. Red and blotchy. Big fat guy, orange shorts, blue and grey sneakers, bleached hair. A big, fat fucking mess at Metallica. No sleep. Hot. Sweating. BAD.
So we casually watch SOAD from the back. Neither of us cared too much at the time, and I didn't think they were very good. We DID however, really like Powerman 5000. So we decided to go up front for them. Before we went up front, Dustin reminded me of the last time he saw Metallica. It was at a free show they did in Philly called the Million Decibel March. Dustin drove from Syracuse to Philly, by himself, without a ticket, and got in. Dustin lost his shoe pushing toward the front. I don't know if he ever got it back. How did he lose the shoe? We don't know. I do know that we bought a bootleg video of that show to try and find him and his shoe. No luck. About halfway through the video, the guy shooting it found two girls in bikini tops who were making out with each other and doing other things to each other. You know, other things. It was interesting.
So we're in the pit. We're doing fine. We're right up front. A giant football stadium, and we're right up front. KILLER. Moshing the day away. And then it happened. I saw a shoe fly up in the air. I look over, and I see Dustin. A look of panic. I start laughing. That was obviously his shoe. He lost his shoe again. Luckily, he recovered the shoe and finished the set unharmed. It was a successful first mosh of the day.
Through Kid Rock, the heat started to wear on us and the rest of the crowd. The only thing to buy down on the field to cool off was this lemon ice stuff, for like 7 bills. It was a cup of lemon Italian Ice, that got less and less "ice" as the day went on. By the end of the day it was like paying 7 dollars for luke warm melted lemon popcicle. It was disgusting. But at this point, it was a God send. It was all we had. We cherished the lemon ice.
By the time Korn came on (probably my favorite band at the time), I was gone. I was no longer living in the same reality as everyone else at the show. I'll remind you though, I was at a Metallica show, and though I love a Metallica show, it's full of some of the worst people in the world. Bad sunburns. Everyone's got a limp. Old drunk guys. Just the worst. So maybe it was BETTER to not be in their reality. In any case, I wasi n my own little world. All I could think about was destroying everyone during Korn. I was going to let loose all of my fat rage on everyone during this set.
I lost my mind. I remember Dustin pulling me aside and telling me that a couple of people have asked that he ask me to settle down. In the pit, during Korn, with 50,000 people, I was asked to settle down. I did not settle down. During their song "Faget," I think I lost my mind more than I've ever lost my mind. I don't remeber parts of the experience. I do remember however, that once Korn was done, I was done. I had nothing left. I hadn't slept, I don't think I had eaten, and it was 123 degrees that day. I didn't even want to stay for Metallica. We were not leaving though, Dustin is a much bigger Metallica fan than I am. He was in the Metallica club. Also, the worst possible decision would be to stay the entire time. So we did.
Metallica played for a minimum of 5 and a half hours that night. They played songs they had never played before. They played some songs three times. They did a couple of Violent Femmes covers, and then they did a whole spoken word part in the middle. They also shared some of their favorite quiche recipes. It was a long set. We stayed till the very end. But finally, it was over. The worst possible decision that we made, somehow, was over. Also, somehow, even though we stayed the whole time, we got our car out of there first, and we were on the road within minutes. Somehow, the WPD Gods were not going to punish us. Somehow, we were going to survive this one.
Or. Not.
We were staying with a friend of mine named Mike Traylor. Mike used to work with me at WYSP, but had gotten fired and was now working at WFNX in Boston. Traylor was a good dude, and insisted that we stay with him. He didn't mention that he didn't have anywhere for us to sleep. He didn't mention also that we had to help him move the next day. I'm not lying. This is why I prefer staying in hotels. Always. Fucking Traylor. This was only going to get worse. WPD was in full effect.
So we arrive, and somehow I launch into an argument that his station was silly to be playing DMX. It was a long argument. This was on no sleep. Dustin wanted to kill us. It never ended. If there's someone on this earth that's more stubborn than me, well, I know maybe someone or two in Chicago that are plenty stubborn, but Traylor was #1. Mike used to insist that only people from Texas knew how to drive drunk, and he was one of them. As I was saying, there was nowhere for us to sleep. I slept on a chair, and Dustin slept on a hardwood floor. And like I said, the next day, we were going to help him move. Poor Dustin, he didn't even know Traylor.
Mike insisted that moving would be a piece of cake, even though he had a lot of stuff, most of which not packed. It would be easy, because Mike had TONS of friends coming over to help. So we wake up to the phone ringing over and over again. All I'd hear was "dude, no problem." By the time I finally admitted to being awake, I found out that all of the "helpers" had bailed. So 3 people were moving his entire apartment. Me, Mike and Dustin. I wanted to kill him.
At some point, Dustin found crack cocaine in Traylor's bathroom, in chapstick. Mike had hid the crack in there when his father visited. I'm not lying. There was crack in there.
So we go to pick up the U Haul. Of course, they don't have a truck for him even though Mike had reserved one. That's U Haul's specialty. Somehow I imagine the U Haul reservation office looking like this... A guy, in a room, with a phone. No computer, no pen, no paper. Just pretending like he's taking down information, but not recording a thing, and just hoping it all works out for the best. So we wind up with a truck that's like 3 times the size we needed. It didn't go in reverse. It also didn't have brakes that worked properly. It was also a stick shift. It was 100 feet long if it was an inch. As we drove away, Dustin and I screamed out the window for someone to help us. No one helped. No one cared. I screamed at some guy outside of Newbury comics to help us. He did not help us. We didn't deserve help. We asked for this.
We began to move Traylor. He had shit stored everywhere. TV's in closets. Bikes. So many bikes. So many boxes of records. There was even a big huge TV that I refused to move. After Dustin and I had a huge TV moving mishap at our place, I swore to never ever move a giant TV again. So it was just Dustin, who was just an innocent victim, and Traylor. I directed traffic.
Mike owned several large farm animals, a 2 ton weight and a few fat people. We had to move all of it. Finally, I lost my mind again.
I walked down the street, and screamed at the top of my lungs. My fury had reached it's limit. It was reported to me that the following happened.
Traylor: What was that?
Dustin: That was Spike.
Traylor: What's he mad at?
Dustin: I'm pretty sure it's you.
So we had this big huge truck, way more huge than Mike had ordered, and it was full. Up and down, front to back, completely full. Completely filled by the three of us. It had taken all day. It was 7 or 8 o'clock as I remembered. This is when Mike dropped the bomb that he expected us to move it all into his new house that night. Up several flights of skinny stairs. HAHAHAHA. You must be kidding. You fucking moron. I hate you. You've ruined this trip. I'm going to fucking kill you. I was full of fury, full of rage. We were not moving this shit into the house. I called Carolyn that if I had to, we were instructing her to call us, and lie about a flood at her apartment. We would make pretend we were leaving to drive back to Philly. We would go stay with Caroyln and her awful friend. I'm sure this was going to put a crimp in Carolyn's cheating on me that weekend, but I needed an out.
Luckily, he decided against having us move the stuff in. "Should I just leave the U Haul with all my stuff out here? Will anyone steal it?" I don't care Traylor. I hope you die. Really. I can't believe you just made me do this. This must be pay back for something awful I did. I'm sorry I shoplifted when I was younger. I'm sorry I eat too much. I'm sorry that I made of Chris Sutton for smelling bad in grade school. Whatever it was, I was sorry for it.
We made up some story about having to leave early the next morning. We stayed at Traylor's new house, woke up early, and drove up. I think Dustin convinced me to not set fire to the U-Haul truck, which I definitely would have done.
We drove back, unfortunately not leaving Carolyn in Boston. She came back to Philly and made me pay for every other mistake I ever made. She was a human WPD. She's married I hear somewhere. The last name is now Lutz, and she lives in Boston. Poor fucking guy. He must have lied to a lot of people and is paying for a lot of sins. She likes being tied up and hit because she's a bad person with issues, not because she's fun. You'll find that out pal. You'll be sorry. She's only gonna get fatter too, she looked WAY better in college.
That was Summer Sanitarium in Boston. The first one ever, and the first in a series of several bad decisions Dustin and I made. If this one goes over well, maybe you'll get some other stories. Maybe you'll get "Black Label Society At John's." Maybe you'll get "Tesla at John's" or "Warrant At John's." Perhaps you'll wind up with the "Horrible Girlfriends We Dated." Or maybe "Cheesesteak Eating Contest." Or maybe "Working Together And Drinking Too Much Water One Day." Maybe I'll hit you with "Project Mayhem Night With #1, #2 and the Jens. The White One And The Asian One." Or maybe just "The Band." I look forward to it.
Good talk.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Bands Battling Autism
I think I'm a good guy. Basically, a good guy. I don't ask for help very often. Maybe if I've fallen, or if my back hurts, or if I need someone to make me cookies, but rarely.
Right now, I'm asking for your help.
For the second year, I'm involved in an event called Bands Battling Autism. It's simple, it's a day of music, and all of the proceeds benefit a charity called Autism Speaks. Every dollar of the ticket goes to Autism Speaks. I don't need to preach about it being a good cause, you know it's a good cause.
I'm personally responsible for making sure 200 people buy tickets to this. I'll be there. We'll have fun. We'll hear good music. We'll go home feeling good about ourselves. Come hang out with me. Only $20.
The event is May 17th, from 2pm until 6pm. It will be (mostly) acoustic, so it'll be a way to see some of these bands in a different light.
You can buy tickets here:
Buy Tickets
Remember, 200. All on me. Make it happen. Be sure to send me an email at spike@94wysp.com to let me know if you've bought a ticket so I can keep track.
I'm proud of the lineup this year.
So far we have:
Tommy Conwell
Fosterchild
The Band Formerly Known As Blue Collar
Jamie Stem (Of Sinch)
Brian Bortnick
Kick The Dog
Plutonics
The Kevin Monco Band
And a bunch of kids who played killer Classic Rock songs last year. They were like 16 and they tried Freebird. God bless them.
Right now, I'm asking for your help.
For the second year, I'm involved in an event called Bands Battling Autism. It's simple, it's a day of music, and all of the proceeds benefit a charity called Autism Speaks. Every dollar of the ticket goes to Autism Speaks. I don't need to preach about it being a good cause, you know it's a good cause.
I'm personally responsible for making sure 200 people buy tickets to this. I'll be there. We'll have fun. We'll hear good music. We'll go home feeling good about ourselves. Come hang out with me. Only $20.
The event is May 17th, from 2pm until 6pm. It will be (mostly) acoustic, so it'll be a way to see some of these bands in a different light.
You can buy tickets here:
Buy Tickets
Remember, 200. All on me. Make it happen. Be sure to send me an email at spike@94wysp.com to let me know if you've bought a ticket so I can keep track.
I'm proud of the lineup this year.
So far we have:
Tommy Conwell
Fosterchild
The Band Formerly Known As Blue Collar
Jamie Stem (Of Sinch)
Brian Bortnick
Kick The Dog
Plutonics
The Kevin Monco Band
And a bunch of kids who played killer Classic Rock songs last year. They were like 16 and they tried Freebird. God bless them.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Metallica RNR HOF Footage
enjoy.
Master Of Puppets
Enter Sandman
Cliff Burton's Dad
Speeches
James and Lars Speech
All Star Jam
Master Of Puppets
Enter Sandman
Cliff Burton's Dad
Speeches
James and Lars Speech
All Star Jam
Friday, February 27, 2009
Axl Speaks Again
To Del James at Spinner.com. That's where the interview is.
I gotta be honest, as a huge fan, I think I'm almost done with all of this. God bless him, I hope he's happy and successful. The whole situation has become tedious to me. For sure, long after it'd be come tedious to most. It's hit me though.
Did you break up the old Guns?
It is my belief that the commitment to end old Guns came long before the band started in the heart and soul of one man. After that, it became more visible sometime before/during [the 'Use Your Illusion' albums], when the others opted for personal reasons to change our approach, styles and methods of working together. At the time, I unwittingly chose as a means of what I felt was both my own and Guns' survival to adapt, and threw myself into whatever I could get out of that to support and promote our efforts.
The group shot of the band in front of the piece 'Dead' was not a coincidence but not something I felt could be talked about openly, and something I hoped would change. I couldn't reach Izzy [Stradlin] and couldn't manage or curtail Slash and his personal objectives to take over Guns anymore than I did at the time, and I'm lucky to have survived, got what we did out of it and some still enjoyed the results. But for all intents and purposes, the 'Appetite [for Destruction]' lineup and approach was already dead, and with the addition of Matt [Sorum], the end of the then-lineup and what Guns was really about was only a matter of time. Only heartfelt choices by the others could or would change that. Unfortunately, nothing did.
I'm generally blamed for the time it took to release 'Illusions,' but again the reality of my fault would be in not finding a way to manage Slash complete with his addictions and bring both him and Izzy together either similar to 'Appetite' or in some other progression more conducive to Guns than how 'Illusions' was accomplished. Unfortunately, that never truly happened, and both Guns and the public suffered for it. I'll take the responsibility in the sense that had I known how to achieve those goals we would have made what I feel would've been a more effective and powerful album at the time.
See? There's the catch, right? All this time, most thought I changed the direction with 'Illusions.' A lot of nonsense theories, speculation and complete nonrealities put together by others, based on Slash and others' crap and off one interview taken out of context I did with Kurt Loder where I said I hated 'Appetite.' That sentence has been used and twisted in every conceivable way since to vilify me and purports to prove my guilt and responsibility, when I wasn't speaking to the music itself but the overwhelming and at that time seemingly drowning success of our record.
My statement was in specific response to the feelings I had listening to DJs at the L.A. hard rock station KNAC at the time complaining about having to play the entire record for the umpteenth time for fans. I simply wanted to make another record and have it be as good or better. If you don't think I would've liked to have five 'Appetites' and been living like the Stones at the time, you're high. With that, any other avenue I hoped to pursue musically would more than likely been available as well. This was something I could never get through to the others with. Personal need to dominate in Guns was very important to them. Izzy has to be in charge or he's not comfortable, same with Slash. Duff [McKagan] tries convincing himself he's equal partners with Slash. Each to their own.
Why didn't you write 'Appetite'-style songs yourself then?
,
Part of what destroyed Guns was the battle between those guitars that works so well for 'Appetite.' I have no concept how to duplicate that with either the old guys or anyone else. I liked it then but can't say I truly understood their nature as I feel I do now. Make no mistake: That was a war and the efforts of one man to "successfully" remove another in his path between him and I. Neither player wants to deal with each other in those ways again. Those battles have already been fought, both sides went their prospective ways. Regardless of if they were to work together or not, the true dynamics of back then aren't something Izzy has an interest in or would allow himself to actually be in to such a degree other than for appearances, if that. Also, anything I had written I felt was in similar directions then, during and after the 'Illusions' tour was more than rejected by both Slash and Duff at a time, which greatly helped destroy whatever confidence I may have had at the time.
Why so many guitars on 'Chinese Democracy'?
Why not?
Seriously, past Guns records have only two. Why did you feel the need for more on this endeavor?
I understand it's for whatever reason a bit of a challenge for most people to feel comfortable in their minds with any band having more than two guitarists, but technically, as far as our recording goes, we're a bit more alike with the older recordings than one might think. On the older records, though, it's very distinct that there are generally two guitar parts -- each part is actually performed and recorded twice, giving a fuller sound, so in effect you have four guitars. Leads and fills are another pass, and often songs were originally written and demos were done with other guitarists as well.
On 'Chinese,' instead of having the same player double his part, we chose to add another voice and either each player's own take on the part or their take of another's, then there's leads and fills which vary from one person or a few on a track. Also on this record, though, you may have one player playing more than one part in a section; they generally tend to be two distinct parts and not overdubs or harmonizing with their own leads or fills. No way is better than another; it's just whatever works for what you're trying to do, what you personally want or for whatever reason you feel you either need, choose or like.
For this record, I wanted a blend of different-style sounds and approaches; some at least a bit unique to the individual players and their takes on these songs. I feel the different personalities and techniques give the material its own sense of originality. Live, I prefer the more solid approach of the three guitars now, especially as the performances with the rhythm are more energetic, consistent and reliable. It was fun having Izzy on board a bit adding yet another voice to the mix and seemed to work better for the songs this way, as opposed to having him by himself.
Would you consider a reunion with the 'Appetite' or 'Illusions' lineups?
No
Why not?
A lot more reasons than I'll get into here now. Different reasons for each version and each individual. The Izzy bit was fun -- and also fun because we didn't have to rely on him in any way, which is how he prefers things and works better for everyone. That said, you never knew if Izzy would be there or not or if he'd remember the song or decide to leave early. It didn't cause any problems, because we were doing our show regardless and didn't have to depend on anything, but it did open everyone's eyes a bit and blow minds.
He called, asked to come out and negotiated a deal with management that it's probably best that none of us knew about or the fun would've seemed a bit more like being used or taken advantage of spoiling the moment. As it was, we had a great time.
It'd be highly doubtful for us to have more than one of the alumni up with us at any given time. I suppose Duff could play guitar on something somewhere, but there's zero possibility of me having anything to do with Slash other than by ambush, and that wouldn't be pretty. He wrote that whole bit about not having his guitar in Vegas, I'd assume, to save face. I was told by both the Hard Rock and different Guns industry people who had come out to be supportive of the new band and were a bit surprised to see him there, especially guitar in hand, but just assumed it was a surprise for the show and we were in on the arrangement.
Steven [Adler] brings assorted ambulance-chasing attorneys and the nightmare of his mother. One gig, or even a couple songs, could mean years of behind-the-scenes legal aftermath.
Wouldn't you make more money?
If the music was there, meaning new music, I can't say for sure right now -- and there have been market surveys, and various promoters have put together different projections and analysis that in areas where there could be more, it's not enough to sell your soul and live in hell the rest of your life for, that's definitely certain. But that's the catch, right, the music? If I believed in that as a reality which, no offense meant to anyone, I haven't seen anything in all these years to convince me or we'd be doing this interview under different circumstances of some sort, to say the least.
It's not some place I want to be or have any interest in being. If I believed in it in regard to the music, not in direction so much but in how it feels and to what degree, then maybe it'd be another story. I'm in no way trying to be offensive to anyone here, and I'm allowed to have my own feelings in regard to what inspires me, not someone else. Other than a one-off or something, I don't really do songs because someone else likes them.
There is the distinct possibility that having his intentions in regard to me so deeply ingrained and his personal though guarded distaste for much of 'Appetite' other than his or Duff's playing, Slash either should not have been in Guns to begin with or should have left after 'Lies.' In a nutshell, personally I consider him a cancer and better removed, avoided -- and the less anyone heard of him or his supporters, the better.
Didn't you say you loved him in what -- '06?
No. I said "loved," as in past tense. It was a misquote by a writer I mistook as a fan.
Do you think he can play guitar?
I prefer listening to others in general, especially those who both push their talents and infuse them with a level of energy that I've seldom heard in his efforts over the years. I'm not taking anything away from the man that are his to claim for his past efforts; it's just that for whatever reason for me, whether the approach, style or basic hands-on technique is there, the passion and true dedication to the art of guitar in his chosen area other than being, in my opinion, a whore for the limelight has generally seemed absent or lacking with most efforts for a long time. To me, it's sad. I don't get it. Where does it go? Is it a choice? Sometimes it's there on covers; I think Clive [Davis, legendary record executive] fell for that.
It wasn't there with me on 'Sympathy [for the Devil]' or ['The] Spaghetti [Incident?'] and it took years for me to get there again, in my opinion, and in the ways I wanted it to be. Will I keep it? Who knows? I'd like to, but who can say?
Who's your favorite drummer you've worked with?
I've liked elements that each brought in. Josh [Freese], [Brian] "Brain" [Mantia] and Frank [Ferrer] have been the easiest to work with and get along with, as well as it being fun to hang out with any of them. I do feel that all three were the right drummers to make this album. The rehearsals with [Dave] Abruzzesse and Pod as a duo were really cool; it was a shame then that it didn't work out but seemed for the best once we found Josh. In regard to old Guns, I don't listen much and for different reasons -- more because of the drums than anything else.
With 'Appetite,' for me the parts, playing, etc., timing flaws, whatever, are perfect, and as a moment in time for me, the whole record is. That said, the sound of the drums, which at the time in our niche of the woods was a bit of a bold statement and a somewhat successful effort to change things from the current flow at the time, and so may have been necessary but for me sound the most dated of anything there sound-wise.
With 'Illusions' several years ago, something came on the radio and I realized how the energy in the drums, though solid and consistent, brought me down in a way I feel damaged the material in the long run, if not from the get-go. Maybe it's there with some, most or all of us in ways, but I specifically notice it more with the drums. And when listening in that sense of analyzing how something feels to me in regards to its involvement or inclusion in the song, whether anyone disagrees I'm somewhat capable of removing myself and events from the picture.
For m,e it's more about certain energies and feel, and I'm not into what we did there for a good bit in regard to the drum work. To actually have a drummer that could play at the time, though, was a bit too overwhelming. The public has no idea what went into Steven's parts and the notion of getting through songs in rehearsal if ever, with no exaggeration, was unfortunately a nightmare that neither I or Izzy could take, and eventually the others as well, though they lasted longer for other reasons.
What do you think of Steven being on the VH1 rehab show?
I wish Steven the best; unfortunately Steven's given us the spoiler for that. I hope people are able to find answers and get the help they need; other than that, I'm not the biggest fan of the show.
Who's in the band?
I think we'll go with a combo of who's around and who's on the album for now and worry about that when we get ready to tour.
Is Robin [Finck] in the band?
Last I was aware, he had some interest in touring, though I can't say what that means until then. In our opinion, he's made things a bit awkward publicly, but that's just his way.
Is Brain in the band?
Last I checked. Brain works on several things with Guns either from his home or in the studio.
So you have two drummers? Will they both tour?
Yes, and who knows?
When's the next album?
Have no idea and don't care. Hopefully, we'll be working 'Chinese' for a good bit. Of course there's the same idiots that have been around forever already demanding release dates.
How much material is there?
Not as much as Baz [Sebastian Bach] thinks he heard! Really, it doesn't matter. If things go well enough, we'd like to get another out at some point in our lifetimes.
Is anything finished?
Depends how you look at it.
How do you look at it?
Not something we've focused on.
You're not saying much.
You got that? What I can say is if you don't like this, then you probably won't like that. Same people, lots more approaches, bit meaner in places and darker in some. Robin does a really great Stevie Ray Vaughan-type solo on one track.
Slash has said that the sessions they did with Izzy before Velvet Revolver were the best Guns album ever. What do you think of that?
Politics.
In what way?
Old Guns promotion.
What happened between you and [photographer] Robert John?
Hmmm ... I don't know anyone who knows. Last I heard he was allegedly doing a lot of meth and sleeping on his mom's floor. Anyone whose opinions I trust seems to thinks he lost his mind, lives in a fantasy world and knows everything.
What's that about, if you don't mind me asking?
Have no idea. This is a guy that I got in the business, got him gigs, paid and treated well, promoted, etc. Helped him get a house, helped him keep his house, bought his photos, and when Merck [Mercuriadis, former G N' R manager], for whatever reasons took forever to pay him, Robert sues me ... but I didn't know anything about it. Next thing, I'm the Antichrist because I didn't like some photos. F--- if I know.
I called Robert out of the blue back when, because I felt I knew something was wrong. Finally, he says he was gonna kill himself. I put up about 60-something-K on the mortgage, got a couple payments, but that wasn't where the trouble started. It was that the bank was foreclosing on that money, so he was pissed at our accountant, who kept on him trying to sort out what we should do and Robert avoiding him -- who was the others' accountant as well. I only learned of any of this near the end. He and Robert knew each other for years. He's one of the guys who allegedly saw Slash with his guitar in Vegas. And it seems genuine because he didn't know anything was going on. He's like, "Why was Slash there with his guitar?" And the Hard Rock people -- what did they have to lie about? They deal with all the bands ... friends, enemies, whatever, so it's just business. As far as I know, we're all good with that.
I gotta be honest, as a huge fan, I think I'm almost done with all of this. God bless him, I hope he's happy and successful. The whole situation has become tedious to me. For sure, long after it'd be come tedious to most. It's hit me though.
Did you break up the old Guns?
It is my belief that the commitment to end old Guns came long before the band started in the heart and soul of one man. After that, it became more visible sometime before/during [the 'Use Your Illusion' albums], when the others opted for personal reasons to change our approach, styles and methods of working together. At the time, I unwittingly chose as a means of what I felt was both my own and Guns' survival to adapt, and threw myself into whatever I could get out of that to support and promote our efforts.
The group shot of the band in front of the piece 'Dead' was not a coincidence but not something I felt could be talked about openly, and something I hoped would change. I couldn't reach Izzy [Stradlin] and couldn't manage or curtail Slash and his personal objectives to take over Guns anymore than I did at the time, and I'm lucky to have survived, got what we did out of it and some still enjoyed the results. But for all intents and purposes, the 'Appetite [for Destruction]' lineup and approach was already dead, and with the addition of Matt [Sorum], the end of the then-lineup and what Guns was really about was only a matter of time. Only heartfelt choices by the others could or would change that. Unfortunately, nothing did.
I'm generally blamed for the time it took to release 'Illusions,' but again the reality of my fault would be in not finding a way to manage Slash complete with his addictions and bring both him and Izzy together either similar to 'Appetite' or in some other progression more conducive to Guns than how 'Illusions' was accomplished. Unfortunately, that never truly happened, and both Guns and the public suffered for it. I'll take the responsibility in the sense that had I known how to achieve those goals we would have made what I feel would've been a more effective and powerful album at the time.
See? There's the catch, right? All this time, most thought I changed the direction with 'Illusions.' A lot of nonsense theories, speculation and complete nonrealities put together by others, based on Slash and others' crap and off one interview taken out of context I did with Kurt Loder where I said I hated 'Appetite.' That sentence has been used and twisted in every conceivable way since to vilify me and purports to prove my guilt and responsibility, when I wasn't speaking to the music itself but the overwhelming and at that time seemingly drowning success of our record.
My statement was in specific response to the feelings I had listening to DJs at the L.A. hard rock station KNAC at the time complaining about having to play the entire record for the umpteenth time for fans. I simply wanted to make another record and have it be as good or better. If you don't think I would've liked to have five 'Appetites' and been living like the Stones at the time, you're high. With that, any other avenue I hoped to pursue musically would more than likely been available as well. This was something I could never get through to the others with. Personal need to dominate in Guns was very important to them. Izzy has to be in charge or he's not comfortable, same with Slash. Duff [McKagan] tries convincing himself he's equal partners with Slash. Each to their own.
Why didn't you write 'Appetite'-style songs yourself then?
,
Part of what destroyed Guns was the battle between those guitars that works so well for 'Appetite.' I have no concept how to duplicate that with either the old guys or anyone else. I liked it then but can't say I truly understood their nature as I feel I do now. Make no mistake: That was a war and the efforts of one man to "successfully" remove another in his path between him and I. Neither player wants to deal with each other in those ways again. Those battles have already been fought, both sides went their prospective ways. Regardless of if they were to work together or not, the true dynamics of back then aren't something Izzy has an interest in or would allow himself to actually be in to such a degree other than for appearances, if that. Also, anything I had written I felt was in similar directions then, during and after the 'Illusions' tour was more than rejected by both Slash and Duff at a time, which greatly helped destroy whatever confidence I may have had at the time.
Why so many guitars on 'Chinese Democracy'?
Why not?
Seriously, past Guns records have only two. Why did you feel the need for more on this endeavor?
I understand it's for whatever reason a bit of a challenge for most people to feel comfortable in their minds with any band having more than two guitarists, but technically, as far as our recording goes, we're a bit more alike with the older recordings than one might think. On the older records, though, it's very distinct that there are generally two guitar parts -- each part is actually performed and recorded twice, giving a fuller sound, so in effect you have four guitars. Leads and fills are another pass, and often songs were originally written and demos were done with other guitarists as well.
On 'Chinese,' instead of having the same player double his part, we chose to add another voice and either each player's own take on the part or their take of another's, then there's leads and fills which vary from one person or a few on a track. Also on this record, though, you may have one player playing more than one part in a section; they generally tend to be two distinct parts and not overdubs or harmonizing with their own leads or fills. No way is better than another; it's just whatever works for what you're trying to do, what you personally want or for whatever reason you feel you either need, choose or like.
For this record, I wanted a blend of different-style sounds and approaches; some at least a bit unique to the individual players and their takes on these songs. I feel the different personalities and techniques give the material its own sense of originality. Live, I prefer the more solid approach of the three guitars now, especially as the performances with the rhythm are more energetic, consistent and reliable. It was fun having Izzy on board a bit adding yet another voice to the mix and seemed to work better for the songs this way, as opposed to having him by himself.
Would you consider a reunion with the 'Appetite' or 'Illusions' lineups?
No
Why not?
A lot more reasons than I'll get into here now. Different reasons for each version and each individual. The Izzy bit was fun -- and also fun because we didn't have to rely on him in any way, which is how he prefers things and works better for everyone. That said, you never knew if Izzy would be there or not or if he'd remember the song or decide to leave early. It didn't cause any problems, because we were doing our show regardless and didn't have to depend on anything, but it did open everyone's eyes a bit and blow minds.
He called, asked to come out and negotiated a deal with management that it's probably best that none of us knew about or the fun would've seemed a bit more like being used or taken advantage of spoiling the moment. As it was, we had a great time.
It'd be highly doubtful for us to have more than one of the alumni up with us at any given time. I suppose Duff could play guitar on something somewhere, but there's zero possibility of me having anything to do with Slash other than by ambush, and that wouldn't be pretty. He wrote that whole bit about not having his guitar in Vegas, I'd assume, to save face. I was told by both the Hard Rock and different Guns industry people who had come out to be supportive of the new band and were a bit surprised to see him there, especially guitar in hand, but just assumed it was a surprise for the show and we were in on the arrangement.
Steven [Adler] brings assorted ambulance-chasing attorneys and the nightmare of his mother. One gig, or even a couple songs, could mean years of behind-the-scenes legal aftermath.
Wouldn't you make more money?
If the music was there, meaning new music, I can't say for sure right now -- and there have been market surveys, and various promoters have put together different projections and analysis that in areas where there could be more, it's not enough to sell your soul and live in hell the rest of your life for, that's definitely certain. But that's the catch, right, the music? If I believed in that as a reality which, no offense meant to anyone, I haven't seen anything in all these years to convince me or we'd be doing this interview under different circumstances of some sort, to say the least.
It's not some place I want to be or have any interest in being. If I believed in it in regard to the music, not in direction so much but in how it feels and to what degree, then maybe it'd be another story. I'm in no way trying to be offensive to anyone here, and I'm allowed to have my own feelings in regard to what inspires me, not someone else. Other than a one-off or something, I don't really do songs because someone else likes them.
There is the distinct possibility that having his intentions in regard to me so deeply ingrained and his personal though guarded distaste for much of 'Appetite' other than his or Duff's playing, Slash either should not have been in Guns to begin with or should have left after 'Lies.' In a nutshell, personally I consider him a cancer and better removed, avoided -- and the less anyone heard of him or his supporters, the better.
Didn't you say you loved him in what -- '06?
No. I said "loved," as in past tense. It was a misquote by a writer I mistook as a fan.
Do you think he can play guitar?
I prefer listening to others in general, especially those who both push their talents and infuse them with a level of energy that I've seldom heard in his efforts over the years. I'm not taking anything away from the man that are his to claim for his past efforts; it's just that for whatever reason for me, whether the approach, style or basic hands-on technique is there, the passion and true dedication to the art of guitar in his chosen area other than being, in my opinion, a whore for the limelight has generally seemed absent or lacking with most efforts for a long time. To me, it's sad. I don't get it. Where does it go? Is it a choice? Sometimes it's there on covers; I think Clive [Davis, legendary record executive] fell for that.
It wasn't there with me on 'Sympathy [for the Devil]' or ['The] Spaghetti [Incident?'] and it took years for me to get there again, in my opinion, and in the ways I wanted it to be. Will I keep it? Who knows? I'd like to, but who can say?
Who's your favorite drummer you've worked with?
I've liked elements that each brought in. Josh [Freese], [Brian] "Brain" [Mantia] and Frank [Ferrer] have been the easiest to work with and get along with, as well as it being fun to hang out with any of them. I do feel that all three were the right drummers to make this album. The rehearsals with [Dave] Abruzzesse and Pod as a duo were really cool; it was a shame then that it didn't work out but seemed for the best once we found Josh. In regard to old Guns, I don't listen much and for different reasons -- more because of the drums than anything else.
With 'Appetite,' for me the parts, playing, etc., timing flaws, whatever, are perfect, and as a moment in time for me, the whole record is. That said, the sound of the drums, which at the time in our niche of the woods was a bit of a bold statement and a somewhat successful effort to change things from the current flow at the time, and so may have been necessary but for me sound the most dated of anything there sound-wise.
With 'Illusions' several years ago, something came on the radio and I realized how the energy in the drums, though solid and consistent, brought me down in a way I feel damaged the material in the long run, if not from the get-go. Maybe it's there with some, most or all of us in ways, but I specifically notice it more with the drums. And when listening in that sense of analyzing how something feels to me in regards to its involvement or inclusion in the song, whether anyone disagrees I'm somewhat capable of removing myself and events from the picture.
For m,e it's more about certain energies and feel, and I'm not into what we did there for a good bit in regard to the drum work. To actually have a drummer that could play at the time, though, was a bit too overwhelming. The public has no idea what went into Steven's parts and the notion of getting through songs in rehearsal if ever, with no exaggeration, was unfortunately a nightmare that neither I or Izzy could take, and eventually the others as well, though they lasted longer for other reasons.
What do you think of Steven being on the VH1 rehab show?
I wish Steven the best; unfortunately Steven's given us the spoiler for that. I hope people are able to find answers and get the help they need; other than that, I'm not the biggest fan of the show.
Who's in the band?
I think we'll go with a combo of who's around and who's on the album for now and worry about that when we get ready to tour.
Is Robin [Finck] in the band?
Last I was aware, he had some interest in touring, though I can't say what that means until then. In our opinion, he's made things a bit awkward publicly, but that's just his way.
Is Brain in the band?
Last I checked. Brain works on several things with Guns either from his home or in the studio.
So you have two drummers? Will they both tour?
Yes, and who knows?
When's the next album?
Have no idea and don't care. Hopefully, we'll be working 'Chinese' for a good bit. Of course there's the same idiots that have been around forever already demanding release dates.
How much material is there?
Not as much as Baz [Sebastian Bach] thinks he heard! Really, it doesn't matter. If things go well enough, we'd like to get another out at some point in our lifetimes.
Is anything finished?
Depends how you look at it.
How do you look at it?
Not something we've focused on.
You're not saying much.
You got that? What I can say is if you don't like this, then you probably won't like that. Same people, lots more approaches, bit meaner in places and darker in some. Robin does a really great Stevie Ray Vaughan-type solo on one track.
Slash has said that the sessions they did with Izzy before Velvet Revolver were the best Guns album ever. What do you think of that?
Politics.
In what way?
Old Guns promotion.
What happened between you and [photographer] Robert John?
Hmmm ... I don't know anyone who knows. Last I heard he was allegedly doing a lot of meth and sleeping on his mom's floor. Anyone whose opinions I trust seems to thinks he lost his mind, lives in a fantasy world and knows everything.
What's that about, if you don't mind me asking?
Have no idea. This is a guy that I got in the business, got him gigs, paid and treated well, promoted, etc. Helped him get a house, helped him keep his house, bought his photos, and when Merck [Mercuriadis, former G N' R manager], for whatever reasons took forever to pay him, Robert sues me ... but I didn't know anything about it. Next thing, I'm the Antichrist because I didn't like some photos. F--- if I know.
I called Robert out of the blue back when, because I felt I knew something was wrong. Finally, he says he was gonna kill himself. I put up about 60-something-K on the mortgage, got a couple payments, but that wasn't where the trouble started. It was that the bank was foreclosing on that money, so he was pissed at our accountant, who kept on him trying to sort out what we should do and Robert avoiding him -- who was the others' accountant as well. I only learned of any of this near the end. He and Robert knew each other for years. He's one of the guys who allegedly saw Slash with his guitar in Vegas. And it seems genuine because he didn't know anything was going on. He's like, "Why was Slash there with his guitar?" And the Hard Rock people -- what did they have to lie about? They deal with all the bands ... friends, enemies, whatever, so it's just business. As far as I know, we're all good with that.
Mark Slaughter - BAD Singing
Ouch. I mean, this is painful.
The only thing I can compare this to is when Silverchair did Straight Lines on Leno, and Daniel Johns was sick and just painfully destroyed the song. This is bad.
In fairness, I do know Mark Slaughter can sing this song. I've heard him sing this song. But this my friend, this is a bad day. It sounds like he was gargling with barbed wire, fire and acid before he sings. Ouch, ouch, ouch. Sorry for posting it Mark.
The only thing I can compare this to is when Silverchair did Straight Lines on Leno, and Daniel Johns was sick and just painfully destroyed the song. This is bad.
In fairness, I do know Mark Slaughter can sing this song. I've heard him sing this song. But this my friend, this is a bad day. It sounds like he was gargling with barbed wire, fire and acid before he sings. Ouch, ouch, ouch. Sorry for posting it Mark.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
A-Blog
It's funny when topics like these assault the country. It's true, even though the A-Rod story is only a couple of days old, I, along with I would guess thousands of others, are generally overwhelmed.
Because of the 24/7 coverage of ANYTHING both on TV and the internet as well as newspapers, by the time a story hits, it seems like we're sick of it already. Sick of it, and still can't get enough. I was annoyed that the first 20 minutes of Sportscenter this morning was all A-Rod, but I still watched the whole thing. I flipped to CNN and saw a clip of President Obama talking about it.
So, although I'm sick of everyone else's opinion, I feel like I need to offer mine. Why? Because that's what I do. I'm certainly no expert, I'm just a clown with a computer, but in this world of everyone's got a forum, I've got mine.
Let's first get out of the way that baseball, from the late 80's/early 90's until the last couple of years, has been riddled with steroids. If we had any doubt, that doubt probably was steeped in denial, and has been erased with the news that Alex Rodriguez had tested positive for steroids in 1993, along with 104 other players. Be sure that the news that 104 players tested positive for steroids is as big a story as the A-Rod story. I'm not sure if the news has surfaced regarding how many players were actually tested, but 104 players testing positive, along with A-Rod, Clemens, Sosa, McGwire, Palmeiro, Giambi, Petitte et al, pretty much confirms that a great deal of stars, both hitters and pitchers, and average players (there aren't 104 stars) were doing steroids during this time.
So the context is now set. The era is the era. How we choose to dissect the records that were set is for us to discuss for the next 50 years. Probably without resolve. Regardless of the punishment that baseball hands down, one could reasonably assume that any player that saw their star rise during this time has very little shot of making it into the Hall Of Fame if there was any association between themselves and steroids. This is a decision that seems to have been made by the writers voting for the Hall, and for once, it seems like the writers positions seems to reflect the community. So with that decision made, they can go back to making piss-poor decisions like voting Jim Rice into the Hall Of Fame.
The issue, though upsetting as all hell to most baseball fans, including myself, is simple though. There was no regulation, almost everyone did it, and it seems to be coming to a close with stricter penalties from baseball. We can argue from now until the end of time about who was responsible for letting it get this bad, but it doesn't REALLY change what the issue is, or the turnout.
All that's left is the drama. The drama is fun. The drama took another step with A-Rod's interview with Peter Gammons (who looks like a Muppet), on Sportscenter last night.
What was promoted as an admission of guilt from Rodriguez, ended up being one of the single biggest moments of sports double-talk I've seen in my 32 and a half years of living on this Earth.
I will remind you, that this is a comment on the drama, not the issue. The issue is what it is. A lot of people cheated, some people get caught. I don't even particularly blame Rodriguez for taking the drugs.
So, Alex starts out with this:
Back then, it was a different culture. Um, it was very loose. I was young. I was stupid. I was naive. And I wanted to prove to everyone that, you know, I was worth, um, you know, being one of the greatest players, uh, of all time. And, uh I did take a banned substance, and, um, you know, for that I'm very sorry and deeply regretful.
I'm thinking if the interview ended here, it would be great for A-Rod. He admits to it, he says he's sorry, he does the whole Michael Phelps "I was young" and the whole "I was under a lot of pressure" routine, which are both to be expected. Perfect. Unfortunately for A-Rod, the interview continued.
When Gammons asked him what he took:
Peter, that's the thing. Again, it was such a loosey-goosey era, that ... I'm guilty for a lot of things. I'm guilty for being negligent, naive, uh, not asking all the right questions. And, um, to be quite honest, I don't know exactly what, um, substance I was guilty of using.
Wow, 120 seconds into the interview, and you're already lying. So let me get this straight, A-Rod. You're a professional athlete, you're smart, you're in good shape, and you decide to take something to make you stronger. There's a great likelihood that this something enters your body through a needle, and you didn't know what it was? Because it was "loosey goosey?" Was it right next to the Gatorade? Come on, bro. If you're going to come clean, come clean.
Where did you get the substance A-Rod?
I mean, there's things that have been removed from GNC today that would trigger a positive test. I'm not sure exactly, um, what substance I used. But whatever it is, I feel terribly about it.
Wait a minute, Alex. Are you actually suggesting that the substance you tested positive for may have been something you got at GNC? A Clif Bar maybe? And even though you're not sure what it is, you're sorry for it? Wait a minute big guy, that kind of sounds like the thing you say to a girl when she's yelling at you for something that you don't even remember doing? "If I did something wrong, I'm sorry." What good is sorry, if you don't know what you're sorry for?
Where were you introduced to the substances?
The culture, it was pretty prevalent. There were a lot of people doing a lot of things. There was a lot of gray area, too. You know, back then you could walk in GNC and get four or five different products that today would probably trigger a positive
Right, GNC again. Probably Muscle Milk.
* Side note, I do know that GNC does sell things that could trigger a positive test. I'm also fairly sure that if A-Rod thought that's what it was, he'd say it. Hence, the sarcasm.
Alex, talk a little more about the culture:
It was over 100 degrees, and you know, you felt like, without trying to over-investigate what you're taking, can I have an edge just to get out there and play every day.
OHHHHHH. It was hot. Now I get it. "Hey A-Rod, it's way hot out here, want some water, gatorade, or anabolic steroids?" Maybe that's what he got at GNC.
How much of this was going on in Texas?
You know, I've always been a guy that raced my own race. And, and I don't like to look left, I don't look right.
Wait a minute bro. If you were racing your own race, how did you get caught up in all of this peer-pressure to go to GNC?
You said you didn't know you failed a test, but Gene Orza said he told you:
Gene was very specific in 2004. We had a meeting in September, um, or August. Don't quote me on the date, but, uh, he said there's a government list, there's 104 players on it. You might or might not have tested positive."
Somebody needs to work on the definition of "specific" with Alex.
Now Alex, Jose Canseco said years ago in his book that he introduced you to steroids. What do you say to that?
That couldn't be more false. That's 100 percent not true. And, you know, it's kind of interesting how SportsCenter and ESPN still, still quotes this guy. Um, no. It's 100 percent false.
Well clearly, he got it all off of the anabolic steroid shelf at GNC. It's right next to the multi-vitamin.
Because of the 24/7 coverage of ANYTHING both on TV and the internet as well as newspapers, by the time a story hits, it seems like we're sick of it already. Sick of it, and still can't get enough. I was annoyed that the first 20 minutes of Sportscenter this morning was all A-Rod, but I still watched the whole thing. I flipped to CNN and saw a clip of President Obama talking about it.
So, although I'm sick of everyone else's opinion, I feel like I need to offer mine. Why? Because that's what I do. I'm certainly no expert, I'm just a clown with a computer, but in this world of everyone's got a forum, I've got mine.
Let's first get out of the way that baseball, from the late 80's/early 90's until the last couple of years, has been riddled with steroids. If we had any doubt, that doubt probably was steeped in denial, and has been erased with the news that Alex Rodriguez had tested positive for steroids in 1993, along with 104 other players. Be sure that the news that 104 players tested positive for steroids is as big a story as the A-Rod story. I'm not sure if the news has surfaced regarding how many players were actually tested, but 104 players testing positive, along with A-Rod, Clemens, Sosa, McGwire, Palmeiro, Giambi, Petitte et al, pretty much confirms that a great deal of stars, both hitters and pitchers, and average players (there aren't 104 stars) were doing steroids during this time.
So the context is now set. The era is the era. How we choose to dissect the records that were set is for us to discuss for the next 50 years. Probably without resolve. Regardless of the punishment that baseball hands down, one could reasonably assume that any player that saw their star rise during this time has very little shot of making it into the Hall Of Fame if there was any association between themselves and steroids. This is a decision that seems to have been made by the writers voting for the Hall, and for once, it seems like the writers positions seems to reflect the community. So with that decision made, they can go back to making piss-poor decisions like voting Jim Rice into the Hall Of Fame.
The issue, though upsetting as all hell to most baseball fans, including myself, is simple though. There was no regulation, almost everyone did it, and it seems to be coming to a close with stricter penalties from baseball. We can argue from now until the end of time about who was responsible for letting it get this bad, but it doesn't REALLY change what the issue is, or the turnout.
All that's left is the drama. The drama is fun. The drama took another step with A-Rod's interview with Peter Gammons (who looks like a Muppet), on Sportscenter last night.
What was promoted as an admission of guilt from Rodriguez, ended up being one of the single biggest moments of sports double-talk I've seen in my 32 and a half years of living on this Earth.
I will remind you, that this is a comment on the drama, not the issue. The issue is what it is. A lot of people cheated, some people get caught. I don't even particularly blame Rodriguez for taking the drugs.
So, Alex starts out with this:
Back then, it was a different culture. Um, it was very loose. I was young. I was stupid. I was naive. And I wanted to prove to everyone that, you know, I was worth, um, you know, being one of the greatest players, uh, of all time. And, uh I did take a banned substance, and, um, you know, for that I'm very sorry and deeply regretful.
I'm thinking if the interview ended here, it would be great for A-Rod. He admits to it, he says he's sorry, he does the whole Michael Phelps "I was young" and the whole "I was under a lot of pressure" routine, which are both to be expected. Perfect. Unfortunately for A-Rod, the interview continued.
When Gammons asked him what he took:
Peter, that's the thing. Again, it was such a loosey-goosey era, that ... I'm guilty for a lot of things. I'm guilty for being negligent, naive, uh, not asking all the right questions. And, um, to be quite honest, I don't know exactly what, um, substance I was guilty of using.
Wow, 120 seconds into the interview, and you're already lying. So let me get this straight, A-Rod. You're a professional athlete, you're smart, you're in good shape, and you decide to take something to make you stronger. There's a great likelihood that this something enters your body through a needle, and you didn't know what it was? Because it was "loosey goosey?" Was it right next to the Gatorade? Come on, bro. If you're going to come clean, come clean.
Where did you get the substance A-Rod?
I mean, there's things that have been removed from GNC today that would trigger a positive test. I'm not sure exactly, um, what substance I used. But whatever it is, I feel terribly about it.
Wait a minute, Alex. Are you actually suggesting that the substance you tested positive for may have been something you got at GNC? A Clif Bar maybe? And even though you're not sure what it is, you're sorry for it? Wait a minute big guy, that kind of sounds like the thing you say to a girl when she's yelling at you for something that you don't even remember doing? "If I did something wrong, I'm sorry." What good is sorry, if you don't know what you're sorry for?
Where were you introduced to the substances?
The culture, it was pretty prevalent. There were a lot of people doing a lot of things. There was a lot of gray area, too. You know, back then you could walk in GNC and get four or five different products that today would probably trigger a positive
Right, GNC again. Probably Muscle Milk.
* Side note, I do know that GNC does sell things that could trigger a positive test. I'm also fairly sure that if A-Rod thought that's what it was, he'd say it. Hence, the sarcasm.
Alex, talk a little more about the culture:
It was over 100 degrees, and you know, you felt like, without trying to over-investigate what you're taking, can I have an edge just to get out there and play every day.
OHHHHHH. It was hot. Now I get it. "Hey A-Rod, it's way hot out here, want some water, gatorade, or anabolic steroids?" Maybe that's what he got at GNC.
How much of this was going on in Texas?
You know, I've always been a guy that raced my own race. And, and I don't like to look left, I don't look right.
Wait a minute bro. If you were racing your own race, how did you get caught up in all of this peer-pressure to go to GNC?
You said you didn't know you failed a test, but Gene Orza said he told you:
Gene was very specific in 2004. We had a meeting in September, um, or August. Don't quote me on the date, but, uh, he said there's a government list, there's 104 players on it. You might or might not have tested positive."
Somebody needs to work on the definition of "specific" with Alex.
Now Alex, Jose Canseco said years ago in his book that he introduced you to steroids. What do you say to that?
That couldn't be more false. That's 100 percent not true. And, you know, it's kind of interesting how SportsCenter and ESPN still, still quotes this guy. Um, no. It's 100 percent false.
Well clearly, he got it all off of the anabolic steroid shelf at GNC. It's right next to the multi-vitamin.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Axl Speaks!
Use Your Illusion 1 and 2 came out in 1991.
17 years later, after rumors, leaks and fake release dates, the next real, full length GNR was released, Chinese Democracy.
Of course, Axl Rose was the only remaining original member.
Oddly, which fits everything Axl has done for years (which I actually think is great), Axl has done absolutely no press since the album came out. Until now. Axl did his first interview, with Billboard.
I like Chinese Democracy. I like it a lot. I think it's a good record. Axl Rose is one of the last remaining rock stars, and part of that is the length it took for the album to come out. Part of it is the behavior. All of the things that frustrate people about Axl, I think is kind of cool.
I do however think it's hilarious how he can say some of things he says, and say them sounding so intelligently, but have the actual text seem SO incredibly ludicrous.
When asked why the album took so long to be released, Axl said:
There aren't too many issues of the hundreds [we ran into] that happened as quickly as anyone would have preferred, from building my studio; finding the right players; never did find a producer; still don't have real record company involvement or support; to getting it out and mixed and mastered.
I think this is funny because it's so matter-of-fact. There is no nod to "well, yeah, it did take an awfully long time." No smile and nudge. Just that they ran into a lot of problems. Building a studio and finding the producer. We're talking MORE than 4 presidential terms between this one and the latst one. I mean, a new producer could have been born and been almost old enough to produce this record in this time.
Also, the notion that the record company didn't want to help or support also seems questionable to me. I wouldn't be surprised at this point, with the industry in shambles, and the wait as long as its been, and the fact that Best Buy guaranteed 1.6 million copies sold, for the label to be not as much help as he'd have liked. I cannot believe though, that Geffen (and now Interscope) would not have supported a Guns N' Roses release. It just doesn't make any sense. Record companies do a lot of things that don't make sense, but this seems particularly outlandish.
In response to how the record company handled the release of the album:
I do know [that] I've been asking for a marketing plan for over five years and still haven't got anything. We've asked for a complete breakdown of promotion expenses and efforts from all parties but unfortunately I've received very little information, if anything, so far.
Well, in fairness dude, they've been asking for an album for like 13 years. Millions of dollars were spent making an album that you didn't seem like you'd ever be happy with. That being said, I again, have trouble believing that if you seriously sat down with the record company, they wouldn't have given you a marketing plan if you asked for one. I'm certainly not doubting what Axl is saying, it just seems incredibly far-fetched.
when asked about the supposed 2 other already recorded albums:
We'd like to get another album out at some point, but for now our focus is on "Chinese."
Focused on Chinese Democracy. So focused there is no tour, no video (yet) and no interviews. How exactly is he focused?
On possibly ever playing again with Slash:
Give me a fucking break. What's clear is that one of the two of us will die before a reunion and however sad, ugly or unfortunate anyone views it, it is how it is. Those decisions were made a long time ago and reiterated year after year by one man.
It seems like he's blaming this on Slash, and saying that Slash made the decision. I guess it's a bunch of he said/he said, so you can't really tell who is telling the truth. Probably a mix of both. I love the Axl cryptic way of just blaming it on Slash though. "One man," as if it could be Bernie Parent, or Matt Lauer.
17 years later, after rumors, leaks and fake release dates, the next real, full length GNR was released, Chinese Democracy.
Of course, Axl Rose was the only remaining original member.
Oddly, which fits everything Axl has done for years (which I actually think is great), Axl has done absolutely no press since the album came out. Until now. Axl did his first interview, with Billboard.
I like Chinese Democracy. I like it a lot. I think it's a good record. Axl Rose is one of the last remaining rock stars, and part of that is the length it took for the album to come out. Part of it is the behavior. All of the things that frustrate people about Axl, I think is kind of cool.
I do however think it's hilarious how he can say some of things he says, and say them sounding so intelligently, but have the actual text seem SO incredibly ludicrous.
When asked why the album took so long to be released, Axl said:
There aren't too many issues of the hundreds [we ran into] that happened as quickly as anyone would have preferred, from building my studio; finding the right players; never did find a producer; still don't have real record company involvement or support; to getting it out and mixed and mastered.
I think this is funny because it's so matter-of-fact. There is no nod to "well, yeah, it did take an awfully long time." No smile and nudge. Just that they ran into a lot of problems. Building a studio and finding the producer. We're talking MORE than 4 presidential terms between this one and the latst one. I mean, a new producer could have been born and been almost old enough to produce this record in this time.
Also, the notion that the record company didn't want to help or support also seems questionable to me. I wouldn't be surprised at this point, with the industry in shambles, and the wait as long as its been, and the fact that Best Buy guaranteed 1.6 million copies sold, for the label to be not as much help as he'd have liked. I cannot believe though, that Geffen (and now Interscope) would not have supported a Guns N' Roses release. It just doesn't make any sense. Record companies do a lot of things that don't make sense, but this seems particularly outlandish.
In response to how the record company handled the release of the album:
I do know [that] I've been asking for a marketing plan for over five years and still haven't got anything. We've asked for a complete breakdown of promotion expenses and efforts from all parties but unfortunately I've received very little information, if anything, so far.
Well, in fairness dude, they've been asking for an album for like 13 years. Millions of dollars were spent making an album that you didn't seem like you'd ever be happy with. That being said, I again, have trouble believing that if you seriously sat down with the record company, they wouldn't have given you a marketing plan if you asked for one. I'm certainly not doubting what Axl is saying, it just seems incredibly far-fetched.
when asked about the supposed 2 other already recorded albums:
We'd like to get another album out at some point, but for now our focus is on "Chinese."
Focused on Chinese Democracy. So focused there is no tour, no video (yet) and no interviews. How exactly is he focused?
On possibly ever playing again with Slash:
Give me a fucking break. What's clear is that one of the two of us will die before a reunion and however sad, ugly or unfortunate anyone views it, it is how it is. Those decisions were made a long time ago and reiterated year after year by one man.
It seems like he's blaming this on Slash, and saying that Slash made the decision. I guess it's a bunch of he said/he said, so you can't really tell who is telling the truth. Probably a mix of both. I love the Axl cryptic way of just blaming it on Slash though. "One man," as if it could be Bernie Parent, or Matt Lauer.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
If Whoopie Goldberg Can Talk About Michael Phelps, So Can I
Also, Jane Velez-Mitchell can also kiss my ass. If you watch this video, you'll know why.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/podcasts/showbiztonight/site/2009/02/03/sbt.phelps.mishap.cnn
Let's get some things straight here.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/podcasts/showbiztonight/site/2009/02/03/sbt.phelps.mishap.cnn
Let's get some things straight here.
- Michael Phelps is not a kid. He's 23 years old. 23 years old is not a kid. If he was 9, and he got caught having a messy room, being a kid may be an excuse. When you're a 23 year old millionaire, probably not.
- Smoking pot is certainly not the worst thing in the world for a regular person.
- Michael Phelps is not a regular person. Michael Phelps is the most successful Olympic athlete in history.
- Michael Phelps does not make a living swimming. Michael Phelps makes a living endorsing products. He's an amateur athlete. He's not getting paid to swim. He's getting paid to be, you guessed it a ROLE MODEL (Sorry Charles).
- By taking that money, Michael Phelps agrees to take on that responsibility of being a role model. Part of that responsibility, though not WRITTEN anywhere, is to not have pictures taken of you while smoking weed out of a bong.
- Believe it or not, this is not validation for anyone who does drugs, as proof that successful people do drugs. It is not redemption for the pot-smoking world. I'm relatively certain that Michael Phelps does not regularly smoke marijuana, especially while training. Michael Phelps is not on your side, Mr Pot Smokey. He didn't come out and say "Yeah brother, just a little weed ain't hurtin' anybody!" He was embarrassed by his behavior.
- Michael Phelps actually handled this the right way. He said he was sorry, he said it wouldn't do it again. Pretty much end of story. He probably shouldn't be crucified for it. However he should understand, once again, that youth stops becoming an excuse when you start living in the grown-up world.
- Finally, Michael Phelps should find whatever person took that picture, and set that person on fire. I would take that person's digital camera and shove it clean up their ass. Someone could have cost him millions of dollars because they thought it was funny. Seriously. I wouldn't stop shoving things up that person's ass.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
New Manson Album
Marilyn Manson has a new album coming out, called the "The High End Of Low," along with a new single of course, and had this to say about it:
The album’s first video will be ‘I Want To Kill You Like They Do In The Movies’. Manson told Rolling Stone, ”It’s nine minutes long. Severely sadist. Basically, it’s murder, sex, death, the end.”
I'm going to write an album ABOUT Marilyn Manson. It's going to be called "I Want You To Be Interesting Like You Used To Be." It's going to be 75 minutes long, severely critical. It's basically like, shocking, imaginative, great songs, out of ideas, same thing over and over again, everyone stops caring, the end.
The album’s first video will be ‘I Want To Kill You Like They Do In The Movies’. Manson told Rolling Stone, ”It’s nine minutes long. Severely sadist. Basically, it’s murder, sex, death, the end.”
I'm going to write an album ABOUT Marilyn Manson. It's going to be called "I Want You To Be Interesting Like You Used To Be." It's going to be 75 minutes long, severely critical. It's basically like, shocking, imaginative, great songs, out of ideas, same thing over and over again, everyone stops caring, the end.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Don Dokken Talks Sh*t
This is from a few months ago, but I mentioned it on 8 from the 80's today.
I never really liked Dokken. So it makes me happy to see that Don Dokken is kind of a jerk and looks like an old lady.
I never really liked Dokken. So it makes me happy to see that Don Dokken is kind of a jerk and looks like an old lady.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Chuck Palahniuk Interview
I interviewed Chuck Palahniuk when he came through to promote the Choke movie.
This is the interview.
Well, most of the interview.
The sticker on the left side of his head is his "Visitor" sticker that people have to wear when they enter our building.
This is the interview.
Well, most of the interview.
The sticker on the left side of his head is his "Visitor" sticker that people have to wear when they enter our building.
Wing Bowl Pictures From Jeff
Thanks to WYSP Program Director for taking some shots from Wingbowl.
Thanks to Jeff for actually stepping foot in that place.
He stinks of beer, wings and sin.
One of these days, I'm going to channel my old fat self and win Wingbowl.
Thanks to Jeff for actually stepping foot in that place.
He stinks of beer, wings and sin.
One of these days, I'm going to channel my old fat self and win Wingbowl.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Congrats To Jerome Allen
When I was a freshman at the Episcopal Academy, I was, like all other freshmen, assigned a "Senior Buddy." Mine was Jerome Allen, who was a star guard for the basketball team.
I only talked to Jerome a few times that year, but he was always cool, and I ended up being friends with Jerome's cousin Sam for my four years of high school.
I continued to follow Jerome as he played at the University Of Pennsylvania, and along with Matt Maloney and Eric Moore, led the best Penn team I've ever seen play.
I remember being with his family as he was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Jerome went on to play for a few more NBA teams, as well as France and Italy
Jerome will be inducted this year into the Big 5 Hall Of Fame, and deserves every bit of it. A great player, with a ridiculous crossover, and a great dude.
Good work!
I only talked to Jerome a few times that year, but he was always cool, and I ended up being friends with Jerome's cousin Sam for my four years of high school.
I continued to follow Jerome as he played at the University Of Pennsylvania, and along with Matt Maloney and Eric Moore, led the best Penn team I've ever seen play.
I remember being with his family as he was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Jerome went on to play for a few more NBA teams, as well as France and Italy
Jerome will be inducted this year into the Big 5 Hall Of Fame, and deserves every bit of it. A great player, with a ridiculous crossover, and a great dude.
Good work!
Happy Thorogood Thursday!
A celebration of Thorogood Thursday.
Every Thursday until the show on March 21st.
Every Thursday until the show on March 21st.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Remember This? Danzig Gets His Ass Beat
I was talking about this on the air today.
Danzig, getting his ass beat.
Danzig, getting his ass beat.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Well... My iPod Has Some Cool Bootlegs
A dude who bought a cheap MP3 player from a thrift store, connected it to his computer and found some government military secrets!
Sorry, I can't get it to embed. Here's the link:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2009/01/27/lavandera.nz.mp3.cnn
See kids, this is why you have to make sure you have a number and a symbol in all of your passwords. When you don't, all of your secret government files end up on cheap MP3 players. And then you'll have less room for the entire Metallica library you wanted to upload on there.
On another note, boy do I feel unsafe today. Whew. No public transportation or large crowds until tomorrow.
Sorry, I can't get it to embed. Here's the link:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2009/01/27/lavandera.nz.mp3.cnn
See kids, this is why you have to make sure you have a number and a symbol in all of your passwords. When you don't, all of your secret government files end up on cheap MP3 players. And then you'll have less room for the entire Metallica library you wanted to upload on there.
On another note, boy do I feel unsafe today. Whew. No public transportation or large crowds until tomorrow.
Doc Gooden Says "LIAR!"
From ESPN.COM...
David Justice and Dwight Gooden denied allegations made by former Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski during an exclusive interview with "Outside the Lines" on Sunday. Radomski told ESPN that Justice lied about knowing him and purchasing performance-enhancing drugs from him and said he twice took urine tests for Gooden in the 1990s.
HAHA... Gooden's quote must have been, "Steroids. Fuck no. I did COKE. Don't you remember, I did TONS and TONS of coke. Now I know that had some effect on how I played, but people now are only concerned with steroids. I mean, it's true, I was OUT OF MY FUCKIN' MIND on coke, no steroids though."
David Justice and Dwight Gooden denied allegations made by former Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski during an exclusive interview with "Outside the Lines" on Sunday. Radomski told ESPN that Justice lied about knowing him and purchasing performance-enhancing drugs from him and said he twice took urine tests for Gooden in the 1990s.
HAHA... Gooden's quote must have been, "Steroids. Fuck no. I did COKE. Don't you remember, I did TONS and TONS of coke. Now I know that had some effect on how I played, but people now are only concerned with steroids. I mean, it's true, I was OUT OF MY FUCKIN' MIND on coke, no steroids though."
Farewell Shirt Corner
I started working at WYSP when I was 20 years old. I'm 32 now, so I've been coming to work in Old City Philadelphia for a long time. The area has changed a lot since I got here.
One thing has stayed the same.
Shirt Corner has stayed the same.
If you needed a 6 button green or purple suit for $89, and some fake snakeskin shoes, Shirt Corner was the place you needed to go. You could also get a black silk collarless shirt to go along with it.
Shirt Corner closes its doors today, and we are a worse city for it.
One thing has stayed the same.
Shirt Corner has stayed the same.
If you needed a 6 button green or purple suit for $89, and some fake snakeskin shoes, Shirt Corner was the place you needed to go. You could also get a black silk collarless shirt to go along with it.
Shirt Corner closes its doors today, and we are a worse city for it.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Bon Jovi Video Featuring Some Dude's Ex-Girlfriend
So a dude just called and said his best 80's memory was dating a girl who was in a Bon Jovi video.
He said the video was filmed in Seaside Heights, which means it's the one for "In And Out Of Love."
His girl, according to his drescription, appears at 1:04 and 2:34.
A special "thumbs down" for Richie Sambora's white overalls with no shirt underneath. No way brother. Not on my watch. Not even in the 80's.
He said the video was filmed in Seaside Heights, which means it's the one for "In And Out Of Love."
His girl, according to his drescription, appears at 1:04 and 2:34.
A special "thumbs down" for Richie Sambora's white overalls with no shirt underneath. No way brother. Not on my watch. Not even in the 80's.
Guitar Hero Metallica Track List
Starting March 29th, when Guitar Hero Metallica comes out, you can pretty much count me out of anything involved with life for about a week.
Here's the tracklist, according to the INTERNET. And everything on the internet is accurate.
Metallica Songs
All Nightmare Long
Battery
Creeping Death
Disposable Heroes
Dyers Eve
Enter Sandman
Fade To Black
Fight Fire With Fire
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Frantic
Fuel
Hit The Lights
King Nothing
Master of Puppets
Mercyful Fate (Medley)
No Leaf Clover
Nothing Else Matters
One
Orion
Sad But True
Seek And Destroy
The Memory Remains
The Shortest Straw
The Thing That Should Not Be
The Unforgiven
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Wherever I May Roam
Whiplash
Other Artists
Alice In Chains - No Excuses
Bob Seger - Turn The Page
Corrosion of Conformity - Albatross
Diamond Head - Am I Evil?
Foo Fighters - Stacked Actors
Judas Priest - Hell Bent For Leather
Kyuss - Demon Cleaner
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Tuesdays Gone
Machine Head - Beautiful Mourning
Mastodon - Blood And Thunder
Mercyful Fate - Evil
Michael Schenker Group - Armed and Ready
Motorhead - Ace of Spades
Queen - Stone Cold Crazy
Samhain - Mother of Mercy
Slayer - War Ensemble
Social Distortion - Mommy's Little Monster
Suicidal Tendencies - War Inside My Head
System of a Down - Toxicity
The Sword - Black River
Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back in Town
Here's the tracklist, according to the INTERNET. And everything on the internet is accurate.
Metallica Songs
All Nightmare Long
Battery
Creeping Death
Disposable Heroes
Dyers Eve
Enter Sandman
Fade To Black
Fight Fire With Fire
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Frantic
Fuel
Hit The Lights
King Nothing
Master of Puppets
Mercyful Fate (Medley)
No Leaf Clover
Nothing Else Matters
One
Orion
Sad But True
Seek And Destroy
The Memory Remains
The Shortest Straw
The Thing That Should Not Be
The Unforgiven
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Wherever I May Roam
Whiplash
Other Artists
Alice In Chains - No Excuses
Bob Seger - Turn The Page
Corrosion of Conformity - Albatross
Diamond Head - Am I Evil?
Foo Fighters - Stacked Actors
Judas Priest - Hell Bent For Leather
Kyuss - Demon Cleaner
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Tuesdays Gone
Machine Head - Beautiful Mourning
Mastodon - Blood And Thunder
Mercyful Fate - Evil
Michael Schenker Group - Armed and Ready
Motorhead - Ace of Spades
Queen - Stone Cold Crazy
Samhain - Mother of Mercy
Slayer - War Ensemble
Social Distortion - Mommy's Little Monster
Suicidal Tendencies - War Inside My Head
System of a Down - Toxicity
The Sword - Black River
Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back in Town
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Wikins vs. King James
I'm looking for your opinion.
All I did in high school was argue about sports.
Given my family history, I guess that makes sense.
All I did was argue about sports with a small group of guys. Every single day. In between classes. During lunch. After school. At any one time, there was always some argument about some sport (never hockey).
Anyway, thanks to Facebook, I have found these guys again, and like not one day has passed (about 15 years has), the arguing has started again.
Today's topic, batted around by Smoke, Oronde and myself, is "Who Is The Better In Game Dunker; Dominique Wilkins or Lebron James?"
Watch Wilkins Top 10:
Watch Lebron's Top 10:
Your opinion, please.
All I did in high school was argue about sports.
Given my family history, I guess that makes sense.
All I did was argue about sports with a small group of guys. Every single day. In between classes. During lunch. After school. At any one time, there was always some argument about some sport (never hockey).
Anyway, thanks to Facebook, I have found these guys again, and like not one day has passed (about 15 years has), the arguing has started again.
Today's topic, batted around by Smoke, Oronde and myself, is "Who Is The Better In Game Dunker; Dominique Wilkins or Lebron James?"
Watch Wilkins Top 10:
Watch Lebron's Top 10:
Your opinion, please.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
SHOCKER!
From ESPN.COM...
A new book proposal, submitted by the admittedly estranged brother of Mark McGwire, claims the former major league slugger used both steroids and human growth hormone during his career.
In the proposal, first reported Wednesday on Deadspin.com, Jay McGwire alleges that Mark used Deca-Durabolin and that he introduced Mark to performance-enhancing drugs in 1994.
Didn't we already know this? Wasn't the fact that he took the 5th in front the Senate about steroids three years ago, along with the fact that he tripled in size, confirmation that Mark McGwire did steroids. Isn't the fact that just about no one has voted for him to be in the Hall Of Fame, pretty much confirmation that everyone already knows?
In retrospect, it seems though like either we need to crucify everybody or nobody. Steroid use was SO rampant, that it seems odd to me to just punish the people who had the most success (Clemens, McGwire, Bonds). Don't get me wrong, I think the fact that everyone in baseball was on steroids is deplorable, but it seems odd to single some of the guys out rather than the others. But just because Andy Petitte admitted it, and just because Jason Giambi didn't break any records, doesn't mean that they're to be held to any different standard today.
I love how we in this country pick and choose our moral high grounds. We condemn baseball players for taking drugs to hit longer home runs and throw faster pitches, but we continue to watch TV shows and buy magazines that chase celebrities and do their best to ruin lives.
A new book proposal, submitted by the admittedly estranged brother of Mark McGwire, claims the former major league slugger used both steroids and human growth hormone during his career.
In the proposal, first reported Wednesday on Deadspin.com, Jay McGwire alleges that Mark used Deca-Durabolin and that he introduced Mark to performance-enhancing drugs in 1994.
Didn't we already know this? Wasn't the fact that he took the 5th in front the Senate about steroids three years ago, along with the fact that he tripled in size, confirmation that Mark McGwire did steroids. Isn't the fact that just about no one has voted for him to be in the Hall Of Fame, pretty much confirmation that everyone already knows?
In retrospect, it seems though like either we need to crucify everybody or nobody. Steroid use was SO rampant, that it seems odd to me to just punish the people who had the most success (Clemens, McGwire, Bonds). Don't get me wrong, I think the fact that everyone in baseball was on steroids is deplorable, but it seems odd to single some of the guys out rather than the others. But just because Andy Petitte admitted it, and just because Jason Giambi didn't break any records, doesn't mean that they're to be held to any different standard today.
I love how we in this country pick and choose our moral high grounds. We condemn baseball players for taking drugs to hit longer home runs and throw faster pitches, but we continue to watch TV shows and buy magazines that chase celebrities and do their best to ruin lives.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Rage Acoustic
This is not new... But I was mentioning it on the air today.
Tom Morello and Zack De La Rocha at the House Of Blues in Chicago.
People Of The Sun
New Song
Bulls On Parade
Tom Morello and Zack De La Rocha at the House Of Blues in Chicago.
People Of The Sun
New Song
Bulls On Parade
The Most Puzzling Gym Behavior In History
More than once, I, as well as others, have written about the characters you'll see at any gym, no matter where you go. The old guy who is naked too much in the locker room. The guy who reads the paper while he lifts weights. The woman who gets all dolled up, puts on tons of makeup, then walks on the treadmill for 20 minutes while talking on her cell phone. The guy who does cardio every day but is still fat.
The list goes on and on...
Then there's the blog about the "no no's" at the gym. The guy who sweats and doesn't clean up after himself. The guy who uses 3 weight benches at once. The guy who hits on every girl and has to make friends with every dude.
There is a no one. I would venture to say, that in any gym in history, this has never happened until now. Bold, I know, but gyms aren't hard places to figure out. I've been a member of I think 7 in the last 7 years, in different towns and cities, expensive and cheap, neighborhood gyms and large chains gyms, and nothing is really all that different. It's all the same people, just with different faces and names. Still, all the same people.
At my gym, a couple brings THEIR BABY to the gym. In a stroller. Every time.
Now you must be saying, "Spike, they must have a daycare center that they're bringing the baby to." No, in fact, they do not. There is no daycare center at my gym. I go to a great gym, but it's a small, family owned gym. There is no daycare. They bring this baby in as they lift weights. As they use the cables. They do a set, then push the stroller back and forth for a minute.
Now you must be saying, "well, maybe they can't get a baby sitter at 5:30am on a Tuesday." Fair point. They bring the baby in on Saturday at noon as well. Also, THERE ARE TWO OF THEM. There is a mother and a father. They come together. So regardless of whether there's a babysitter, one could stay home while the other one goes to the gym. Aside from the puzzling logic, it seems like a blatant disregard for the baby's safety.
Mind you, this is not just awkward and puzzling like the guy who works out in jeans.
No no no. This is not the stupid and annoying like the 8 year old at the gym trying to use the treadmill even thou
gh he can't reach the controls.
No sir. This is an actual baby, at the gym. A baby that can't be more than 3 months old, at the gym. Where meatheads lift heavy weights and women cheat on their husbands with their trainer.
In all of my years on this earth, I will never figure people out. Ever.
The list goes on and on...
Then there's the blog about the "no no's" at the gym. The guy who sweats and doesn't clean up after himself. The guy who uses 3 weight benches at once. The guy who hits on every girl and has to make friends with every dude.
There is a no one. I would venture to say, that in any gym in history, this has never happened until now. Bold, I know, but gyms aren't hard places to figure out. I've been a member of I think 7 in the last 7 years, in different towns and cities, expensive and cheap, neighborhood gyms and large chains gyms, and nothing is really all that different. It's all the same people, just with different faces and names. Still, all the same people.
At my gym, a couple brings THEIR BABY to the gym. In a stroller. Every time.
Now you must be saying, "Spike, they must have a daycare center that they're bringing the baby to." No, in fact, they do not. There is no daycare center at my gym. I go to a great gym, but it's a small, family owned gym. There is no daycare. They bring this baby in as they lift weights. As they use the cables. They do a set, then push the stroller back and forth for a minute.
Now you must be saying, "well, maybe they can't get a baby sitter at 5:30am on a Tuesday." Fair point. They bring the baby in on Saturday at noon as well. Also, THERE ARE TWO OF THEM. There is a mother and a father. They come together. So regardless of whether there's a babysitter, one could stay home while the other one goes to the gym. Aside from the puzzling logic, it seems like a blatant disregard for the baby's safety.
Mind you, this is not just awkward and puzzling like the guy who works out in jeans.
No no no. This is not the stupid and annoying like the 8 year old at the gym trying to use the treadmill even thou
gh he can't reach the controls.No sir. This is an actual baby, at the gym. A baby that can't be more than 3 months old, at the gym. Where meatheads lift heavy weights and women cheat on their husbands with their trainer.
In all of my years on this earth, I will never figure people out. Ever.
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