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.