Jason in the vast spoils of America

I guess these are called resolutions, I’ll call them goals and aspirations I have for this year. I’ve been thinking a lot about everything in my life the past week or so, I had 12 consecutive days off work which hasn’t happened since I started working this job over two and a half years ago. The time away was nice but all the time I didn’t really accomplish much, and my sleeping patterns became fucked up, I got really down at some points and in the early mornings there was nothing to do but think.

I thought about life and how much of it is wasted staring blankly at a computer screen or a television screen, in which most of the time nothing was gained except something trivial to talk about with a friend just to make conversation. A lot of it tends to be about other people, and more often than not it’s talking down about other people. I read a really good quote some time ago that never really sunk in until recently. It was a quote by Eleanor Roosevelt that went “great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.” I think I’ve grown to understand that and want to change myself for the better this year, not only in that sense but in many others.

Obviously first and foremost, I’m going to restrict my time spent on the Internet, particularly social networking sites with the exception of time spent to work out things for my band and to keep immediate touch with friends who forget what a telephone is. The Internet can be a great tool but can also be a giant waste of time.

I was talking with Andrew the other day when he was over about how much time we spend wasting on the computer and we’ve agreed to better spend our time with things that will actually give us sincere satisfaction. Personally, I want to become a good musician, I can get by playing the bass guitar well enough as to fool people of my actual ability. A lot of people think I’m better than I am, and I’m flattered when someone tells me I’m a good musician, but I’d like to be more than “just satisfied” with my playing. Andrew wants to dedicate more time to drawing/art and he definitely should because he’s the most talented person artistically that I know. He’s going to be apprenticing at Time Will Tell Tattoo in Burlington when the summer comes around and I’m very excited for him, he’s been tattooing for a short while now and he’s already really good and working with Evan and Randy will only improve his work.

As far as my band goes, I want to spend as much time in the USA playing shows as possible. I neglected to write about it because I haven’t had desire to write anything on this blog in a couple weeks but we played our first show in the USA on the 27th of December. I don’t know why but I find myself always in a bad mood when we play shows in Toronto, I still haven’t figured out what it is but I’m always miserable before, during and after every set we play in Toronto.

Anyways, I guess I’ll write about that show in this entry since I meant to write about it on here. Buffalo was a nice change, playing in front of almost all complete strangers and a few friends and familiar faces. We were received well and I actually had a smile on my face during our set. Big thanks to Andy Czuba for giving us our first USA show. After the show Spencer, Jeff and I stopped at a gas station before heading back to Canada and I decided I was going to make a tradition of every show played in the USA to remember. I bought a Buffalo post card which I intended on writing a review of the day/show. I haven’t found the right words yet but I want to get that done with soon. I’m going to force myself to find a postcard in every town we play.

We have a couple dates planned, one is in Doylestown, PA near the end of this month and then we’re playing four shows on the upper east coast with Surroundings from Maryland. I’m really excited with how many shows we’re playing in the next couple months and hope there are more in the summer. One of my goals is to see as much of America as possible, I’ve been to a lot of states, seen a lot of sites but most of those were when I was too young to remember or appreciate.

Along with bass, I’m planning on buying my friend Adam’s acoustic guitar, he just moved to Winnipeg the other day and left a bunch of his guitar equipment behind with my roommate Erik. When I was down a few days ago I grabbed the guitar and decided I wanted to become a competent acoustic guitar player, and learn how to sing and play at the same time, something I can only barely pull off in 4/4 time. Maybe I can charm a girl with music someday.

Next, I’d like to become less frivolous with my spending. I find myself making spontaneous purchases that I usually regret within a day. I spent over $400 on my ten days off and $150 of that I can truly say were purchases that I don’t regret making, and all of that was spent on records. I’m fortunate enough to have a father who bails me out when things get tough but I feel bad for all the times he’s lent me money that I’ve never paid back. I’m 21 years old, and make enough money that I shouldn’t have to rely on anyone for help but always somehow seem to be short on cash when it’s needed. If you see me making a stupid purchase, punch me in the head. I’m also lucky enough to have a wonderful friend who will send me basically anything I want from her work for free, I really don’t need to waste money on clothing, I just need to buy nice things and send them to her in return.

When the spring comes I’d like to stop using my car for in town trips, I have a bike that’s good enough to take me anywhere my car could in only a little bit more time, and obviously it’s much better for me and for the environment, and keeps some extra cash in my pocket. Biking is much more fun anyways.

This year I developed a greater enjoyment for cooking than I’ve ever had. I went vegan at the beginning of September after four years of being a vegetarian. In turn I had to start making more meals for myself because I was a pretty lousy vegetarian most of the time and would just eat macaroni and cheese, etc. At the same time though I’m just as apt to go out to eat as opposed to staying in, when I could be making food in around the same time it takes to get in my car, drive to a restaurant and order. I’m able to make some pretty great meals and have learned to enjoy cooking for others and the satisfaction it brings when they enjoy what I’ve made.

Today I picked up a book for the first time in about three years. I figure books will also be a healthy alternative to time spent on the Internet. I started reading Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Kafka today and finished Metamorphosis at my lunch break, I really enjoyed it. I never really appreciated reading in highschool and wish I did because I probably wouldn’t have went so long without reading an actual book. If you’re reading this and you’ve made it this far and your name isn’t Derrick, feel free to reccommend your favourite(s) to me, even better if you want to lend me them. I also want to think more seriously about attending University. While at this point in my life I have no idea what I’d want to commit that much time, effort and money to, I know that I would to go to University eventually.

I fell in love with Chicago this year, I visited it three times and can definitely say it’s my favourite American city. I have plans to go back in April, Andrew and I want to go see Morrissey, and since the Chicago date is on a Saturday, it’s the perfect date to go. That city is just so gorgeous and I want to be there as often as possible. Also a longer shot but I’d like to spend some time, even just a brief period in Georgia, I absolutely love Georgia, I was down about 5 years ago and stayed on Jekyll Island, ever since then I’ve fantasized about just running away and living on the beaches there. I don’t know the likelyhood of actually being able to go there but I’d certainly enjoy it.

I spent far too much time brooding over girls. Sure being alone after being with someone for so long is difficult. But as Charles Bukowski said: “there are worse things than being alone but it often takes decades to realize this and most often when you do it’s too late and there’s nothing worse than too late.” I found myself in a brooding mood the other night and I went for a walk around town where I just let the traffic signals dictate my path in an attempt to clear my head. I was listening to my iPod and a line in a song came on “I truly believe you want more than this, what you want is very simple yet somehow so complex to get, please don’t hate yourself.” At that point I felt that rush you get when a line in a song pertains to your exact situation. I felt relieved and realized that stuff like that isn’t really worth letting it get to you. So shout outs to the Lawrence Arms for making me feel alright. I’ll let things work out the way they do with women, if someone rad comes along that’d be cool, but if not, oh well.

Finally I want to do something that I’ve neglected to do ever since I moved out on my own and that’s spend as much time with my family as I should. I’m lucky to have such wonderful people in my life and I shouldn’t take them for granted so I’m going to try and visit my father and brother, mother, sister and her family and my grandmother as much as possible.

I’m sure there’s more I could write about but I think this is more than enough for the time being, plus work is almost over and I wouldn’t want to waste any of my personal time when I could waste company time. If you read this whole thing, chances are YOU spend far too much time on the Internet but I appreciate the time taken to read this all. If you read it all you probably love me and I probably love you back, or you were really bored and need a hobby, so let’s make food together, jam, go somewhere interesting or just talk.

Don’t let shit get to you, don’t waste your life, be happy, surround yourself with the people you love.

Today Eric AKA Gibby and I got together and made a late lunch at his place.

On the menu was chicken wraps with hummus and roasted red pepper, sweet potato X yukon gold fries and corn on the cob. Good meal with a good soundtrack.

First up…my dad told me last night he lost interest in Black Sabbath when this record came out, bummer

Eric making the hummus

Putting elite Thai Sun training to good use.

Second up, Earth – The Bees Made Honey In The Lion’s Skull

Food turned out excellent, washed it down with a Cherry Coke, winning.

After the meal, Eric brought his crabs in the living room and we zoned out to Sleep – Dopesmoker

Dudes kept trying to kill themselves, so we contemplated making dessertEnd.

I started working on some material for a themed blog, watch out.

I should be in Florida right now…

I feel like shit from all the travel today so here I am sitting in my room listening to Down Colorful Hill and having nothing to do.

A brief rundown of the weekend, I don’t feel like going into any enormous detail.

Bands:

Friday:

Iron Chic – First band I saw of the weekend, ex. Latterman I think. Good stuff, they do that whole Long Island punk rock well and a lot of kids knew all the words, which is pretty cool for a band a long way from home and one with only a demo out.

ANS – missed them, stood outside because we didn’t get there early enough. Covered Poison Idea and it sounded fun, would have been more fun if I was in the venue.

Strike Anywhere – This band is always fun live, the first “big” band I saw and they impressed as usual.

This Bike is a Pipebomb – Hadn’t listened to this band in a few years, while they were entertaining, I only recognized a couple songs that they played so that sort of sucked.

Bouncing Souls – Played only songs from their first three records. I’m not really into that stuff but they put on a good show. I enjoyed them more when I saw them in May in Pittsburgh. They covered the Misfits, I got my Hallowe’en Misfits cover, even if it was acoustic.

Paint It Black – Dan “I’m the Man” Yemin was passing out flyers after Strike Anywhere’s set saying they were playing a show in the parking lot across from the venue the Souls were playing in after they finished. I headed over there even though I don’t like Paint It Black at all. They played out of the back of a UHaul truck and the generator died within 20 seconds of the first song. Some dude climbed onto the UHaul, ran off and flipped into the crowd, that was pretty rad. Soon after it was all broken up by cops on horses. I went home and hung out in the hotel. There was a rumor of Shook Ones playing in a house but I was much too tired to go find that, especially since I heard it was 5 miles from the main strip.

Saturday:

Ruiner – Stood outside for their set because there was a line. I realized I don’t really care about this band anymore. They didn’t sound very tight anyways.

Atom and His Package – One of the sets I’d been looking forward to the most. The Package was having some difficulties so Atom was backed by a CD player. He played for a good amount of time and it was a lot of fun. I don’t think he’ll be performing too often with the Package anytime soon, so it was cool to see something that not many people will have the opportunity to see again.

Lawrence Arms – I’ve never been bothered to check anything out in too great of detail besides The Greatest Story Ever Told because I tend to have this problem that if I really like something by a band, it’s all I’ll listen to. After that performance I’ll definitely be listening to more of their records because all the songs sounded really great. Kyle won some contest and got to hang out with Brendan before their set which is pretty rad for him. I missed Paul Baribeau to watch them and it was definitely 100% worth it.

Max Levine Ensemble – Another band that has grown a lot since I’ve listened to them. I only recognized a couple songs but everyone else there seemed to know every song. This band is a lot of fun recorded and even better live.

You, Me and the Atom Bomb – Caught this band accidentally because I was really early to the Common Grounds. I had a nice nap during their set.

Lemuria – Amazing band that got an amazing reaction that they deserved. There’s not really much else to say, except Sheena played the opening bars to Teenage Kicks by the Undertones during their sound check and they should have covered that.

Municipal Waste – This band is pure cheese but still a lot of fun. I hadn’t listened to them for about a year but still had a good time. Kids went nuts which was cool. The new album is absolutely terrible though and all their songs seem to sound the same now. Oh yeah, they covered SOD, that was rad.

Dillinger Four – Tight set, another band I should be into more than I actually am. I wasn’t blown away, but definitely impressed.

Comadre – Really cool band Joe showed me when we were coming back from Pennsylvania in May. They’re a “screamo” band I guess, and had a ton of energy. Extremely tight musicians, kept me interested even though I’m not that familiar with them.

Polar Bear Club – They played in a pretty small venue and got an awesome reaction. Apparently they’re signing to Bridge Nine which kind of stinks but good for them. The place was packed and everyone was having a good time.

Able Baker Fox – Ex members of Small Brown Bike, the end of the night was coming so they didn’t sink in too well. Sometimes they sounded sort of like Fugazi, that was cool.

Young Widows – First thing the guitarist did was complain about how they had to wait all day to play – wah, there were a lot of people watching, who cares. They played a good set though, but after 30 minutes I couldn’t take it anymore, no band should play over thirty minutes. I went back to the hotel room to find out everyone had been there for a while. I fell asleep watching the Shining.

Sunday:

Sakes Alive – My friend Josh was filling in on bass for them so I went and caught them while everyone else I was with hung out in the hotel room. They’re like a straightforward punk band, sort of hardcore, little bit of skate punk, I don’t know. They played well, I just don’t like the singer’s voice.

American Cheeseburger – Hilarious. Really great thrashy punk band, played for 10 minutes and I was really stoked, they didn’t need to play anymore in my opinion, because they packed around 10 songs in there. The sound guy informed them they had to play for another 7 minutes if they wanted to get paid. Sort of stupid but they played a few more songs that were also rad.

The Ergs! – Since this was one of their last shows and Dead To Me dropped, they played two sets. The First set was from all over the place from their catalog. They opened up with Kinda Like Smitten, then went on to play a bunch of songs from Upstairs/Downstairs and all of their 7″s and splits. They closed with Books About Miles Davis and Alex and Jason from Lemuria got on drums and bass respectively which was really rad. After a 20 minute break they came out again and played Dorkrockcorkrod front to back. They finished with two Descendents songs, because Frank Navetta, the Descendents original guitarist died on Friday. The first song they played I didn’t know, must have been a real oddball because no one else I was with recognized it either. They closed with Bikeage and it was awesome. An incredible band covering another incredible band. It’s a shame the Ergs are breaking up, they’re definitely some of the most talented musicians and songwriters in punk today, probably even the best in both departments. Bummer that I forgot to pick up their new 12″, hopefully it shows up online soon.

Leatherface – People had been bragging to me about seeing Frankie Stubbs a few weeks back at Sneaky Dee’s, where he performed one song on a whim. Seeing them play for an hour was incredible. Frankie was completely wasted before they got onstage and his banter was hilarious. For being as drunk as he was, they played incredibly well. Probably the most important set of the weekend.

The Holy Mountain – After Leatherface finished I headed right over to the Market Street Pub where the Holy Mountain was playing. The sound in the place is absolutely awful and walking in the venue it sounded like a pop punk band was played. I caught the majority of their set and it was definitely the crustiest set of the weekend. A Crass cover and a Body Count cover, the latter was butchered pretty hard, but still fun. I hope this band starts playing again because they’re so good.

Other than the shows, I ate a lot of Taco Bell, had a really rad vegan pizza with tofu and spinach, bought a bunch of records, and saw some friends from different places which was rad. The No Idea sale was pretty rad and where I bought most of my records. I also saw the Eating Glass record in three different places which was a cool feeling, the first was at the No Idea sale itself, the other was this record store called Wayward Council and the third was in one of the guys from the Holy Mountain’s distro, in which I picked up the new Hatred Surge 7″ and the new Dystopia LP. I’m too tired to go through the stuff I bought but I know I got Jawbreaker – Etc., an Onyx 12″ single, Shorebirds 7″, Acrid – Sea of Shit, and a few other things.

Anyways, Gainesville is a really rad town and I look forward to going there again soon. Not looking forward to being sick, I almost threw up while writing this, bummer. Also, not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow or seeing people I dislike anytime in the future.

Around this time of year, these first few days of school, I always seem to get down. It’s been two and a half years that I’ve been out of highschool, it feels strange to have been out of school for that long and only be 20. Even though I still have no idea what I want to do with my life/therefore no desire to go to college, I still feel bummed. I guess I feel left out, and most of me doesn’t care but a little bit does.

 I’d like to eventually go back to school, when I have a genuine interest worth going to school for, not just for the piece of paper like so many people I know. I’d rather stick with a high school diploma and a steady income than have a giant debt and a piece of paper that may or may not get a better job.

To my friends who are in school for something they love, I’m proud of you and wish you the best.

Ben Weasel

Four awesome friends

Deep Dish pizza

Record stores

Massive music store

I’m excited

No one likes to give themselves over to an empty bed. If you’re gonna sleep like that, then you might as well be dead.

My roommate and I were in the car last night headed to Wendy’s because he was trading a Baconator combo to a guy for a lizard tank, waterfall and lamp. Awesome deal. Anyways, I’ve been a vegetarian for about four years now, and some time after that, Wendy’s decided to introduce the retard burger AKA the Baconator, which consists of two beef patties, two slices of cheese, 6 strips of bacon, ketchup and mayo. I haven’t been able to experience the power of a Baconator, I never though of it until last night but in the very near future I plan on making vegan Baconators, Vegonators. Be a “man”.