Into Oblivion

What's the winter season without seeing any snow? Oli, Mike, Danny, Steve and I headed off to Mt. High for a visit. This would be Steve's first time seeing snow, in which he seemed like a little kid once there were visible signs of it. It was freezing up there, about 25 degrees, which is why I picked up some extra layers at American Apparel. After playing around, we then finished off the night at Richie's Diner. I will probably review it on Yelp later.

Break Up's of 08

There were a lot of good bands that broke up this year, especially in hardcore. The hardcore scene took so many hard hits this year as some of the most consistent bands ceased to exist. It's a shame that great bands break up, but shit like Aiden, Brokencyde, Nickelback and Hinder are still around and making bank.

Sinking Ships (2004-2008)
Really sad, as I they were really solid. They were nothing ground breaking, but still an overall good hardcore band

Modern Life is War (2002-2008)
Fucking came out of left field. Honestly, one of the best and most respected hardcore bands out and they break up. So many missed opportunities to see one of hell of a show they put on.

Our first show was on April 20th, 2002 in Tyler's parents basement. This makes our run as a band almost exactly six years. We want to send a huge thank you out to everyone who supported this band through thick and thin because you care about us as individuals, our music, our message or what we stand for as a band. We also want to thank all the people in the DIY/underground hardcore and punk scenes all over the country and world who work really hard and sacrifice a lot for little to no recognition or money because they love the music and message. I am really proud of all that we have accomplished but know that without the support of that community we would have never had a chance to tour and put out records for so many years. I don't want to get sentimental and there is no short way of wrapping up all my feelings about this band and these last six years. Above all...I hope we have made some people feel less alone and motivated them to think for themselves, be themselves and take action. Punk rock changed our lives. I hope we contributed something to keep the whole thing going. We are leaving soon...but The future is unwritten...so start writing it. Tour dates will be posted soon. Come sweat and scream and say goodbye to Modern life Is War.

Dead Hearts (2004-2008)
A band that I just got into recently and boy do I regret not looking into them sooner. They wrote some of the most epic and lyrically genius hardcore songs ever written in my opinion. The term "epic" is unnecessarily overused, but "epic" definitely fits the band. "Bitter Verses" will forever be in my top hardcore releases of all time.

Cursed - (2001 – 2008)
The circumstances for this break up is really heartbreaking. They tour Europe and pretty much everything from them gets stolen. Crucial tihngs like equipment, money and their passports all gone. Frontman Chris Colohan described it as a "bullet in the head". I would seriously agree with that statement if everything you had was gone in an instant. Such a shitty way to end a great band. I hope the fucker(s) that did this get Ukraine Hammer Timed.

The Receiving End of Sirens (2003-2008)
Straying away from the hardcore scene, this by far to me, is the biggest and most emotional break up. They were becoming one of my favorite bands and then they suddenly break up. I am still kicking myself after missing them play so many times. Goddamn you Andy, I'm fucking jealous that you got a chance to see them.

We are sure this comes as a surprise to most, and a let-down to many of you as well. For that we are eternally sorry. We all realize that the band five right out of high school kids started for fun has grown to be something bigger than any of us could have imagined. The music we have created has carried itself far outside the confines of the house we first practiced in, and the city we all met in, and has effected many more than just those of us who have been members of TREOS over the years.

What a surprise it was. I've watched videos of their final shows and the fact that Casey came back to play with them is really what got to me. Never has a band break up affected me like this one did. When the final song "Epilogue" was played, you could see that they were just as heartbroken as the fans were. If I were at these shows, I would have bawled like a baby.

A Dark Chase Requires a Silent Hound

Probably one of the best things to come out of the Santa Ana scene.
http://www.myspace.com/asquadronofhussars

40 tickets

Pretty interesting day to say the least. Went to Nickel Nickel with a bunch of people out of boredom. Keane and I played House of the Dead 2, in which we fucking FINALLY beat that shit. Headed off to this dancing game, which we also dominated. We all left to Famima after and loitered around for about an hour. I bought a playboy because Mariqueen was in it, and was disappointed. The cashier was some cholo guy who came out and joined our circle and talked about porn. He was pretty cool and seemed like he didn't work there. That's basically it, that and I don't give a fuck about your 40 tickets hahah.

A God Among Men

Somewhat of an eventful day, although it rained. Went to a job interview at Macy's for the hell of it, hopefully I don't get the job because that company is shady. After that I went with Oli, Danny, Steve, and gasp, Tony motherfucking Tran to Sonic's. Food was sub-par, but it filled me up. Hit up Brea mall which was uninteresting, but after that is where it gets good. We started talking about girls from school and what not, and asked Tony these questions. We ragged on Steve for his triton eye, in which we asked Tony about his standards, and he responded, "I have no standards". Truly epic, as I finished with a "Tony, you are a God among men" because, hey pussy is pussy right? After we dropped his ass off, we went to Oli's for a bit and smoked some B&M's, and headed out to pick up Tim and to get Thy from John Wayne Airport. The night ended after downtown Disney and Starbucks, which seemed like a typical day for us, but was made special with a guest appearance by Tony fucking Tran.

On a totally unrelated note, Sergei Kharitonov is a fucking badass.

Then who the hell was I?

Come on skinny love just last the year
Pour a little salt we were never here
My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my
Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer

I tell my love to wreck it all
Cut out all the ropes and let me fall
My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my
Right in the moment this order's tall

I told you to be patient
I told you to be fine
I told you to be balanced
I told you to be kind
In the morning I'll be with you
But it will be a different "kind"
I'll be holding all the tickets
And you'll be owning all the fines

Come on skinny love what happened here
Suckle on the hope in lite brassiere
My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my
Sullen load is full; so slow on the split

I told you to be patient
I told you to be fine
I told you to be balanced
I told you to be kind
Now all your love is wasted?
Then who the hell was I?
Now I'm breaking at the britches
And at the end of all your lines

Who will love you?
Who will fight?
Who will fall far behind?

Amazing, amazing, and did I say, amazing? I have absolutely fallen in love with this song. Justin Vernon's voice is truly heartbreaking and depressing in a good way. So much passion and intensity in this song, yet also calms your nerves. I just want to spend some time alone with a cigar in hand and a coffee in another just thinking about my life while this song is playing. Perfect if you just want to isolate your self and concentrate, in which ironically is what Vernon also did. He recorded this album by himself in a log cabin in Wisconsin for an entire winter and was self distributed. That's fucking dedication. DIY at it's finest. When he sings the lines I've bolded above, you can just see the passion in his eyes.

Ring of Fire

So tonight, Oli, Mike, Ant, Danny, Meat and I ventured off into downtown Long Beach to Alondra's hot wings. I wanted to try the hot wings that needed a waiver to be signed and they did not dissapoint. As soon as they came to the table, you could just smell the peppers and spices. Without even eating it, it already stung your eyes. As I finally took a bite, these wings reduced me to tears. So much pain, like tossing Satan's salad. My eyes were flooded, nostrils burning up, and had heavy breathing. The manager was really cool about and joke around saying he called the ambulance that was in front of the place ahah. He also said if right now felt bad, wait in two days. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUU. Anyways, after Alondra's, since all of us pretty much failed the bet, we had to put bengay on our balls. I couldn't decide which pain was worse. This was a horrible idea, but the cool down after the boiling nuts is amazing. A burnt mouth and burnt balls.