california AND bust!

home.

2009-08-08T04:14:00.000-07:00

i'm home. since the last update...

sunday

-after S & F, went to the beach with some buds. hung out. manny rules. michelle rules. gina's okay.

monday

-drove through southern cali into nevada.
-got a rad personal pan vegan pizza at pizza and salad.
-checked into our hotel in vegas only to find it trashed, so we got a free upgrade.
-walked around and did vegas stuff that day.
-decided to stay an extra night in vegas.

tuesday

-walked around by myself for a bit taking pictures.
-went to the coke store with the crew and got the sixteen flavor international sampler. we rock paper scissored to see who would do shots of the stuff. it was gross as hell.
-ate fatburger way too many times.
-got ronald's donuts not enough.
-drove to a porno barn with brad at night and...sampled the video arcade.
-drove to stratosphere only to find it was closed.
-drove down the strip yelling at people.

wednesday

-left vegas and drove to the grand canyon only to find ourselves at the shitty northern rim and was let down.
-drove through arizona and utah, taking in the sights of the desert. gorgeous.
-got unexpectedly good chinese in utah.

thursday

-drove through the rockies. awesome.
-drove through nebraska. not rad.
-went to a porno barn in lincoln nebraska. walked in on a guy jerking off and watching the door. terrifying.
-tried to find another porno barn in nebraska failed.
-found one in the middle of iowa around midnight. it sucked.

friday

-woke up in chicago and met bucky. got brunch at the chicago diner.
-drove home.

now

-laying in bed, uploading pictures, and being depressed.

sunday

2009-08-02T23:26:00.000-07:00

-woke up and went to the hot tub with the boyz. lounged, swam, splashed, and laughed.
-got shitty stupid jerk fuck asshole chinese and hated it.
-headed to sound and fury for the last day of mashing.
-went and got mexican coke in a glass bottle with dunk.
-caught psyched to die a song into their set. holy fuck.
-shai hulud fucking owned. goddamn.
-sabertooth zombie=also goddamn
-reign supreme covering saves the day? whatever?!
-some kid getting stabbed? not cool.

we may be about to head to the beach to party. word.

saturday

2009-08-01T23:28:00.001-07:00

-slept in. sort of.
-got to the show in time to catch skin like iron. rad. bought their 'fuck michael vick' shirt cause all proceeds went to a pit bull rescue organization.
-hung out with manny and michelle for a bit.
-was stoked on gypsy. waaaaay good.
-lightly moshed to ceremony's second set.
-was annoyed by hardcore kids during bracewar's set. ugh.
-drove back to the hotel with chuck.
-played a game of text message tag with erica.
-missed bad seed, but caught title fight's set. rad.
-grooved out to cold world with chuck. rad.
-went to 7-11 during floorpunch's set.
-ate nearly a whole bag of chips and salsa with chuck as we drove around ventura and oxnard.
-considered driving to LA.
-picked up brad and mcardle. laughed my ass off when chuck called mcardle a walking hard on.
-witnessed a car accident.
-came back to the hotel, did some bed dives with brad, harassed mcardle, and am about to go to sleep.

tomorrow, last day of S and F. shai hulud, psyched to die, reign supreme, sabertooth zombie, and touche amore.

wednesday, thursday and friday

2009-08-01T01:50:00.000-07:00

wednesday

-golden gate was fucking amazing.
-wednesday night we ate at some rad chinese restaurant. the sesame fake chicken was awesome, as were the scallion pancakes.
-brad and i slept at the home of a nice young homosexual named brian. he proved to me that everything i've read about gayfolk was true. he was courteous, polite, and seemed genuinely concerned with our well being. that didn't make up for the fact that brad and i slept in a creepy room above a busy street and fell asleep to the sound of idiot bargoers down below. also, brad slept on a brat's bedspread.

thursday

-leisurely drove down the coast. we stopped at some beach and clambored around on rocks, chased crabs, and generally acted like children. mcardle and i got our feet soaking wet, and it ruled.
-stopped at a strawberry farm on route one and got a basket of the freshest strawberries ive ever had, along with some delicious strawberry cider. honor till, son.
-stopped at saturn cafe, a fifties style diner that is vegan. fucking a it ruled. got a boke and fries with an order of nachos as an appetizer. awesome.
-drove through some amazing countryside in big sur. saw mountains. heard a possible car crash.
-watched the sun go down into the ocean.
-got to our hotel in oxnard around eleven, hung out with rad jerseyfolk for a bit, and crashed.

friday (today)

-woke up, drove around with chuck listening to david lee roth.
-went to the beach where we met brad, mcardle, and michelle.
-saw a dead seagull, took pictures of it.
-went to the fest.
-missed xibalba because of poor organization ie we were outside for almost two hours before being allowed to get in. caught alpha and omega, iron age, mother of mercy, and the mongoloids.
-hung out with manny. great fucking dude.
-saw klint. another great dude.
-spent a couple of minutes outside talking to erie. time well spent.
-left after blacklisted due to all of us being hungry.
-ate taco bell with an awesome couple from LA.
-went to dennys, had too many cherry limeades, and got sort of sick
-recovered, came back to our room, ran around naked, harassed mcardle and brad.
-had our room weeded out by iron age.
-am now sleeping.

tomorrow, cold world. fuck yeah.

wednesday in san francisco

2009-07-29T15:10:00.000-07:00

we got to san fran early this morning. we left portland yesterday around five or so and just drove straight through. drive was a little tense due to cabin fever and whatnot, but for the most part it was okay. brad and i stopped and visited some weird porno barn. yeahhhhhh we wont' discuss that further. ate a shitty sandwich ate subway that was way too peppery. drove through oregon, which was gorgeous, drove into california in the middle of the night and got to san francisco around 4 or so. it was rad. dunk and i walked around some sketchy neighborhood in search of sustinence. what we found was mexican coke and fake bling at a rundown supermarket. chuck joined us, we rolled thick. got back to adrienne's apartment, settled in, took a nap, woke up, talked to erica for a bit, and am now sitting in adrienne's living room waiting for my adventuremates to finish napping so we can walk the golden gate bridge. more updates soon. peace.

update.

2009-07-27T22:10:00.000-07:00

we're in portland right now at the wonderful dave van der maas' residence. here's a rundown of what has happened so far...

-we left way later than we expected to to get to chicago. thus, we took our good old time getting there and ended up getting there til around three as opposed to our hope of getting there around eight.

-the drive from chicago to south dakota was remarkably unremarkable. wall, south dakota was awesome. a small town in the middle of nowhere. we slept in a super sketchy bates-esque motel. im surprised we didnt die. brad and i took a stroll around town in the middle of the night. i think we almost got jumped.

-woke up the next day to drive to mt. rushmore. stopped at wall drug, a huge weird retro mall in wall. saw a weird t-rex and watched it scare some little kid.

-drove to the badlands, heard rattlesnakes, was amazed.

-drove to mt. rushmore. saw a fat kid wearing a shirt that said 'PETA-People Eating Tasty Animals'. held back the urge to kill him in front of his family and four great men.

-drove from mt. rushmore all the way to seattle. on the way, we stopped in missoula, montana and harassed some locals. drove through an awesome thunderstorm in the mountains of montana.

-stopped at some sweet canyon lake in washington. chuck and i left mcardle in the car and walked around. some little kid started to pee in front of us while facing us, and we got out of there fast. we then saw a secret turd wrapped in a paper towel in the bushes.

-got to seattle. hung out with karly and her roommate.

-ate shitty food.

-saw the seattle skyline from kerry park ala the brotherhood LP. was in awe.

-went swimming in a lake, may have gotten harassed by bros.

-made tacos for everyone.

-went back out to kerry park at night to see the skyline at night. breathtaking. took about a thousand pictures.

-drove around with those girls. may have been flirted with, im not sure.

-went back to karly's apartment. her roommate wanted all six inches from brad. he refused to grant her that wish. way to go dunk.

-got up and drove to portland.

-arrived in portland, hung out with vmaas at foodfight, tried to get into the hungry tiger and was asked to leave due to a private party.

-tried sweet pea baking. danielle is better.

-went to a bookstore in portland, and bought a collection of graphic versions of lovecraft stories. and black wind.

-met dave at a chinese place. food was okay.

-went to a hotel party in downtown portland and watched the mike tyson documentary while eating crazy donuts with a couple of cool people.

-came up, about to sleep.

day 1

2009-07-24T00:33:00.001-07:00

in chicago. we made it.

tomorrow

2009-07-22T09:49:00.001-07:00

the adventure begins.

home stretch.

2009-07-16T00:13:00.001-07:00

one week left til adventure.

here's the deal.

2009-07-12T20:04:00.003-07:00

july 22nd, shai hulud, reign supreme and john fonda are playing croc rock. july 23rd, we're leaving for chicago.

more soon.

guess where i'm going in two weeks?!

2009-07-09T21:28:00.001-07:00

BACK TO CALI.

more to come.

end of the line.

2008-07-31T15:17:00.000-07:00

back in PA.

didnt sleep for two days straight.

exhausted.

casualties include six bottles of faygo and countless cans of soda, several feet worth of subway sandwiches, and a couple hundred dollars. i bought sixteen shirts at sound and fury and met dozens of awesome people.

i really dont know what else to write.

peace.

last day/goodbye cali.

2008-07-28T03:03:00.000-07:00

today was the last day of sound and fury. it was pretty rad. warpriest were awesome, as were soul control, mother of mercy, and the mongoloids. sinking ships last show was seriously out of control. some of the craziest stage diving ive seen in a long, long time. ceremony was ridiculous.

last night, super late, ki-seok and preston crashed at our place. two totally good dudes. we stayed up late talking about korean cinema.

this trip has been really fun. ive met a handful of really cool people from the area that i hope to run into more often than not at shows in jersey.

some of the dudes in the mongoloids, including the always wonderful joe kane, are crashing with us. its awesome.

ill write more later. im super tired. this trip was wonderful. im bummed that theres nothing really left to look forward to in life. oh well.

sore.

2008-07-27T01:52:00.000-07:00

the trip is almost over. im really bummed.

today was uneventful. i wasnt that into too many of the bands playing, so i didnt really spend too much time inside. trapped under ice were good, but not good enough for me to actually watch their whole set. cold world, for some reason, played again today, but better them than i dunno, trash talk. guns up got a retardedly insane reaction because, for whatever reason, kids eat their shit over that band. whatevs.

i dipped my feet in the pacific ocean super late last night. it ruled. a lot. some homeless dude was sleeping on the beach and i almost stepped on him. bummer for him. and for me too, i suppose. on the way to the beach, some dudes drive by and yelled 'fuck you, you fucking tourists.' jokes on them, i guess, cause without people like us the economy of this town would go belly up.

today, we went swimming. we've been sticking with a crew of mostly PA/NJ kids, like manny and the dudes from the mongoloids. one of da mongos, this kid ray, is funny as shit and reminds me an extra from 'stand by me'. totally good dude. some lady was bitching at us today by the pool for splashing her (which we didnt) and he replied 'if you dont want to get wet dont come by the pool.' i guess you had to be there for it.

i also spend a goodish amount of time today listening to ogden bitch about europe. hilarious.

tomorrow, mother of mercy, sinking ships, bitter end, and soul control. and then a thirty hour drive home. awesome.

digging is gay.

2008-07-26T03:43:00.000-07:00

so we drove around L.A. last night. it was awesome. we found this super rad vegan thai place in hollywood that had really good fried seitan. a little pricey, but when am i gonna get that stuff again?

after that, we went into downtown L.A. at night. the skyline was spectacular. seriously breathtaking. we drove late into the night to get to santa barbara, and it was surreal driving along the coast knowing the pacific was right there. we got here around eleven and had to wait til one thirty til the people we were staying with got here. we stayed up late shooting the shit, and although i only got a few hours of sleep, it was still awesome.

today was rad. the first day of sound and fury proved to be quite awesome. swamp thing were pleasantly surprising, and every band i was stoked to see went above and beyond my expectations. reign supreme fucking destroyed. every time i see that band i want to level whatever building im seeing them in. i rolled my ankle towards the end of their set, so the mosh was somewhat limited, but it was still awesome. let down were also in the zone tonight, and for the first time ever i found myself enjoying their actual music as opposed to their company. trash talk were hyped up, of course, but i spent their set outside so i cant really say what it was like. cold world were awesome, despite the constant bullshit weak stage diving going on during their set. i swear, maybe it's a california thing, but at least get a running start and actually fucking dive instead of just falling into a group of people. also, the whole grabbing the mic for whole fucking verses in songs got really old really quick. have heart were, as per usual, insane, and it was difficult to be up front for them without getting dived on by amateurs.

we're staying with this girl angel from iowa at a motel six. she knows klint and is super nice, and, since she constantly wishes death on herself, reminds me of myself and is thus awesome.

we also finally met the legendary manny mares tonight. what a good fucking dude. he's sleeping on the floor a few feet away from me. seriously such a fun guy.

im currently under a sink right now. its awesome.

viva las vegas

2008-07-23T22:52:00.000-07:00

we're in vegas right now.

last night, we were at the grand canyon. shit was surreal. it seriously looked like a huge perfect painting. the whole southwest is, so far, mindblowing beautiful.

we slept in the car in a parking lot by the grand canyon. i stayed up super late watching lightning off in the distance, and it was sort of nice. andrew and i saw a bigfoot on the path on our ride up, and i ended up falling asleep with the car door open. strange.

we saw 'the dark knight' tonight. seriously fucking sweet. go see it.

vegas is nuts. it makes me feel sick to my stomach from all the neon and bullshit. a lot of migrant workers are around handing out little cards for escort services. i should call one.

california tomorrow.

new mexico.

2008-07-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

we're in a hotel room in alburquque (?), and i get free wi fi. tight.

today we drove from springfield, missouri, to here. the morning started out rough, cause i only got an hour or so of sleep in the front seat of a car, and it sucked. then, we werent allowed to take showers at the rest stop we stayed at cause we werent truckers. so we sucked it up and headed further into oklahoma. oklahoma wasn't nearly as flat as i hoped. i was expecting super flat landscapes that went on forever, but instead got somewhat rolling hills. tulsa seemed like a cool city, as did oklahoma city. once we got into texas though...forget about it. shit was weird. one minute, it was just fields and hills, and all of the sudden desert. like, dangerous desert. the wind farms were really fucking neat. new mexico was pretty much the same way. one minute, just flat expenses, then mesas. im way into it. its really surreal being out here, almost like a dream. we're gonna go downtown in a bit after we all shower and eat. tomorrow, we're getting up early and heading up towards the four corners, then down to the grand canyon, then to the hoover dam, and finally ending our night in las vegas. sweet. im putting more pictures up on facebook!!!!

st. louis.

2008-07-20T18:28:00.001-07:00

the arch is fucking awesome. we left chicago around one this afternoon and just drove. so far, so fucking good. st. louis is a rad city. we're in a starbucks right now in the lobby of a hilton, stealing internet. tonight we're heading to springfield to spend the night. pictures on facebook! peace!

peeking is gay.

2008-07-20T02:44:00.000-07:00

so we hung out with jon van dine today. we got to his apartment in columbus and surprised him (sort of) outside. he showed us around, and took us to this really awesome vegan restaraunt in downtown columbus, which was a surprising nice city for being in the middle of ohio. afterwards, dunk napped hard while jonny and i bought several bottles of faygo for the road. a fat girl talked to me about my tattoos. it sucked. after that, we roused brad and said our goodbyes to jon. i miss him already. several hours and bottles of faygo later, brad and i made it to chicago. on our way here, we were hit on (maybe) by a gay guy at a porno barn in indiana. he at least suggested we have cold pops with him. whatevs. on our way into the city, we were struck by a torrential downpour. it sucked. but we met up with bucky and mcardle and hit up a really cool vegan diner, where i feasted on french toast. it was awesome. tomorrow (read: later today) we're heading down to st. louis. ill write more when its not five in the morning.

ive also decided to start each entry with a quote from brad, cause lately, he's been on a roll.

ps i know i said id put photos of our trip on here, but i think it would be easier to just link this to my facebook.

church sucks, learn how to drive.

2008-07-19T11:54:00.000-07:00

we're in ohio at jvd's right now.

we witnessed a brooks and dunn concert behind a rest stop.

pictures to follow.

you know the song 'california' by phantom planet?

2008-07-19T01:45:00.000-07:00

yeah that's me and brad right now.

PEACE!

tomorrow

2008-07-17T21:55:00.001-07:00

the adventure begins!

and then there were three.

2008-07-16T12:37:00.001-07:00

michael hoderman aka hoderdude aka arcynic is no longer going with us. he will be missed.

we leave saturday at 7 am. let the adventure never end.

a few more days...

2008-07-11T03:52:00.000-07:00

our route now includes chicago, to pick up andrew mcardle. that's right, mackadoo shaboozoo is coming with us. the windy city should be on alert for high levels of broin down and low levels of sleeves and bitches.

less than a month.

2008-06-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

fuck yeah.

countdown

2008-06-18T14:21:00.000-07:00

one month. one day.

fuck yeah.

YO

2008-04-15T10:43:00.000-07:00

the whole point of this blog is to catalog and record my experiences this summer on the week and a half long road trip out to california for the annual sound and fury hardcore punk music festival. in this blog, i will post pictures and anecdotes at least once a day. i hope that through this blog, you will vicariously experience my epic transamerican journey and enjoy it somewhat as much as i did.