The Blog with No Name

Yet another day has gone by in this endless summer. It used to be that I never wanted these summers to end, for the end of summer brought the beginning of school. That’s no fun. Now, I want this summer to end. I want it to end quickly. In fact, I would gladly go back to my studies right now. I’m apart from many of my friends, away from Seattle, and separated from Stacey. I’m working a boring job in a place I don’t want to be for the stuff of greed. Yet, I must push on. I’ve only been here a month and a half, and I still have two more months before I am released from this place. As of today, I have 65 more days until I fly back to Seattle. Sheesh.

I can remember my best summer ever which was between my junior and senior years of high school. That was the summer just before Rob and Drew left for college. We had a pretty tight posse going: me, Micah, Drew, Rob, Tim Wall, and Chris Tadlock. That was the summer we went to Malibu Young Life Camp. Ah, that was a very fun week. We did so much, and there was plenty of excitment. There I met Carrie Bergerson, my first crush. Haha. I’ll have to scan of picture of her. Then after Malibu we did all sorts of crazy stuff. None of us really had jobs that I can remember. We used up the long Alaska days to the fullest. That was a summer I definitely didn’t want to end.

The next summer, between my senior year of high school and freshmen year of college was also a good summer but not as good. I remember cruising through downtown Eagle River in Rob’s van with the gabber blaring and all of us screwing around. We made videos that summer. We did a couple of short movies (Chackie Jan and Spruce Pee was one), tapes of flying dummies, and records of us doing crazy stuff around town. I have to see if Micah still has those videos. I want to see them again. But things happened during that summer that permanently marred it. Things I want to forget, so I don’t want to think about them.

And now for something completely different, I saw “The Perfect Storm” last night. It was excellent in my opinion. The graphics were breathtaking at times. I was literally on the edge of my seat at points because, for once, I had no idea who would survive and who wouldn’t. I left the theater very impressed with it. I would definitely watch it again. It is the second best movie this year after “Gladiator” which is by far the best movie since “Saving Private Ryan”.

Thought of the day: The difference between three days and four days is more than twenty-four hours; it is misery transformed to happiness.

Oh how I wish I could have shared this day with someone! It will be so difficult to describe it to its fullest. The day started off a wonderful, hot sunny summer day up here at McKinley Princess Lodge — absolutely gorgeous, though you couldn’t see Mt. McKinley because of its veil of clouds. Then a front started to roll in way off in the distance, advancing steadily through the valley. I could see the rain pulling the clouds down to the earth. Eventually, the sun was hidden, and the blue sky was behind me; the front now halted right above me. Thunder rolled. The gentle, but fearsome growls distantly hinting at the power held by the storm. The sky increasingly darkened, ominous clouds blocking out the light. I could smell the rain in the air now. A lightning bolt flashed down, illuminating the distant clouds. It was so beautiful. Sprinkles, then torrents splashed down from the weeping clouds. It was awe inspring to see the beauty of Creation’s changes. In my opinion, to see a storm advance like that is one of the most amazing things to behold in nature. Now, I’m sitting here in my humble little trailer room listening to Appleseed Cast and watching the rain continue to trace lines in the air. Like I said, it is too hard to describe with full justice. You just had to be here. How can one say there is no Creator? There is too much beauty in this world.

This past weekend I went to Anaheim, California, to see the Solidstate Showcase. The Showcase had Society’s Finest, Born Blind, Third Root, Stretch Arm Strong, and Zao all playing. It was amazing, but let me start at the beginning.

Thursday was the day before I left. I was going to ride Greyhound all the way down. My bus left at 7:50 am on Friday, but I had to be at the station in town by 7:35. So, I decided not to go to bed. I spent the night playing Unreal Tournament, putting the finishing touches on two papers, and packing. It is surprising how fast a night can fly by. It gets light early now too. I could read a book outside at 5 in the morning. Jeremy and I walked down to 7-11 to get some eats an hour and half before I left. When I got back, it seemed I had next to no time to finish up all my duties before I had to catch the bus into town at 6:30. By 8:00 am, I was riding south on a sleek, comfortable Greyhound. Actually, it isn’t that glamorous at all. Luckily, the bus was nearly empty on the first leg of the trip (down to Eugene, OR), so I had a row all to myself. I started Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six. I arrived in Eugene at about 3:15. There I had 30 minutes to find food and hope my friend Rob would show up in time to hop on the bus with me. I didn’t find any food, but I caught Rob just as he was exiting the men’s room. I asked Rob if he had any food. After a negatory reply, we sprinted to a little market that I had missed with 10 minutes before the bus was to leave. We grabbed a bunch of wafers, newtons, and other assorted junk food and sprinted back. Then we began the long, 21-hour ride to Anaheim. I’m so glad Rob was with me; it made it much more fun. I would have been so bored if I was alone. I was tired from the lack of sleep, but I couldn’t do much about it. It was hard to get sleep because the bus stopped every hour it seemed for some inane reason. However, one stop (the dinner stop I think) Rob and I found a little creek (not a crick as Rob pointed out). We waded around in it for a little while, tossing stones and scaring minnows. The trip south was uneventful.

Los Angeles, California is the most over-rated city. I have never seen a more dirty, dusty, delapidated, city in my life. It’s hot too. I suppose I had my expectations inflated by movies and rap songs (e.g.Tupac’s “California Love”). I was thoroughly unimpressed by it. Most people say something like this: “It’s nice to visit, but I would hate to live there.” I say this: “I would hate to live there, and I don’t like visiting it either.” After seeing LA, I became a proponent of the scorched earth policy; LA needed to be burned down and restarted. I was glad when we finally left LA.

We arrived at the Anaheim bus depot in the early afternoon. According to my Yahoo! Mapquest map, we had to walk 2.8 miles to get to the venue, Chain Reaction. Then I noticed one of the directions: merge onto I-5 N. “You idiot, Steve.” Well, we walked in the scorching sun anyway. Luckily, it was easy to find. After locating the venue we went to a nearby Denny’s and had something to eat. Next, we went across the street to the Super Saver store. We bought lots of cheap food there.

The doors were scheduled to open at 6:30. Time flew by quickly, and pretty soon we were in. All I needed then were the bands.

Now, there are two aspects to this showcase that are very important: the bands and the pit. I’ll begin with the bands.

Society’s Finest was up first. This foursome from Dallas, Texas specialized in what they call redneck hardcore. They are a new band but rather popular in the hardcore scene. I had only heard three of their songs before by downloading mp3s. I knew what to expect. They were very good, sounding much like their studio sound. It’s always nice to have a band that sounds as good live as on the album. I was thoroughly happy with their set.

Born Blind played next. Hailing from San Diego, these guys rocked the house with their old school hardcore. What was good about these guys is that they sound better live than on their album. They surpassed my expectations. Many people in the crowd knew their songs, so people were joining in with the screaming.

Third Root took the stage. Also from San Diego, this band are in the same genre as P.O.D. but with less rapping and more screaming (the lead singer, Chili, even had the same hairstyle as the P.O.D. vocalist). However, the screaming was much to shrill for my taste, so I utilized by $1 earplugs for the first and only time, which took off the edge that damages my ears. These guys sound better on their album. Their drummer is excellent though. He smashed sticks right and left (left mostly).

Stretch Arm Strong suited up for sonic battle next. Coming all the way from South Carolina, these guys had a large fan base even in LA. This was aptly demonstrated by the entire pit screaming along with the band. My experience in the pit is really cool, so keep reading. If you ever have the chance to see these guys live, take it. Personally, I think they gave the best show that night, beating out my favorite band Zao. They didn’t have a whole lot of new stuff which is surprising becuase their last album came out well over a year ago. However, because they played mostly older stuff, the crowd really enjoyed and participated in it.

And finally, Zao, the greatest band on the face of this planet, stepped up on stage. Two words: brutally amazing. These guys have a patent on the hardest metalcore available. In concert, they are even harder. The vocals were a roar the entire set. The guitars screamed and ground out the songs. The drums pounded, adding to the orchestrated cacophany. Oh my word, they are so freakin’ good. You just have to see and hear them to understand what it’s like. At the end of the set, the lead singer smashed his bass guitar to bits causing a massive surge from the pit to grab the biggest pieces. See these guys if you can.

Now, a few words about the pit. That mosh pit was by far the most brutal pit I’ve ever been in. The maximum capacity of the club is slated at 190. There were upwards of 500 in it. During the first three bands the pit was bearable and nothing new. However, when Stetch played it changed completely. The crowd surged forward so much that I was forcibly squeezed to the very front. Then I was forced onto the stage. So, basically, I spent about half the set on stage with the band screaming along with them. It was so much fun. However, the band was running out of room and people were bumping into the instruments, so security got up and starting shoving people off stage. I kept being tossed into the front ranks of the pit, but I couldn’t fit in even as skinny as I am. So, I finally exited stage right. I didn’t want to do this because now I had to work my way through a nearly solid wall of humans to get up close when Zao played. It took me a while, but I managed to get within two bodies of the front of the stage. When Zao started, only one body. By this time however, I was drained physically from the constant battle to stay balanced in the pit. Plus, it was very very hot and I was drenched with sweat, most of it not my own. Being crushed and overheated had pushed me to the end of my stamina; I felt like I was about to pass out. So, I left in the middle of Zao. I was so disappointed with myself. I felt like a bad fan. I just couldn’t stay in any longer though. It wasn’t my fault. Even Rob said he felt like he almost passed out. He said at one point he just rested his entire weight on one guy and closed his eyes. The pit was an experience in and of itself. A strange, dangerous (I had a guy backflip off a ledge onto my head) experience to be sure.

The Showcase was done by 11:45, and Rob and I began the long walk towards the bus depot while looking for a hotel. Finally, over half way back to the bus depot we found a cheap hotel. We had a grimy room, but it had a king size bed and shower, and that’s all I wanted. We watched the tail end of a V.I.P. episode and went to sleep. I woke up at 7:30 with what was probably the closest thing to a hangover I’ve ever had. The bus was 30 minutes late, but the long ride home began soon enough. It seemed twice as long as the trip down. Even though the seats were comfortable, the trip was not. I had 4 kids in front of me and 8 kids behind me. If the baby up front wasn’t crying, the two babies behind me were either crying or screaming. Actually, I must say the three hispanic children in front of me were very well behaved. Only, the infant made a noise, but that is understandable.

Finally, after a grueling bus trip I arrived back in Seattle on Monday at 3:10 pm. I practically ran off the bus. I was back on campus by 3:35. Of the 80 hours I spent on the trip, 60 of them were on a bus. Not fun. However, it was worth it, and I would do it again. Maybe next time I will take the train. . .or, better yet, de plane!

I have more to say, but I will save that for a later entry (tomorrow?)