Filthy Laurel the Movie

Spent all night working on this, and it's not even 60 seconds long.

People of Earth, 
I made this for you.
Here ya' go:

Filthy Laurel

See the guy falling?
That's me.
Alright. Now take a look at the other guys...
Apparently, no one's too worried about the potential face-plant in progress. In fact, judging from this photo, it looks like ol' Lyons may have even pushed me. 

Concerned friends: Todd M., Aaron H., and Jon L. at the height of nonchalance. (Photo: Chris Grady)

Just Got Back

Ike Turner, Chafe-to-the-Hensley, M. Larmee,
and a troll with Dave Grohl's unfortunate hair.

I've got a problem:
Whenever I travel, I bring a camera along, but I rarely bother to actually take any photos. It's terrible. I need to get better at that. My New Year's resolutions for 2012, 2013, and 2014 were to take more photos of friends. After failing miserably for two years in a row, perhaps I should finally admit to defeat for this year. Hang it up already.

This past weekend, I went to Kalamazoo (and to Chicago for a night), and I'd really like to share some photos, but I've got nothing from my own camera beyond the ones in the previous two posts. The photos that do exist reside in other people's cameras or F-book pages.

As for now, this photo of Minutes here was taken by Liz Büstamänte last night. She's in a band from Chicago called Stomatopod (great band, great people. I like 'em a lot).

I'd like to send a special shout-out to Ike, Mel, Adeline, Millie, Mark L., Tobi, Chafe, Anne, The Stomatopod Army, The Nation of Rutabega (as if they read this blog--HA!), Boring People, every single person who stood around and watched our LONG sets, and that drunk guy across the street from Mark and Tobi's who was partying (solo) on his porch this morning at 8AM ... blasting Bright Eyes, drinking, shouting lyrics, drinking, wobbling, stumbling, smoking, drinking, lying down, spinning in a chair, pointing, singing, drinking, etc. What a show. 8AM 'til 10:30 ... what a magnificent show. The guy had stamina. He performed for the world, and only two people watched: me and M. Larmee.
(Imagine us, eyes shut, heads down, fists in the air ... "solidarity, brother.")

"That Buford's a sly one ..."

If you were thinking that this sort of thing could only occur in a movie like Raising Arizona... think again. This happened. On Earth. With no prompt, cue, or guidance from Hollywood. This classic, printed message (a command perhaps) developed naturally in a child's brain.
(I swear that's not my handwriting.)

Updates from Michigan

Tobi & Mark L's bird, Dave. Or Steve. Or Jenny. Alright,
I didn't catch the bird's name, but I'm sure it's one of those.

Here are some photos taken in the 'Zoo. Actually, these are all screen captures from video footage, but it all would've made for a pretty boring movie.

Had it become a posted video, you would've heard Ike talking about animals and serial killers, then you would've watched Millie sneeze twice. The sneezing was the highlight.

That's Ike. He's bragging about learning "Eruption."

Mark & Millie. They're baffled at what appears to be an unplugged version of "Eruption."

Tobi. She's trying to politely leave the room as Ike's impromptu concert turns into a hostage situation.

Adeline. She just finished half a Baby Ruth, and now she's masterfully steering the discussion to a memorable scene from Caddy Shack. Millie's in the background chasing Dave, or Steve, or Jenny as he/she flies around.

Millie. Right after a powerful sneeze.

Johnny No-Mates

I had a million things to do today, and making a movie sure wasn't one of 'em.
That didn't stop me from piecing together another amazing skate video--completely loaded with ragin' new tricks.
Sure, it's only a minute long, but don't let that fool you. Every second is packed with mind-melting action that's guaranteed to amaze. Enjoy.

Discussions Near Unfortunate Graffiti

Jon L., Aaron H., Lando M., Todd M., and Bulldog. Helmet, helmet, helmet, helmet, no helmet.

I wish I had photos from '87 of my friends and me sitting around on our boards in Mt. Calvary's school parking lot. We'd skate for a little while, but we'd always end up sitting on our boards talking for a bit longer. 

I was thinking about that on Saturday at GSL as skating started happening less and less due to a swirling conversation about the 5 worst songs of all time. My list never changes that much, but I'm certainly willing to swap out a song if a worse one comes my way. And number 5 ... coming up with number 5 is always tough.

1. "Kokomo" (the undefeated champ)
2. "Layla"
3. "Come Out and Play" (AKA "Keep 'em Separated")
4. "Dude Looks Like a Lady"

Sometimes number 5 is "The Girl Is Mine" by Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney. It's good to remind people that Thriller wasn't perfect.
On Saturday, however, one of the skaters (Brian) tossed "We Built This City" into the ring, and he presented strong and sound arguments for why it should be counted among the worst.

There's a problem, though ...
I'd have to listen to each song back to back in order to decide which of the two is the worst, and I don't think I can subject myself to the torture. Memory has to play a significant role in the creation of such a list. Actually making the effort to listen to these songs deliberately (rather than stumbling into them while sitting in the dentist's chair) ... that's doin' too much.  

Amid all the conversations, some skateboarding did occur, especially on Sunday. And I'm pretty sure we all ended up mildly sunburnt since the temperature hovered around 80˚.
Without our beloved Chris G. there, I had to pick up the reigns in documentation, and I did a sad & pathetic job. I got no shots from CP or Laurel (sorry Linc), but I somehow remembered to pull the camera out at GSL. Below, here's what you'll see:
1. Aaron H. dropping in at GSL. He had a good day. I think the world opened up for him.
2. Jon Bulldog and Jon Lyons. Jon L. wore that shirt just to receive compliments all day (and it totally worked).
3. Todd M. and Lando.
4. Bulldog carving around that Crass logo.

Face Scan

Please believe me when I say that I am extremely aware of just how many photos of myself are featured on this here blog. There're WAY too many, for sure. However, I have a feeling my mother and maybe even my sister check this blog from time to time, and since I have almost no F-book presence, I figure photos of myself in the here & now may keep 'em coming back.

Today at work, in an effort to make a student laugh (it worked, by the way), I scanned my face. I post it here now because the image is actually kind of interesting. I sort of dig how it's hyper focused and super blurred at the same time. My gray hair is coming in NICE. And the beard just looks gross.

Yesterday, I stopped by Darren and Kathy's house, and I spotted a photo above their fireplace taken at their wedding; it was a shot of Darren and some of his closest friends, with Erik and me right up front. It's a great photo, but MAN, I looked like a baby. It was a tough pill to swallow ... seeing how much I've aged in 12 years. Now, I'm not sad about it or anything. Hell, I like myself a lot more now than I ever did before. It's just personally fascinating to see how much a face can change. And 40's right around the corner. 

Comparison Photos

The weather this weekend was finally just right, so the Men's Support Group (ladies, you're welcome to join anytime ... please), the Sweathogs, met up for some more tiny bowl action. We hit College Park, and some of us even managed to squeeze in a session at GSL a little later (before the evening dice games got underway).

Chris G. posted some photos, one of which features Aaron Harmon after his first successful drop-in. Shout-out to Bulldog for coachin' him through the ordeal like Julie Walters in Billy Elliot: shoutin', spittin', cussin' ... or wait, maybe I'm thinking of Burgess Meredith in Rocky. Either way, ol' Bulldog helped him out.

As for me ... well ... there have been many remarks in the past about my chimp-like style, and I suppose Chris finally captured resounding proof that I'm more monkey than man.

What's up, Mark L.?

I occasionally waste a bunch of time after work drawing on the dry-erase board in my classroom. When the markers are fresh and still solid black, I can't resist. Here's an example: back around Halloween, I drew this skeleton sportin' a Santa hat to delight and amuse the kids. (For the record, both "delight" and "amuse" were avoided. I did, however, manage to confuse and confound.)

Since my kiddos are currently suffering through The Scottish Play, this week I decided to forewarn them about the upcoming drunken Porter scene with a special shout-out-portrait of Barney Gumble.

Tragically, my efforts fell on deaf eyeballs since my students are more the SpongeBob crowd, so I post this now in the hopes that my favorite Simpsons aficionado, Mark Larmee, will spot this with love and appreciation. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking of him the whole time I was drawing it.

Conerelli

Here's something you should know:
Cynthia Connolly is one of my favorite people on this mudball we call Earth.

A couple years ago, Erin and I hung out with her and Frank from the Bank on New Years Eve, and she (surprisingly) broke out her box of personal memorabilia. I don't know how or why it happened, but it did. (Now, I'm counting the seconds 'til she tells me to take this post down, but I find this photo of us so endearing that I'm willing to risk it.) 
So check it out: this is a photo of a few items I deemed worthy to geek-out about:

Click on the photo to see a close-up.

• Tickets stubs from a Cramps show and Whiskey a-Go-go
• A photo-booth photo of Cynthia and her sister, Anna (which, by the way, should be the cover of the book Cynthia should write about moving to DC from LA and how she and Anna fell into the punk scene ... totally fascinating).
• And finally, a set list from a Minor Threat show.

Taking photos with a bunch of old junk from a box of nostalgia isn't typically my thing, but we were genuinely having a good time that night, talking and telling stories, and this photo happened very naturally. Honestly, I genuinely love that Cynthia held on to this stuff and was willing to share. 

Erin and I laughed a lot and had great time that night. So, Cynthia and Frank ... If you're reading this ... Here's a special shout-out to you both.