Podcast in 3-D

The Dynamic Duo were back in the same room.  Juan fresh from his trip to LA dishes on his travels.  Made me miss my city but it was great hearing all about it.  Enjoy and thanks for listening.

Listen here 

Also, don't know if you remember Juan mentioning he was in the Indie panel while at Megacon in Orlando, but that link is finally up.

Check that out here

Breakfast at McDonalds

McDonalds breakfast.

ACT 1

I don’t do hangovers anymore, my body is too old, now it just feels it, like I’ve been in a boxing ring for a few rounds.  I do have trouble sleeping over 6 or 7 hours though when I’ve had a few in me.  So I left my house earlier than usual and 10 min from work I realized I was going to be 25 min early, so I exit the freeway and see a McDonalds.  Now normally I don’t do fast food, never for breakfast, but I do admit that McDonalds has some pretty good coffee.  Since my boycott of Starbucks is on it’s 16 year anniversary and my body is in definite need of some grease and coffee I park and go inside.  I place my order, medium coffee no cream 4 sugars and 3 hashbrowns (don't judge me).  I stand back and wait.  The person after me got his order first, then the one after that got his order and in my head I’m thinking, that’s not right, right?  Considering, I could go behind the counter and really prepare my own order, it’s that easy.  So I walk up the counter and inquire about my order, according to the name tag the manager says “I don’t see your order”

“She just took it, coffee and hashbrowns?”

“No.”   And almost to himself he says “Where’s the receipt?”

“It’s right here” as I pull it out of my pocket.

“Well how am I supposed to get you your order if you have the receipt” he snatches from my hand.

“Well SHE gave it to me” but it’s futile cause he’s already turned around and tuned me out.  I’m more in shock than pissed and really, not the fight to fight today.  I get my shit , give him a dirty look and I leave. 

ACT II

It’s been a few weeks, apparently I lost the fight and my body is hurting for some coffee and grease again.  Same McDonalds is right there and I have the time, why not?  Park, go inside and wait my turn.  Same order and I make sure she has the receipt and stand back.  Now, there were some red flares being shot up.  One, it’s the same McDonalds.  Two, this is Miami we’re talking about, they aren’t known for customer service.  Three, from that dumb smile in her face she’s obviously new.  She carefully arranges the receipts and some one keeps coming to check them to see what they need to prepare for the order.  Slowly they are preparing the two orders before mine.  Some one’s orange juice, some one’s got coffee, a frappe (I don’t know if that’s how it’s spelled, don’t care, don’t judge me, trying to rant).  She keeps standing there, looking around, praying for another customer to come in cause at this point I am shooting daggers at her with my eyes.  Seriously, it’s a coffee and 3 hashbrowns! I am not asking for you to go out back and peel some potatoes.  Just turn the hell around and pour a cup of coffee and grab the hashbrowns, they’re already there warming up on under the heat lamp, it’ll take you 30 seconds.  Sigh, I walk up to the counter.

“Hey, ummn, don’t you think you could just grab my stuff since the others are working on those orders?”

“  “

“I mean, it’s just coffee that’s right behind you and some hashbrowns over there”

“  “

“It can’t be that hard right?”  I swear the more I looked at her doe eyed, deer in the head lights look the more I wanted to shake the hell out of her.  Not saying that would be ok, but I wouldn’t hit a woman, shaking, I’m on the fence about.  (Having never done either, really just talking out of my ass.)

Eventually another person came up behind her, noticed what we were talking about and 30 seconds later I was walking out the door with my order.

ACT III

I’m just a glutton for punishment aren’t I?  I mean, two acts of solid misfortune and still I place my head on the guillotine again.  Several weeks later, knocked out and not looking for a rematch I look at the time and realize today of all days, I do not need to be at work that early without some coffee and something greasy in me.  (Insert homoerotic joke here)  I park and at this point I really have surrendered to the fact that this will not go well for me, since of all the times they have not felt bad about what has happened, it’s a classic relationship where I’m being taken for granted.  I walk in and place my order and I kid you not am out in less the 2 min.  The man behind the counter took my order, saw the simplicity of it, or the emptiness in my soul, turned around and made my order magically appear.  I’m in shock as I drive to my office.  I sit down eat a hashbrown as I prepare my coffee.  Since it’s always too hot I keep a mug on my desk and I pour it out to cool it a little so I can drink it.  I’m not the type to serenade a cup of coffee, I tend to make it; buy it; pour it and drink it.  I need it inside of me as quickly as possible (that’s what she said).  Lo and behold it’s not black, it’s caramel colored, yeah, I didn’t check my coffee when I got it. I didn’t taste it in the car cause it was hot and I was still in shock.  My coffee had cream in it. Son of a bitch!

Music post

ALBUM:  RELATIONSHIP OF COMMAND

ARTIST: AT THE DRIVE-IN

YEAR:   2000

 

With the announcement that At The Drive-In will be reuniting it made me remember another album i've been listening to for the last 10 years.  Relationship of Command was released in 2000, a was deep into alternative music at this point and this came out at a peak time for me.  I remember only hearing one song on the radio for it, the music was a great mixture of punk and hardcore and metal but very obvious that it wasn't meant for mainstream radio. I honestly don't remember the other singles from it, the song One Armed Scissor got me good though.  The vocals were surreal to me, Bixler had something different in his voice that gave the lyrics a separate life from the music.  Not to undersell the music, the guitar is undoubtedly some of the best i've ever heard and that fast paced drumming was amazing.  I never got to see them live, but i imagine it was just a super charged performance.  They came together and formed a great album from start to finish.  It sucked that i caught on to them so late, i did catch up with their previous albums but they did not compare to Relationship.  So it's the album i've stuck with for the past decade.

Lyrics that sum up the album:

this syringe will take a lifespan
it's filled with bait and tackle
try and catch us if you can

If i had to pick a song

 

The Calendar

This was fun and i'm going to keep doing it, i mean i almost did the whole month.  I have those long phone calls too often and it's better than doodling in my yellow pad.  The only difference is going to be that i'll do one a day on the actual day.

Phonecast!!

We've been toying with the idea for a while of being able to do the podcast from separate locations, seeing as Miami was never a permanent move for me.  But we both had our reservations because of the many podcasts we've heard were the sound is terrible giving us no reason to keep listening.  For an amateur at this recording process i'd at least like to think that i strive for the best amateur sound possible within the means i have.  Hopefully anyone who has been listening for a while has over the episodes noticed the sound quality improving little by little.  I approached the ability to record phone conversations with the same mindset, make it sound good or dont bother at all.  Over all i am happy with the sound,  a few tweaks here and there and i'll improve some of the things i heard upon listening to it, not everyone will hear them, but to me they sound so loud that it actually made me self conscious about putting it out there in the interwebs.  But we learn, and like i said, i am happy with it, it sounds much better than i anticipated and hopefully will only improve.  The ability to be able to connect the phone opens a lot of new possibilities for our little show, now we can have guests, people that were unattainable are all now just a phone call away.  Thanks for listening.


Enjoy.

When i write

               When I write I need a silent space to do it in.  Well, an isolated space I should say because I also need loud music blaring through speakers drowning out all sound so that my thoughts have nowhere to go but on the paper.  I need to concentrate but I also need a battle plan with many missions so that like a spy the words will infiltrate my headquarters, plant their bomb and eventually make their presence known.

               When I write I also need no interruptions.  Well, I also need some movie playing or to be honest porn somewhere in the background.  I feel that if I concentrate too hard the writing will suffer, I need to be distracted so that what I write is what I mean to write not what I force out.  It’s the purest way I’ve found to express my intention and not what others want to read.  I figure this is one way to find a true following, cause if they’re following all this they’ll follow me anywhere I go with it.

               When I write I need alcohol.  Well, I need alcohol every day.  In writing it does help lube up my hand, making the pen slippery and allowing some words and sentences to appear on the paper that normally might not have been allowed to.  As honest as I’d like to be I always hold back a certain percentage for security reasons, personal or sometimes simply because I fear how the words will be received.

               I’ll be the first to admit that it’s a bit crazy, anyone who walks into my office will first hear my problem, then see my problem and when I smile will know there is no one here to make sense of it all.  There isn’t, I’m just a conductor for these words, a crazy conductor who is in it for the ride more than the race.  It’s the only vehicle I know how to navigate, within it I can make sense of all the knobs, gears and buttons.  I’ve been driving it so long it’s the only vehicle I know.