Blisstortion

‘77

Tue, 29 Dec 2015 22:01:01 -0500

The morning sun, already up 3 hours, suddenly cracked the late June humidity, and as if in conspiracy the neighborhood birds chattered away his fleshy half-slumber dreams of Adrienne Barbeau. Most days Mark usually dragged and moaned, but not today–he yanked on his Levis cords– the ones with the slight tear in the knees and by the wallet pocket. His mom didn’t like him to wear dirty clothes and probably would have stopped him, but this was the last day of school and so he defiantly put on his Cheap Trick concert-t for good measure. It was actually no problem, because his mom was in the bathroom with the blow dryer screaming, and she never looked past the mirror as she shouted that she’d be home around dinnertime and to “be sure and get your working papers signed”.

The plan was to meet up last period to dump all of the years notebooks and other papers all over the cafeteria floor before the days real goal-skating at the secret drainage ditch.

His buddy Ron met him after he got home. Ron went to a Catholic school, which always cracked Mark up because as the last child in a big, strict family Ronnie was surprised by nothing and up for anything. They had both been altar boys but well, one did it for the curiosity and a cynical public display of virtue–the other for access to the votive candle money. Ron asked, “do we have all that we need?” “Yup, I got 4 of them, we should go get some beer”.

The strip mall liquor store was a sad place of fluorescent lights, generic vodka and Ballantine Ale posters, with a weird tiny bar inside, one of those ones with the tufted vinyl padding and the matching 4 stools that could have been in your grandfather’s basement. The local laws required that they have it in order to sell package goods-but you usually only saw a single disheveled salesman sitting there, especially at 4:30 on a Thursday afternoon. Being only 15 they had to get someone to cop for them, so they sat on the curb outside the door smoking and checking out anyone walking up. A fiftyish black man in dark blue Dickies work clothes walked tiredly toward the boys and the store. “Archie” it said over his left chest pocket.

“Hey would you buy us a couple quarts?” Mark asked, feeling both embarrassment and thrill in alternating, pulsing waves. The man smiled, (or was it a smirk?) but said nothing and walked into the store.

Ron said: “you’ve got to be cooler than that, man, we’ll have to try again.” A few minutes went by and the Archie man came out of the store. He waved over by his car-the boys jumped and ran over- and he handed 2 quarts of Budweiser to the taller one, Mark. Mark handed him three dollars just as Ron joked “Man, I thought you’d buy us Colt 45!”

Archie’s face went slack and he reached out and cuffed Ron, saying nothing, but glaring hard into his eyes. Ron went stone petrified and after what seemed like a lifetime Archie said, “Boy, just stick with white beer ‘till you’re old enough for the good shit.” Ron just gave a silent nod, and as the man let go of Ron’s neck he gently pushed the 3 dollars back into Ron’s pocket, got in his car and drove off.

They stopped one more time to get the cassette player, picked out the Led Zeppelin, Cars and Elvis Costello tapes and started the mile and a half hike to the industrial park near the highway. The skating area was officially trespassing on the turnpike right of way, and while they were not the only ones who had ever skated there, it was largely theirs. Even most of the graffiti tags: “Sims Pure Juice”, Dogtown Rules”, and stupidly, their own names, were sprayed on the walls of the culvert. They got to the chain link fence, where they originally had lifted at the eroding ground level and slid under, but now had been neatly clipped up a good 3 feet like a tent flap, went through, and crouch-ran like infantry on patrol to the top of the clearing. It was an open area where the concrete drainage trough started but it was still up a long grassy berm a good forty or fifty feet below the dull roar of the turnpike.

Mark loved this place; with the constant farts of the semi’s clutch braking, it seemed urban and vital, but afternoon sun dappled through the high uncut grass that surrounded their concrete wave pool, giving it a visual stillness to counter the din. Mark reached in his pocket and pulled out the 4 Valiums he had taken from his mom’s bottle. He gave 2 to Ron and they toasted with a few big swigs from the quarts. It was close to 6 o’clock and even before the pills kicked they were about as relaxed and happy as the early summer evening that surrounded them. Ron smiled at no one in particular, tossed his denim jacket into the grass and hit play on side one of Physical Graffiti.

The culvert wasn’t radical, its 40 degree sloping sides were only about 4 feet each; but the total length of the run was a nicely sloping 160 yards or so. Ron said it was like the longest Jersey wave, which at about a minute and a half to the collection pool, it certainly was.

Mark pushed off at the top and gently backsided up the left side; he had done this run it seemed like a thousand times, and it was as if the board told him where to go. Loose and rubbery, he dropped and crossed, a steady metronome to each peak, turn, and traverse of the slightly rough bottom.

Even the concrete seemed soft, and fluid, and the sun felt so good on his face that he took the turns with his eyes closed, 90 seconds seeming like an entire summer, which had only begun this moment.

liartownusa: Apple Cabin Foods No.12

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 20:44:44 -0400

liartownusa:

Apple Cabin Foods No.12

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Thu, 27 Aug 2015 08:23:05 -0400

(via pc-1950-002.jpg 403×580 pixels)

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 14:41:45 -0400

(via pc-1950-002.jpg 403×580 pixels)

The “Vomit List” 50 most sickening songs (via The Ex)

Fri, 13 Mar 2015 12:15:01 -0400

1 Band Aid - Do they know it’s Christmas Time (1984)
2 U2 - Where the Streets Have No Name (1987)
3 John Miles - Music was my first Love (1976)
4 Wings (Paul McCartney) - Silly Love Songs (1976)
5 Meat Loaf - Paradise by the Dashboard Light (1977)
6 Queen - We Are the Champions (1977)
7 Boomtown Rats - I Don’t Like Mondays (1979)
8 Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder - Ebony and Ivory (1982)
9 USA for Africa - We are the World (1985)
10 Billy Joel - Uptown Girls (1983)
11 Robert Palmer - Addicted to Love (1986)
12 Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell (1977)
13 Culture Club - Do You Really Want to Hurt Me (1982)
14 George Michael - Careless Whisper (1984)
15 Michael Jackson/Paul McCartney - The Girl Is Mine (1982)
16 Minnie Riperton - Lovin’ You (1975)
17 Wings (Paul McCartney) - Mull of Kintyre (1977)
18 Rod Stewart - Sailing (1975)
19 OutKast - Hey Ya! (2003)
20 A-ha - Take On me (1984/1985)
21 Toto - Africa (1982)
22 Coldplay - Clocks (2002)
23 The Police - De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da (1980)
24 Elton John - Candle in the Wind (1973)
25 Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven (1992)
26 R.E.M. - Shiny Happy People (1991)
27 Phil Collins -Sussudio (1985)
28 Starland Vocal Band - Afternoon Delight (1976)
29 Starship - We Built This City (1985)
30 Paper Lace - The Night Chicago Died (1974)
31 The Knack - My Sharona (1979)
32 Genesis - I Can’t Dance (1991)
33 Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart (1983)
34 Yes - Owner of a Lonely Heart (1983)
35 Enya - Orinoco Flow (Sail Away) (1988)
36 David A. Stewart (feat. Candy Dulfer) - Lily Was Here (1989)
37 Sting - The Soul Cages (1991)
38 Elton John - I’m Still Standing (1983)
39 Christopher Cross - Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do) (1981)
40 Steve Miller - Abracadabra (1982)
41 Wham! - Last Christmas (1984)
42 4 Non Blondes - What’s Up? (1992)
43 UB40 - Red Red Wine (1983)
44 Eurythmics - Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four) (1984)
45 Guns N´Roses - November Rain (1991)
46 Herman van Veen - Anne (1986)
47 Barry Manilow - Copacabana (1978)
48 Vangelis - Chariots of Fire (1981)
49 Herbie Hancock - Rockit (1983) [except the hi-hats]
50 Sting (feat. Stevie Wonder) - Brand New Day (1999)

Thanks Mr Boyce!

Fri, 16 Jan 2015 10:19:26 -0500

Thanks Mr Boyce!

"There is a separation of colored people from white people in the United States. That separation is..."

Sat, 06 Dec 2014 11:21:21 -0500

“There is a separation of colored people from white people in the United States. That separation is not a disease of colored people. It is a disease of white people. I do not intend to be quiet about it.”

- Albert Einstein

"We highbrows, I agree, have to earn our livings; but when we have earned enough to live on, then we..."

Sun, 09 Nov 2014 21:57:42 -0500

“We highbrows, I agree, have to earn our livings; but when we have earned enough to live on, then we live. When the middlebrows, on the contrary, have earned enough to live on, they go on earning enough to buy.”

- Virginia Woolf on middlebrow – her brilliant letter to a patronizing reviewer, a masterwork of irony in the true literary sense of the word. (via explore-blog)

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Wed, 15 Oct 2014 13:49:39 -0400

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Wed, 15 Oct 2014 13:49:23 -0400

The greatest American roots band today. Shambolic &...

Wed, 08 Oct 2014 22:35:54 -0400

The greatest American roots band today.

Shambolic & Poetic

The Felice Brothers - Meadow of a Dream (Live @ Rhythm N’ Blooms 2014)

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Sun, 05 Oct 2014 20:19:00 -0400

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Thu, 28 Aug 2014 19:39:18 -0400

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Mon, 07 Jul 2014 10:38:22 -0400

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Sat, 14 Jun 2014 16:18:37 -0400

Thank Ol Chrissie for returning Jersey to its rightful status as...

Fri, 13 Jun 2014 10:05:24 -0400

Thank Ol Chrissie for returning Jersey to its rightful status as the butt of all state-related jokes

wearethe15percent: A year ago today, we had an idea to create a...

Thu, 05 Jun 2014 19:41:24 -0400

wearethe15percent:

A year ago today, we had an idea to create a website that reflected the changing face of the American family. Inspired by the backlash against the 1st Cheerios ad, we thought we’d post our own family photo, invite a few friends to join-in, and see what happened.

What’s transpired in the last 12 months has been humbling and extraordinary. There’s a lot that can be said about what We Are the 15 Percent means to us, but it distills to this: it’s a true joy to be able to spread a bit of happiness into the world nearly every day. It’s a small thing, but it feels vital & important, and over time, what started small has accrued into something much larger than we could have ever imagined.

And it’s because of you. Not the treacly, cliche, “it’s all because of you”, you. YOU. You who just sent-in an updated photo because your family had a new addition last week. You who sent your photo in last July and are patiently waiting to see it on the site. You, who (like Michael’s mom) looks at the site every day to see families that remind her of her son & daughter-in-law’s.

We feel like the project is still at the beginning. Your support, interest, and enthusiasm has fueled us to consider what “year two” might look like. We have plans, and we can’t wait to share them with you.

Tonight, after getting home from work — we took a selfie (it’s 2014 still, right?) and thought we’d update our own picture from last June.

Thank you for your trust, your kindness, and for sharing a part of yourselves with us (and by extension, the world).

Here’s to everything that’s next!

- Michael & Alyson, Atlanta, GA 2014.06.04

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Thu, 22 May 2014 20:55:44 -0400

As 9/11 Museum Opens, These New Yorkers Will Stay...

Sat, 17 May 2014 11:12:55 -0400

As 9/11 Museum Opens, These New Yorkers Will Stay Away

http://nyti.ms/1gPFFn8

…

One of the least discussed but most important identifying characteristics of the true New Yorker of today is their attitude about tourists. The real New Yorker is both helpful to, and yet pridefully contemptuous of, the quite literally hordes of visitors that descend on just about every corner of the city. We understand that they bring revenue and livelihoods to many of us and certainly make economic life easier without many of the other costs of accommodation that cities must afford other “industries”. That said, one of the most galling and ironic aspects of how the city survived and indeed thrived since those dark and apocalyptic days, is how the visitors have come (and come), without concern or hesitation, and see Ground Zero as an attraction. I understand this, as the true religion of NYC has always been ambition, commerce and money. So the pyre and hallowed ground of the former WTC was destined to take it’s place on the tourists bucket list, somewhere aesthetically between Disney Times Square, and the Egyptian wing at the Met.

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Sun, 13 Apr 2014 13:19:04 -0400