skepticlysm

Tag: interviews

  • The $5.98 Blog Post

    The $5.98 Blog Post

    • Starship ain’t what it used to be.
    • When “we” were kids, Starship Records and Tapes sat in a small, converted house off 11th & Delaware.
    • Place was yellow and blue on the outside and had a really pointy roofline.
    • Smelled like weed on the inside.
    • Full of bongs.
    • Sorry.
    • Paraphernalia.
    • I’m pretty sure I bought my “Crash Course in Brain Surgery” t-shirt there in ninth grade.
    • (Metallica cover of Budgie.)
    • …waitaminute…
    • You don’t think …
    • …
    • …
    • Nah.
    • Anyway, had fond memories of the place from the two or three times I visited.
    • A while back, they moved.
    • Kinda over by Mother Road Market off Lewis.
    • The kid’s into traditional vinyl records, so I thought we could go.
    • And she could practice driving.
    • Down Lewis.
    • Which, like Peoria, is stupidly narrow for some dumb reason, curbs adding to the difficulty rating.
    • Weren’t cars fatter in the ‘50s and ‘60s than they are now?
    • You’d kill each other going four wide in some old Lincolns, Fords and Chevys.
    • Anyway.
    • She did well.
    • Starship … didn’t?
    • Took her to Studio Records to make up for it.
    • Shoulda seen her eyes light up when we entered.
    • And yes, we walked out with records.
    • She paid for most of them.
    • They actually had The $5.98 EP – Garage Days Revisited on vinyl.
    • Which was the first Metallica album I bought the day it came out.
    • Everything before that was out before I found them.
    • I still listen to that EP all the time.
    • I love those five songs.
    • Okay, the first four.
    • I can take or leave the Misfits cover.
    • The internet’s telling me that EP dropped August 21, 1987, which makes it … jfc … 38 years old.
    • Sigh.
    • Fuckit.
    • I’m not apologizing.
    • I still like a lot of the music I grew up with.
    • And I’ll defend my roots until they play this stuff at my wake.
    • Play “The Wait” at my wake.
    • Heh.
    • I’d be worried if I only listened to “old” music, but I still find new music.
    • I know, I know, I have recited that “do not go gentle” line a million times at this point.
    • Don’t know what to tell you.
    • I’m not going to stop.
    • Fuck it.
    • Like, I’m in the middle of reclaiming my fitness.
    • I’ve ridden my bike three times in the past two weeks, increasing my mileage a tad each time.
    • And each time, well the first two times, I’ve been wrecked after.
    • Sore all over.
    • I will overcome.
    • I will be back.
    • I cannot do this any other way.
    • I can’t imagine giving up.
    • Not now.
    • I’ve mentioned the immobility, stiffness, lack of flexibility, and lack of strength.
    • Holy shit, some people just give up and age like that?
    • If this were a PT problem, I’d be at PT.
    • (I might, btw, if my heels don’t improve.)
    • I’ll give work a month or so before I start leaving for PT.
    • But … damn, man.
    • I need to be able to ride at least 35 miles (or 25 on gravel).
    • I need to be able to ride Turkey Mountain.
    • I need to be able to run a damn 5k.
    • And do 40 pushups.
    • Hell, it’d be nice to be able to run a 50-yard sprint, but … I’m trying to be patient here.
    • The point is age takes things from you.
    • Some of which are unavoidable.
    • Maybe you can affect the pace.
    • But holy shit, don’t just shrug your shoulders and go, “Okay.”
    • I can say that because it’s what I’ve been doing for three years.
    • I let this shit beat me for a while.
    • And I still don’t know if I’ve won or not.
    • I’m just no longer lying on the couch and taking it.
    • I’m working on applying that to everything in my life.
    • Anything I feel deficient at.
    • I’m coming for you.
    • Okay, the “Green Hell” portion of the Misfits song is pretty great.
    • (Of course I put the EP on when I started typing. After the fifth bullet point.)
    • I can’t actually imagine hearing Danzig sing it.
    • I was never into the Misfits.
    • I know Cliff wore the shirt, but …
    • We didn’t have streaming back then.
    • What you gonna do?
    • I only owned like a dozen tapes.
    • Maybe a few more than that, but not much.
    • Got what I could from Columbia, got out.
    • I still have some in a red metal lunchbox in the upstairs closet.
    • One of them’s the “Creeping Death” single.
    • I wrote a list on Friday.
    • Facebook did not like it.
    • Gave me an “error” each time I tried to post.
    • It’s over on the blog if you want to read it.
    • I liked it.
    • For what that’s worth.
    • My favorite song on that EP was “The Small Hours,” which apparently belonged to a band called Holocaust.
    • Didn’t remember that.
    • I’m sure I knew back when.
    • Cause I sat on the bed and read the jackets for everything I had while I listened to it.
    • According to the Internet, Metallica’s played that song live a whole seven times, the last being in 2009.
    • I always imagine bands whose songs get covered by modern acts are grateful, because there’s money involved.
    • Each time a song gets played, someone gets a royalty check.
    • Unless it’s by Spotify, then they get screwed.
    • Another example of some rich asshole getting paid for something a creative person created.
    • We watched Argo again this afternoon.
    • They kept showing scenes of Iranians burning things in effigy.
    • Future flashback.
    • And now we’re at the end of  the EP where they butcher the beginning of Maiden’s “Run to the Hills,” which seems a fitting sentiment to end on.
    • Better than sitting here letting the Monday Dreads win.
    • F it.