Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Troller Coaster

So NOFX's new album is called Coaster. That's ironic, because the last time I saw Fat Mike, he signed my Me First and the Gimme Gimmes coaster. Maybe I inspired him. Or more likely, he doesn't remember meeting me because he was drunk out of his mind. Oh well. The irony is enough to make me smile.

This is going to be added to the list of albums I can't wait for in '09. I've given The Gaslight Anthem another go and they're actually pretty good, I think. My mom said they sound like Springsteen...wannabes. She doesn't like The Boss to begin with. We're all entitled to our opinions.

I disagreed with my mom's last night, but on a different subject. See, my brother, Zane, bought concert tickets to go see David Archuleta in Richmond, VA. The concert is today. My mom decided that he shouldn't go because he didn't hold up his end of the deal, which was to do all of his work in school and behave. Well he acted up the other day and defied his teacher in some manner. I told her that I agreed with her decision zero percent. I said "Let's put you in his shoes. Let's break your hips, have your sister move in, say you're going to Aruba in a few days, and see how you perform at work. Oh, and let's also say that everyone hates what you are (in my brother's case, being gay). I can't blame him for defying his teacher when they defy what he is every day." My mom then hugged me, told me that she loved me and that I'm a really good brother. And then she told my brother that she was going to let him go.

Zane doesn't need something else in his life to tell him that what he does is wrong. I'm sure the teacher was partially guilty in why Zane was acting up, knowing that if he did and they called home, he wouldn't be allowed to go. I hate homophobic teacher politics.

It's taking me hours to write this. It's 7:40 now, so you do the math based on when it says this was posted on how long it's taken me. Okay, I'm calling it a night for now.

love,
Kyle

Monday, February 23, 2009

This Stinking Ship.

When was my last post? Thursday? Man, it's been a long weekend. So okay, my last post was critically acclaimed, so I'm gonna have to write a really bad one today just to balance it out.

So okay, last Thursday and Friday, I attended...Region IX Honor Band. I guess we're the 9th region, whatever that means. So this is how it works. Band directors (in our case Mr. Leonard) pick out the best and/or most dedicated players in the school band to participate in a regional honor band. Our school band is obviously pathetic since I seemed to have stuck out over most in being one of the best and/or most dedicated students in band. I wasn't real thrilled about it at first because I thought there were tryouts and shit, which I wanted not to be a part of because that'd require me to exert effort. However, I found out that we were just going to go up to Musselman High School for two days--the first day we'd spend learning the music and the second day we'd perform in front of lots of people. So I thought "Ehh, why not?" but even if I had found a reason "not," I had no choice because Mr. Leonard signed me up! So I went with Belle, Lindsey Feaster, and Kristen Mackert. Bless MY heart this time.

Day one!
My mother picks me up from my house. "Hi mom." She drives me to school where I arrive at 7:22 a.m. None of the other kids have arrived yet. I also seem to be the only one that's remembered to bring my permission form signed to give to Mr. Leonard. How bad is it when I'm the most prepared? We're talking armeggedon sing-along. After waiting on Mr. Leonard to get things in order with the substitute teacher, we hit the fuckin' road! I took all of my homework and books thinking foolishly that I'd have the time and effort to do it while I was there. Ha. Read a book in the car? Ha. We listened to Alkaline Trio, Bracket, Against Me!, Vampire Weekend, and some other good shit. We drove past Williamsport.

We arrive at uhh....I'm gonna say 9:30? 10? Something, it doesn't matter. It would appear that every other band has already arrived. The stage is full of a bunch of kids armed with instruments. The bassoons were particularly lethal-looking. They sound like Winnie the Pooh when played, which I found to be very amusing. So little ol' Kyle me sneaks through the curtains to get to the back of the stage where the percussionists reside during concert band. Needless to say, I know one person other than the people in our group at the whole thing. That would be Laura from Hampshire (the county I technically live in). "Hi, Laura." So I'm back there in the "pit" or whatever you want to call it and there are all of these drummers and I don't know what to think of them and they don't know what to think of me. I'm wearing my jacket with the big Minor Threat backpatch on it and the Propagandhi, F.Y.P, and Bad Brains patches on the front along with many buttons including my pink triangle (representin' the queers because someone needs to). None of the other drummers (besides Mary) has long hair. I instantly feel like I haven't gotten the memo that all drummers cut their hair recently. Oh well, I'm still a sexy beast.

First song! "Gavorkna Fanfare." The conductor is a madman, but he's hilarious and an assload of fun. He said something like, "I'm not going to be all evil about taking your cell phones. Like 'GIVE ME YOUR CELL PHONE.....SO I CAN CRUSH IT!'" He conducted as if, in his own words, he was "casting spells like Gandalf." "Fighting off ninjas" would also have been accurate. Anyway, the song itself. It starts with a pick-up note with the timpanis doing a 16th-note run and ending with a "tam-tam" (which is like an extra trashy-sounding gong) crash. Then it sounds like fight music from a Zelda game for the rest of the song. Fucking epic. I played bass drum and "suspended cymbal" which was an A Custom Zildjian Medium Ride. There was an Avedis Zildjian Medium Ride there, too. Fun song. Great opener.

Then we played something called "Three Tapestries," but we only played parts two and three, which were epic in themselves. I'm actually stealing a rhythm from part three and putting in an I Forget song. I played timpani.

Mr. Leonard then conducted a New Orleans-style march called "March Creole." I hate marches, but this one was okay. I had to play bells, though. I got to learn how to read music. (It's about damn time, I guess.)

Uhh...a song called "John Willliams In Concert" which was a medley of songs written by John Williams. It included ET, Star Wars, Jaws, the NBC theme song (or CNN, whatever), the Olympic theme song, and...some dancey-Latin sounding song. Very fun song. I played the chimes and the xylophone on that one. I BS'd a lot of parts in those songs. You'd know probably 70 or 80% of the parts to that song if you heard it, regardless of if you realize it or not.

We played America the Beautiful. I played snare on that one. I hate buzz rolls. I hate patriotic songs.

We had a song called "Nimrod" where I played one cymbal crash. Very boring.

And that was it. Some good songs and some less exciting ones, but it was awesome how we learned 6 songs in two days. I got to talking to some of the other drummers and to some of the tuba players (since they sit right in front of the timpanis). At least two of the other drummers were in bands. One, AJ Buchannon, plays in a band called Halo III, which he said is like a ska band with screaming vocals that does a No Doubt cover. The other guy, Corey McNees I guess his name is, said his band was a cross between Godsmack and Avenged Sevenfold. Sounds like something I want to avoid at all costs.

We went out to eat pizza at lunch time and at 4:00 p.m., we left and went home. We listened to Mitch Hedberg in the car on the way home.


Day two!
I ride the bus to school. "Hi, Rick." Though my bus is like the last one to get there, I'm still not the last person to arrive in Mr. Leonard's office. I don't even think I was next to last. I may have been second, actually. Anyway, we eventually got on the road. Dane Cook on the way up.

We arrive again. Time unknown again. I didn't watch the clock. I was more comfortable around everyone this day because I'd met them all, or at least seen them all, the day before. The songs all sound a ton better. We went out and had Waffle House for lunch. I ordered a waffle, an egg and cheese omelet, and hashbrowns. It was delicious. I translated my music into a language that my eyes could read. When we left Waffle House, a guy had parked next to us in an extremely obnoxious truck with a roof over the bed of it and it was painted what looked like office desk grey with red spray paint all over it. I wish we'd taken a picture. It had probably 4 or 5 license plates total. One had a rebel flag, one said "4EVER COOL" or something, the other ones all had redneck bullshit. "White supremacy" one might have said, or might as well have said. The grill had teeth. It had horse shoes painted red on it. I think there were horns and/or spikes, too. "Hi, asshole." Proud to be white.

We went back, rehearsed some more, I got to know some people a little better, we went out for "dinner," which was a "fun" trip to Dairy Queen on a very, very windy day with wind chill at probably 7 degrees Farenheit. Logical, I know, but we weren't really hungry. We went BACK to the school where we got dressed for the concert...in our marching band uniforms (because band kids don't look dorky enough on their own). There were actually some good-looking girls there, so I can't say that completely. I'd liked to have gotten the chance to know some. But I digress! Concert - epic. Saying bye to everyone - epic. We gave out our last I Forget DIY business card. So we're gonna see if these hoes don't come down to our show this Saturday in Martinsburg at the Tuscora Ruritan that starts at 5 p.m.

We also have a show on Friday in Frostburg, Maryland starting at 6 where we'll be playing with The Undercover Saints, Anarcoustic, and ScReW-b@lZ. Come. I demand you to. This is local, you can make it.

So I love music, basically.

love,
Kyle

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Motivation

Why do I do what I do? What a broad, open-ended question. How do approach it? Well maybe I should narrow it down first...or maybe I should go for it like a starving man to a wild, unidentified fruit. Only, hopefully I won't die by answering my own hypothetical question wrong...

Why do I do what I do? Do I think that my actions will be rewarded one day...or that they're rewarding just to initiate in? Let me use an example...do I think that because I complain so much that I'll one day be happily relieved or do I find happiness in complaining? Do I succeed in school because I feel I'll be rewarded, or are grades rewarding in themselves? Do I talk to girls because I hope to one day be rewarded or because I genuinely enjoy talking to them? The answers may always lean more towards one answer, but they're never really that simple. Do you work so that you can pay bills or so that you can retire? It's both. Mostly to pay bills, but that retirement better come one day, too. Are these questions irrelevant?

I think that questioning yourself is just as important as questioning anyone else. Why do you do what you do? Do you listen to those shitty bands because you like them or because you expect the social world to reward you for listening to the same shitty music as them? Did you cut your hair like that because you like it or because People Magazine liked it? Do you go to church because you like going or because God will let you into heaven if you do?

Here's another question: do you have to have fun to enjoy yourself? What if you enjoy being lonely? Enjoy being miserable? On maybe a less morbid level...do you enjoy resting? Do you enjoy thinking, wandering through your mind, staring at walls? Those could all arguably be ideas of fun, though.

I don't know where I'm going with any of this...but ask yourself why you get out of bed sometime. Do you really expect the day to bring you anything? Is there a reason you find keeping yourself alive from day to day important? When your whole week has shat on you time after time, why do you keep trying? I think the answer to this (for those of you who decide to keep themselves alive) is easy. Because doing what we do starts to form habits. Maybe it's a habit of trying to prove yourself wrong...trying to prove others wrong...trying to see how much worse you can make your life. Do you ever really know why you keep trying? I don't, so I think that subconscious will must have something to do with it. Living is a habit. Don't break it.

Tell you one thing, if waking up and going to school wasn't a habit for me, I'd definitely find reason not to go quite often. If trying to look nice wasn't a habit, I'd not even bother most days. If breathing wasn't a subconscious habit, we'd all be dead! You're addicted to living. Don't believe me? Try to stop breathing only using will power.

I fucking do what I do because either I believe it's right for me or habit tells me to. Why am I an asshole when someone pisses me off? It's all I ever do when I'm pissed. It's simple. At the same time, it's so complex that I don't understand it at all. Why do I keep writing? Do I feel better writing? Am I enjoying myself? Do I feel like I'll be rewarded later? No, it's a habit.

love,
Kyle

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

I'll write about whatever I fahcking want!

I got my license today! Goddamn, I am good with the older women. Normally, they only inspect the lights, windshield wipers, and horn, but I showed her my back seat, too. Haahaahha. Well she was very, very gracious to me and gave me an extra shot at parallel parking and passed me. However, the computers were down at the DMV, so I don't have my physical license yet; I have to go back tomorrow to get my picture taken. I passed my test and that's what's important.

Awesome, what else? Well I didn't write a blog yesterday evening because I'd written one at midnight the night before. I intended on going to go back to the studio and finishing EVERYTHING, but that didn't happen because I never recieved my phone call, so I stayed at home all day. I could have written about the potential of me getting my license today, but I decided I didn't want to test my luck at predicting things in a blog. So I'm now reporting to you what DID happen and not what COULD have happened, but could have easily not happened.

What else has happened? I saw a bumper sticker today that said "Marriage = (man symbol) + (woman symbol)." I curse that homophobic asshole. But what more can one do from the inside of his car? Give the finger? I have nothing to say on that matter, I guess.

I'm not a good blogger tonight. You know I got my license, that's all the record keeping this day really needs.

love
Kyle

Monday, February 16, 2009

Dear Katie, Dear Belle,

Dear Belle first because I've put Katie before you many times recently and you're the one I loved first, anyway:

I'm sorry you feel this way. I'm sorry you probably feel the exact same way as I do towards somebody else towards me. It's tough. All you want is the person you used to know to overcome the person you see. I'm not entirely sure how to do that, since I don't know who you used to know and how you see me now, but hopefully this is a good step in the right direction. I've had a strange evening that feels spiritual, but I think it's more that an Alkaline Trio song is just stuck in my head and weird shit's going on. I guess it's not weird shit, I just fell asleep on my mom's bed and woke up on my own at 11:30. I don't know who took me there, but that's where I awoke. Belle, I don't know what else to say at this point, but I'll be back soon, I feel.

Dear Katie second because putting you anywhere at all is doing you a lot more justice than you've done to me in the past month:

Well, I'm sorry you feel this way. I'm sorry you probably feel the exact opposite way as I do towards someone else. That someone is else is the girl I knew when you lived here. If you're going to make your status on MySpace "trying to get shitfaced tonight :)," then I don't assume there's any harm in quoting only your own words to the public once more here? If you don't like me talking about you, then...tell me. I'll quit. But as for now, I'd be flattered to see that you remember my name. I already commented you once--I don't forsee you ever reading my blog again to actually see what I'm saying here. Are you and all of your friends going to hate me now? Is it really going to make any difference? From my side, I'm done trying to convince my friends that you're just going through a rough time in life and that you're actually a sweetheart, because I don't know if you are anymore. "Fuck you, [Kyle]." How long have you actually meant that? Where was the breakoff point? I was falling for you as fast as your entire life and the image you made of yourself when I met you is falling. Thanks for coming to see me play in Charles Town last weekend, though. You had me fooled for a minute there.

If either of you have it in you:

love,
Kyle

Sunday, February 15, 2009

...And if you look to your right, you'll see that everybody hates you

I'm not winning any popularity contests right now. Some of my own friends are thinking much less of me as of lately. What do I think about this? Well, I personally don't feel like I'm doing anything wrong or out of the ordinary. How do I feel about this? Like shit, frankly. What should I do about this? Some give me hints and others don't, so it's not always clear. I'm being vague and this means nothing to the reader that doesn't know what I'm specifically going through.

In other news, I just got back from the studio. Album's coming along amazingly. Drums on the album are finished and Shane has 2 or 3 more songs to do on bass. Brittney, however, hasn't hardly gotten to do shit and we have next to no vocals or other instrumentation out of the way. But as for drums and bass, we're looking pretty good! Normally, I'd be a prick and not tell anyone where we're at in recording, but I have nothing else in my life right now that's making me very happy from day to day. So you've lucked out if you've chosen to read my blog and if you care about I Forget. We're gonna be famous when this album is finished, you know.

So tomorrow, we go back in and do some more bass, I finish up drums to some other projects, and maybe we'll start guitar. I'd say the album will be done by January.

I feel cold and sick, so the season might finally be catching up to me. That's unfortunate, but I'm fortunate to have made it this far. At least I don't sing in I Forget and we're recording vocals. We always get sick when recording vocals.

I'll be going home tomorrow for the first time in over a week. My dad just told me on the phone that the people will be over working on the basement, so I'll probably spend tomorrow sleeping and/or reading and/or playing Animal Crossing (if I decide to take it back with me because it gets played a lot more here). I have like absolutely nothing to report to you guys today. I feel really lonely posting blogs every day when Alex doesn't post.

Oh, I just saw that Red Scare Records is supporting BSC (Bad Sandwich Chronicles [Brendan Kelly's blogspot page]). I guess that makes sense since BK and Red Scare are good friends. Red Scare became a label because Brendan told his friend that he wanted a made-up label to release The Falcon's first CD, so that's how Red Scare came about. That's your history lesson for today.

I haven't done a list in a while. Here's a list of things that remind me that I have no girlfriend:
-my bedroom
-Spongebob
-Flogging Molly
-my bracelet
-my MySpace comments
-my MSN message history
-riding the bus
-Fort Ashby
-my dick




love,
Kyle

Saturday, February 14, 2009

I love you, but it's opposite day

For anyone who read yesterday's post: guess where I'm writing from! Anyone guess Williamsport? I doubt it, but hypothetically speaking, if you did, you're wrong. DC maybe? Where in DC would I find a computer to be on long enough to blog? I don't know, either, so that's not the case. Let's try....my mom's house? Am I writing from my mom's house? Yes! Well okay, but is anyone over keeping me company? If you're seriously asking yourself any of these things, you have a lot more hope for me than I ever would. No, no one is here to see me. It's my mom, my brother, and me.

Should I start with what I wish I was doing, what I was planning on doing, or what I actually have been doing? I'll start from wishing.

I wish I were in Williamsport today perhaps singing a song I wrote to Katie, seeing a movie, going to the infamous coffee shop with the infamous scene kids that hang out there, or any other enjoyable Valentine's Day tootsie cutesy shit. I've never spent a Valentine's Day doing cute shit. Ever. The closest I'd say would be trading Valentine's Day cards in elementary school or going to a poetry reading, which wasn't on actual V-Day. It's never been a Kyle/girl duo. It's never been a Kyle/boy duo, either. No, not even a gay Valentine's Day have I lived through personally. Second hand, yes, but that's a different story.

I was planning on going to Williamsport and seeing Katie and doing whatever we felt like doing. This is also pretty much what I wished to be doing, but without any suggestions from my end.

I actually woke up at my step dad's, came home to my mom's, washed dishes, cleaned litter boxes, cleaned guinea pig cages, and threw firewood into the back of a truck. While this was all going on, I was recieving Katie's plans for today: stay home and puke all day. Someone got shitfaced because they felt they had no one to love them on Valentine's Day. Thanks for the consideration, I'm here all year. Isn't this a wonderful alternative? Currently, my best friend from Kindergarten is having a birthday party and I didn't go because well...he gets on my nerves and also that I didn't tell my mom there was a party going on and I've been sleeping all day. What will I tell him happened when I see him? He's gonna be pissed, I'm sure. I'll tell him the truth...I did chores. I feel bad but like...what do you do there? I'm not always the greatest at being a great friend. I guess I'm just as bad as the person that goes and gets hammered drunk so that he/she is completely unavailable the next day. Maybe we all could use some work...

I expected this or something similar to happen.

Oh well, I know I'm the one that's not puking today. I also know that Valentine's Day is a made up holiday with a rendered useless meaning that is kept around and made such a big deal in the US so that jewelry companies can reach their sales quotas or whatever they call that. I don't remember that from Marketing I. So overall, I'm okay. I told you I'd be strong. I told you I was anticipating disaster, but still hoping for a good day. And I told you that I wanted the ones that I called out to get back to me.

Well Alex did! Good boy! He responded in a very lax way (as most of the things Alex do are). Thank you for being sincere, respectable, and straight with me. He said, I think, that there were many reasons for his hiatus on writing and that the Amanda objections was one of them. I can deal with that. That's good, simple closure. More of the world should practice giving that. Alex, you are a good man.

Now I'll give Belle the benefit of the doubt here because she's at honor band this weekend staying in Morgantown with Kristen Mackert, bless her heart. But when she gets back, hopefully she'll get back to me on what the fuck is wrong.

I'm not that impressed with The Gaslight Anthem...I've heard a lot of hype about them in the punk community, but they were just so-so for me. They, I must admit, don't sound like any other punk/punk-ish band I've ever heard, but they didn't really blow me away. I'll probably listen again and fall in love, as I often do, or maybe I won't ever be impressed.

Okay! Okay! Okay! Good things to look forward to! Let's see if I can come up with some. Uhh...I'm recording drums tomorrow!!! I'm actually super pumped for that. No school on Monday!!! Also super awesome. If I finish up drums tomorrow (which I damn well could easily do), we'll start right into guitar/bass on Monday. I'm about to pay off my debt on Animal Crossing again! That means they'll put an upstairs in my house which I'll have to pay off next! Very exciting! That bitch of a duck is moving out of town maybe! Mallary! God, she's a bitch. So hopefully someone awesome will move in to take her place. Oh yeah! On Valentine's Day on Animal Crossing, Lolly sent me a letter. That's my girlfriend. She's a grey kitty. Her picture is on a blog I wrote a while back called "My Date" or something like that. But enough of these short-term things.

Short-long term things to look forward to: Propagandhi's new album, Propagandhi/Paint It Black/Ruiner show, D4/Bouncing Souls/AKAs show, new Green Day album, new blink-182 album. I'm going to run these things to the ground until they actually happen and then I'll get back to you about how inevitably amazing they each are!

Long-term things to look foward to: getting a life.


Okay, I gottta go get chicken eggs in the goat pin. Happy Valentine's Day!


love
Kyle

Friday, February 13, 2009

Okay, Okay, Here is My NOT Last Post

This is simply another day in the life of Kyle Wagoner. And what has happened? I caught a Coelocanth on Animal Crossing. That's that living fossil fish that hasn't evolved in like millions of years that was around during dinosaur times and everyone thought was extinct until they found a living one a while back. Very, very interesting concept and fish, but on Animal Crossing, they're a bitch to catch. However, I caught one today and that's what's important. I was very proud of myself. I turned that motherfucker right into the museum so I can look at him whenever I want. What else has happened? Well today, pretty much nothing.

Yesterday I did NOT get my license. I did NOT go take my driver's test. I do NOT know where my Driver's Ed card is. My dad does NOT know where it is, either. I can NOT get my license without it. That is NOT the main reason I didn't go to take my test. We did NOT have electricity. We did NOT want to go take a driver's test when we weren't even sure if Romney had electricity or NOT. Maybe next week...or maybe NOT.

I'm not sure if I'm gonna go to Williamsport and/or DC tomorrow because Katie has not gotten back to me. It's not supposed to snow there until tomorrow night, so the weather would be good enough to qualify Katie to go to DC, which I may or may not go to with her, depending on what she says, if she says, and if my aunt thinks her car will make it. We'll see, but there's a good chance, I'd say, that I'll be here tomorrow writing about the great Valentine's Day I could have had. Oh well, that won't be anything new to you guys or to me. But a Valentine's Day spent with someone would be, so I'd really like this to happen. If it doesn't, once again, nothing new and I'll be strong.

The All American Rejects have never written a song that I haven't loved. I'm pretty sure they're always fucking good, regardless of what anyone else thinks. Maybe you guys just listen to MTV and watch other TV (that plays them on commercials) too much. "Gives You Hell" makes me happy every time I hear it because I have only heard it probably 3 times in my life. Everything in moderation, especially mainstream music. "Hey There Delilah" did get old because it was played on Radio Disney and, therefore, my brother would listen to it constantly, but that's not AAR, so it doesn't affect my thesis statement.

I'm gonna throw something out there right now because it's inevitably going to become a big deal soon. My best friend and I are apparently no longer best friends. I didn't get the memo, but that's how it would appear to now be. Huh...how will I deal with this? Well I'm pretty sure she'll say something to me about it since I've revealed that I know something about it, or maybe she'll do exactly the opposite or maybe it has as much of chance being one option as the other because of reverse psychology times x. So I guess that's, in simpler terms, BTTM = RPx. (BTTM = [the odds of] Belle talking to me [about this situation]). If you followed me through that, you're probably weird.

And since I've already broken the ice of controversial things, I'm going to go ahead and say that it pisses me off that Alex has quit blogging. He said that writing has "caused him more problems than [he] thought." (That's paraphrased.) How can writing a blog cause you problems? I think the odds of it being internal conflict are very slim and I think it has more to do with Amanda getting pissed at him for saying certain things in his blogs. So sorry Alex and Amanda, but I'm not with either of you here. I, though I'm an entirely different person than and have the deepest respect for Alex, would NEVER quit blogging because my girlfriend didn't like my written opinions. I kind of have a huge problem with censorship. Maybe that's not the reason Alex quit blogging, maybe that's one of the many reasons, maybe it's the only reason but he won't admit it to anyone, I don't know. But the fact that he quit blogging really upsets me. He was my fucking news achor! Now I'm going to have to cover world news WHILE covering my own life! That means I'm gonna have to look up and read about these things on my own...or just report what I saw on The Daily Show the night before.

So Alex, Amanda, Belle, Unheard Silence (see yesterday's post): if any of you have a bone to pick with me now, please start picking. I truly have no problem with clarification if that's what is going to come out of me saying things like this. Maybe Belle has a good reason for no longer considering me her best friend without telling me, maybe Alex quit writing for interal reasons, and if not, maybe Amanda had a reason for giving Alex hell for speaking his mind and opinion in his own words. Unheard Silence, good luck coming up with an argument on why I should think your music is enjoyable.

Sounds like I want to start a war with my friends, huh? Let's see who else I can piss off...uhh...I'm still curious to hear the reason(s) why Katie didn't talk to me for 2 or 3 weeks. I guess that's it. As for the rest of you, there's nothing I feel I need an explanation for at the moment. You're all safe! And as for the ones I named, I guess you can all go on not telling me anything, but I'd kind of like to know what the fuck is really going on. I said the other day that I hate editing and censoring myself, so I'm calling you all out.

So okay guys, this is it. In the spirit of Valentine's Day and The All American Rejects, give me hell. (Enclose truth and reason with it, please.)

love,
Kyle

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Ahhh shit

What are you supposed to do when something is really bothering you and you know that saying it outright will get your ass and possibly other peoples' asses in trouble? The answer is simple: you repress that something and let it build inside of you until you fucking punch everyone one day. God it's annoying. But no no, I won't touch on that subject anymore tonight. I promised a story (I didn't promise shit to you assholes, I just want to tell one), so I'm gonna tell one.



Okay, I really am having a tough time (and Timmy's having a tough time helping me) finding a good eventful event in my life to tell you about. So here's my topic sentence: One time, I Forget was asked to play a show at the Teen Center in Romney, West Virginia.



Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. I don't even remember how we got the offer to play this show, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Donnie from Unheard Silence asked us to play a show with them at the Teen Center and you know what?! I think it was for Valentine's Day! This is super appropriate for this time of the year! It was February 16th of last year. Dude, how fucking awesome I am for picking this topic. Here's the flyer, just to bring back fond memories.

Okay, this was around the time we were "finishing up our first record." Bullshit, I wouldn't say we EVER technically "finished" our first record. And the more I hear and play the songs, the less I care about that. It's like not finishing a painting of a man playing with his dick. Are you really cheating anyone out of anything by not finishing it? I'd say "not really," unless the people looking, or in this case, listening to the song are really fucking weird.

Anyway, in celebration of being so vein as to think we were almost finished our first album(!!!!!!!), we decided to dress up as cowboys in accordance to the album concept (We Ride! [WaaPSH!]) and also in accordance to stereotypical West Virginians or, in this case, stereotypical Romney citizens. (We were thinking about posing as a goth band for the stereotypical Romney teen citizen for our second album.) So I had to get the necessary cowboy apparel for the rest of my bandmates because we obviously don't all own our own cowboy outfits. I went to my mom's closet and to my cowgirl aunt. Here are some pictures from the show that will show you how awesome our get-ups were. http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=65818832&albumId=1634208

Okay, so anyway, this was probably about our 3rd or 4th show EVER and that'd make it the 2nd or 3rd (or arguably 3rd or 4th, the argument existing in that the first show never existed) show of that era of I Forget. The era being the "Get Our Shit Together and Finally Start Playing Our Own Songs Era." And it being our 2nd/3rd/4th show ever, we weren't real sure what to expect. So what do we do in self-defense? Be arrogant assholes. This is especially fun and easy to do when dressed like you're going to herd barnyard creatures. The power behind a man in a cowboy hat, a fringed jacket, and a huge-buckled belt...it's fascinating. Anyway, so we decide to converse as hicks when anyone talks to us or simply when addressing each other. The never-to-die I Forget catch phrase of the night was (on the topic of Brittney standing in front of a Pepsi machine while performing) "I hope nobody wantin' them a Pepsi, 'cause I'mma be occupyin' that sum'bitch."

This was the show that I started to realize that I'm better than 99% of the drummers in the local bands. Nothing directly against Unheard Silence's drummer, Matt, but I just started to realize it that night. I also couldn't help but realize I have way better equipment than 99% of local drummers and that, especially at the time, was a very sad thing to realize. I let Matt borrow my cymbals for that show. He played a really shitty, really sloppy drum solo and asked me what I thought about it. Ha. I sugarcoated "It was shit" as much as I could without blatantly lying to him. I told him, and I completely meant this, "You'll get better" or something to that effect. Hell, if someone tells him I just said that in a blog, whatever. He's hated me since I said that to him, so it's not really going to matter. I think Unheard Silence broke up anyway.

This was also the show that I started to realize (and I think I speak for everyone in I Forget) that we're better than 90% of all of the local bands. Now maybe when we start moving up to more experienced, aged, and talented bands (TheShakedown, Christmas Lights, etc), that will no longer be true. The drummer thing will probably no longer be true then, either. But I welcome that challenge. It's weird to musically blow away other bands and then return compliments when they say "Great set!" I sound like such a fucking arrogant asshole when saying all of this, but come on. You don't have to agree with me, I Forget blows a good bit of the time. (I've had a growing love for punk shows because no one cares which band is the most talented.)

Anyway, let's get out of my head and to what really happened. This was around the beginning of my invention of In Your Indo Records (which, at the time, was Hatchet In Yo Titty Records). It was also the first time (of probably 6) that we got to watch Unheard Silence play and the first time (out of probably 5) that we got to play with Unheard Silence. I Forget has this reputation of opening for fucking everyone. It's what we do. We were a headlining band outside of my own house one time and that was so that everyone could go home before we played. So we opened for Unheard Silence that night. I thought that was a really stupid concept at the time and I still do, but I guess the kids may not have stuck around for us if we went second. Local band courtesy.

We started the show by playing a stereotypical country music vamp and then said "Hi, we're I Forget," leading into the "CRSHH CRSHH CRSSHH CRSHH" of the beginning of "That One Song." We thought it was pretty badass at the time and we watched The Eighth Plague start a show in a very similar way a few shows later, so apparently someone appreciated the sick humor of being a smartass.

So anyway, we told the kids while playing that we were finishing up a new album. We played Jeeznips that night which STILL isn't out on an album yet (that's how fucking new it was at the time). We played some personal favourites and some personally despised songs of ours. I think we pretty much played our entire album minus probably some of the better songs (since we fucked around in the studio and the song "Get a Clue" didn't exist until the album came out. That's for another post). The kids didn't seem to care too much. They didn't seem to care about anything we did. We could have left and they wouldn't have cheered, booed, or moved probably. It was weird. But if we asked any of them after the show what they thought, they'd either say that they liked us a lot or they thought we were a pussy band. That's typical. Sorry we aren't as ROCK as Unheard Silence.

Okay, no more beating around the bush. I don't like Unheard Silence's music and never really have. I was really, really excited about it at first because they really didn't sound like anything I'd ever heard before and they were a local band and we were going to play shows together and progress as musicians and bands together. Well, they progressed like one time and then we watched them play the same set (which was like putting one song on repeat for 45 minutes) at every show from then on. I had to accept that they don't write songs with ANY hooks to them at all. I can say this with some comfort since I know that they talk shit about us, too. That softens the blow, I think. And to anyone in Unheard Silence reading this, I welcome you to start a blog and write about how much you hate I Forget and/or the members of I Forget. All I'm saying here is that your music is boring and does nothing for me or anyone else I've spoken to from this side of the county line.

Anyway, in the spirit at the time of being excited about another local band even EXISTING, I took the mic after they'd finished their set (which I honestly wasn't very impressed by at the time) and formally announced the acceptance of them to our record label and brought out the contract for them to sign, which they never did THANK GOD. It was a bullshit hilarious contract that I think literally said that we'd own their souls, their children, their wives, their girlfriends, and their houses but not their music because we don't want anything to do with their music. I had a fun time writing it up. If I find it, I'll post it on here. It was just the record label's contract that I'd taken from some other label and changed some words around and inserted some of my own into. Genius work of art and one of the few things in life I've put a lot of worthless effort into. That's not true, I put a lot of worthless effort into a lot of things (effort into girls is a common pattern here). Anyway, they never signed it, I never put them on the label, they never released their album. I guess we all win, huh?

After the show, we went back to my house, dropped off our shit, and went out to eat at Denny's together. Epic night. Epic show. Most fun I've ever had being an asshole and playing our music even if the crowd didn't give a shit. Yes, this somehow beats the Roadhouse show and the Coke Plant show (both of which I could elaborate on later if, and only if, I want to). We were the punkest band in the world (to ourselves, at least, at the time) by being as unpunk as we possibly could be. Fucking amazing time. We haven't played at the Teen Center since. There are no active bands in Romney that aren't metal bands anymore I don't think. That's a completely honest observation, I really don't think any still exist.

So that was our show at the Teen Center in a nutshell, I guess. I'm not that great at telling stories, I'm better at elaborating on thoughts. Tell me if you liked it or not so I can find out what kind of blogs you motherfuckers like to read and then I can do the opposite.

love,
Kyle

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Froggy, Woggy, Bloggy

I love how my friends are getting into this blogging thing. Caleb started one yesterday. He's a follower of mine, look him up your goddamn self. But anyway, I've realized that I really love to hear biased opinions on subject matters that I know nothing about! I told Caleb this in a comment I just left him. I told him it's nice to hear what it was really like without a bunch of bullshit smiles and descriptions that make events sound nicer than they really were. He's talking about boot camp. How fucking epic? I don't even give two shits about boot camp, but he's fucking writing about it and I'm loving it. I hope he follows up for a few days at least on the subject matter. It's awesome. Maybe I'm realizing that I like to read...but this is reading in a completely biased way. Full-on one-sided opinions and it's awesome.

Amanda called Alex an ignorant asshole for the way he worded himself in a blog or for the things he says against certain groups of people (rednecks, Republicans, etc, she said) and I even appreciate her opinion. It sickens her. I love it all. Alex has a problem with the American Dream. Good for him! I fucking love it all!!! Opinions and assholes and fucking gold. (Opinions and Assholes is a None More Black song. Look it up. They're from Philly. You know who else is from Philly? Paint It Black, The Loved Ones, The Explosion [I think].)

So blogging is pretty much awesome. You know why? Look what I can say: the girls at Frankfort look like they're trying to starve themselves to death. Who stopped me from writing that? No one. Who's the editor? Me. Who knows what I meant by that? Me. Who's gonna take it the wrong way? You. It's beautiful. As I state my opinion, I instill one on you or bring yours out. It's awesome. So fucking fight me, assholes. I want to hear what kind of problems YOU have with ME!

George Bush is a complete dumbass. I didn't think the girl in Transformers was as attractive as everyone made her out to be (something Fox?). Family Guy is offensive and amazing 100% of the time. Gays should be able to get married. Animals shouldn't be bred to be put into slaughterhouses. Who's stopping me? FUCKING NO ONE. There's no moderator here. Letters to the author are going to change nothing that's already been written. This is fucking real life. I'm biased. Fuck yes, I'm biased. I'd rather watch frogs have sex than watch All Time Low play live! 3Oh!3 sound like bullshit. Metalcore is not hardcore. Propagandhi is the best fucking band ever.

So yeah, I have my opinions and they are a part of what makes me Kyle Wagoner. If you don't want them, I'm not forcing you to read this. Go read someone else's blog. Read about ponies or sweet things that will never harm anyone emotionally, figuratively, or physically. If you want to know how it is, or how I think it is, then you've come to the right place. Or you know what? You can even read NOTHING if you don't like what I say. Who said you had to read a blog at all? I see this as my public journal, but that doesn't mean I'm going to necessarily edit it for virgin eyes.

Anyway, so after reading Caleb's most recent post, I realized that I have never told you guys a fucking story! I mean, I have, but they're usually bullshit like "So I woke up, brushed my teeth, masturbated, went to school, had lunch, masturbated again, thought about fucking my teacher, went to 4th block, got a boner under my desk, fucked around in the band room, went home, put on a sweater, fell asleep, woke up, fed the goldfish, put my dick in the fishbowl, went to the emergency room, passed out, and here I am." Who cares, you know? I act as if there's never been a memorable event from my distant past to discuss or tell you about. So what am I going to do tomorrow? Well, probably wake up, shit, go to jazz band, endure school, go take my driving test, come home, shit, eat food, shit, play Animal Crossing, shit, and sleep (my stomach is still acting up). But in terms of writing a blog for tomorrow? Well I think I'm gonna try retelling a tale from my past. What should I write about? Digging for dinosaurs in my backyard? Going to a NASCAR race? The time Dale Earnheardt died and the effects it had on my life? My emo middle school days? The night of the eighth grade dance? It's hard to tell, but you can probably count on it being none of those things.

So I'm hungry, it's 31 minutes past my bedtime, and I forgot to make a wish at 11:11. Damn. I'm going to Williamsport to see Katie this Saturday. That's Valentine's Day. I'm preparing a little somethin' somethin'. I'll tell you about it when it's said and done (don't want her to find out what it is by reading this). I'm pretty stoked, though. Hopefully all will work out for once! I'll have to wear my lucky beret to bed or something.

Oh, and check this out. March 10th - new Propagandhi album. March 11th - Propagandhi/Paint It Black/Ruiner show. March 12th - D4/The AKAs/Bouncing Souls show. March 14th - Mara's moving back from Chicago. March 14th rings a bell....I'm not sure why. Hmm. Oh well. If it's really that important, it will come to me. That's gonna be one hell of a week, though. I gotta save up money for T-shirts and shit. Oh, and I spent $24 on drum brushes today. Really cheap-ass ones for a lot of money. Complete bullshit, but hey, I needed some. Speaking of drum brushes, yes, jazz band in the morning. I should get to sleep so I'll be awake for that.

love,
Kyle

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

The good news doesn't stop rolling!

Fat Wreck Chords signed Teenage Bottlerocket. Fucking Teenage Bottlerocket! One of the only surviving good pop punk bands in the world! They're actually a pop punk band! So this is totally awesome, for those of you who don't know who they are. They do "Bloodbath at Burger King." Ring any bells? Didn't think so. Anyway, Fat Wreck - Propagandhi + Teenage Bottlerocket = ...I can live with that.

I bought two tickets to both the Propagandhi/Paint It Black/Ruiner show and the Dillinger Four/Bouncing Souls/The AKAs show. That means a lucky someone gets to come with me to see them all! They have to pay me for the tickets, though. Life isn't a free ride, assholes.

So this TBR thing adds another band to be excited about this year. Man, it keeps coming! What's next? A Nirvana reunion?

I'm thinking about sleeping soon. It's been a long couple of days, but they've been worth living through, at least. I'm hoping this week will only get better, of course. Wishing bad luck on myself is kind of morbid.

I brought the new Animal Crossing game over for my mom and I to play this week because I'm staying at her house and she played it today and she reads the dialog and I make the characters use greetings like "Fuxup?!" and "Frogshit," and one guy's catch phrase is "titties." That's wonderful. Didn't think that one through very well...

My brother is finally getting to go see David Archuletta. Did I butcher his name? Good. Zane's voice butchers his name. But anyway, MAYBE he'll shut up SOME when the concert is seen and done. I'm actually using his new laptop right now, so he's gotten a lot of nice things recently, yet he's still finding things he wants. But if I can go see 6 bands, I guess he's permitted to go see one singer.

I know for a fact that Green Day's new album is going to be political, as I read a small bit from what they said to USA Today or something. One song is about religious hypocrisy, so that sounds political to me, especially for Green Day. Regardless, the blink-182 and Green Day thing makes me feel like I'm 12 again. It's awesome. I actually hated my life when I was 12, I think, but it's nice to have the memories of the good ol' music back. Back before All Time Low Hit the Lights! Ha! What an awful pun.

So! Teenage Bottlerocket is another band full of nights in shining leather jackets coming to save pop punk from impending doom. Woo! I have hope. I Forget will do all in its power to represent, too. At least, I will. I suggest you do the same. Call your cable company today and tell them that you want free porn on HBO.

love,
Kyle

Monday, February 9, 2009

21st Century Breakdown

jun jun jun ERRWWW.


You up-to-date Green Day fans know what I mean. Wouldn't it be funny if they came back as a metalcore band? The "Breakdown" in their album name really implied that there were breakdowns?

So anyway, this year has the potential to beatdown. Blink-182 are officially back together and Green Day are releasing a new CD in May. Lest we not forget I Forget and Propagandhi's new albums, but I'm talking mainstream pop punk right now. As blink-182 broke up and Green Day faded from the mainstream, a bunch of younger, shittier bands felt it was then their turn to take the tourch and take care of the mainstream "pop punk." Well now we'll take it back. Let's bring punk back. Green Day and blink are in charge of the mainstream punk and Propagandhi can deal with the political punk, Blake is coming back and can kick all of the shitty emo bands' asses, and I Forget's gonna kick some local band ass. Lots of asses to kick. I'm ready for some new albums from bands I've loved forever.

Now here's a huge what if: what if there was a Pop Distaster Tour Part 2? You know, as in another Green Day/blink-182 tour? That wouldn't work anymore, I don't think, as they've both become fucking humongous. About 3 hours ago, I'd checked blink-182's MySpace page and they'd recieved over 4,500 basic comments alone (that's not to include photo comments or blog comments). Green Day are powerful enough to have swept the Grammy's a few years ago. Blink are big enough to shake the world with the simple statement "We're back." If you put the two on tour together, they might as well be touring in tanks, as they're going to be destroying every city they play at together. So maybe that can't happen, but if it did, it'd be kind of badass...however, most of the population would sadly be teenie boppers. I'd think about going.

So anyway, mainstream or not, I love everything that blink-182 and Green Day have ever done (aside from Green Day's eyeliner and blink-182 breaking up and forming shitty bands). So label me a poseur non-punk piece of shit, but my politics are better than yours. My favorite bands are Propagandhi and Dillinger Four and I enjoy the likes of Cloak/Dagger, Paint It Black, F.Y.P, and ALL, so suck it. At least Green Day and blink-182 sound like themselves and not like Rise Against sounds like Nickelback or think that Three Days Grace is a punk band. I feel like I'm always battling myself for what is punk and what's not and I'm sure that very few people read what I write and the first thing they think is "How fucking unpunk is he?!"

So anyway, today just had two huge bits of news. Blink-182 is officially reforming and Green Day has released the title of their new album and the month of its release. In the spirit of this news, I'll tell you this about I Forget: our new album is being recorded. Didn't know that already? Now you do. Did you already know that? Tough luck.

Okay, okay, okay, enough with the punk rock politics. This Saturday is Valentine's Day. Oh joy, oh joy. Will I have a Valentine? I guess this week will tell...but I wish for one for at least this one Valentine's Day. It's kind of special, I guess, though pointless, you know? If I don't have one, then it's okay. These past few days have been spectacular. I'm gonna get me a bowl of cereal to congratulate my life turning itself around. Thanks, lucky beret and bowl of mini-wheats.

I feel like there was something else that struck me as significant today. Let's just say I've found a lot to look forward to this year. Good.

love,
Kyle

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Kill them all and let a Norse God sort 'em out!

So okay...this weekend was fucking epic. And I did it all without alcohol.

Let's recap. Friday, I rehearsed with Timmy, Saturday I played a show in Charles Town with I Forget, and today, I recorded drums. But let's get further into this. I had a lot of homework for the weekend. Write an essay, read a book, do a Trig quiz, and write a poem. How stereotypically difficult that all sounds. Well let's make it sound closer to what it was actually like. It was a short essay, a less than 100-page book, a very short Trig quiz, and a poem based on a newspaper article. Now don't get me wrong, the poem and the essay didn't come easily. I really know nothing about poetry or about writing it, so it wasn't the easiest thing for me.

But I wrote my poem on Obama being a celebrity because my newspaper article was talking about Obama's abs. Now seriously, what the fuck? And then in the middle of the article, it said "Abs is American slang for a ribbed midsection" and in another part "Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are the American Hollywood couple with six children." Both of those statements were so out of place and ridiculous that I didn't even have to refer to my poem or the newspaper to quote them exactly. It was like a really fucked up topic in a newspaper and in the middle of all of my "How the fuck is this big news when we're fighting two wars and the economy is shot?," it said shit like that which didn't really fit. It was like...if that article was in a book in middle school, those would be the sentences you'd pick out that didn't fit the story fucking AT ALL.

Okay, so I kind of finished my homework. Now I'll elaborate on the show since Alex commented me asking me to tell him how it went. Well it went like this: very sloppily, very short, and very fun. I had approximately NO room to set my drums up, so they were set up in a manner where I could hardly play my high tom with my left hand, so when I tried ripping off The Hives, I just sounded like an idiot and hit a lot of rim. Lame. But Katie and Taylor came out to see me play! It's weird how they know all of the people at the show and I met them from completely different places. But hey, whatever. Irony is cool, I guess.

And the weekend need a balance for the good things. So god gave me the shits. Really badly. And to make it better, I've had Taco Bell and Chinese food this weekend. And all of the toilet paper in all of the public bathrooms are so low-quality and after shitting literally 10 times in a day or two, it really takes its toll on your poor asshole. So my motto was "I'm making the shittiest toilet paper in the world shittier."

That's probably more than any of you needed to know. Oh, to make it better, I pissed on myself in Taco Bell. Sweaty, shitty, and pissed on. Sounds like a typical I Forget show.

But no, seriously, aside from shitting, this weekend was awesome. We tore some ass up in the studio today (for once, not my own). My dad and Rod are gone all week, so I'm going to go to my mom's or to wherever else. Maybe go to Williamsport on my day off on Friday. We'll see what this week brings, but I'm feeling much, much better today than I was feeling this time last week. That's good, right? Distractions are good now and then. And speaking of Distractions, you should go buy The Loved Ones' new EP, Distractions! In fact, I should go buy it myself! It features 3 originals and 3 cover songs. I don't even know if I like The Loved Ones that much, but whatever. I think it's at least worth listening to.

I'd write more, but it's 11 minutes past my bed time. Make a wish!

love,
Kyle

Friday, February 6, 2009

Bury the shovel! With the...uhh...wait...

Today is National "Jonas Brothers Suck" Day. I think that implies that they don't suck every day of the year, so I have a problem with that. Like Valentine's Day...aren't you supposed to love your loved one every day of the year? Well, that wouldn't bring in as many guaranteed profits to jewelry and chocolate stores, so this holiday obviously isn't going to end. And why are we directing today on The Jonas Brothers? As if they're not like a million other "artists" on Disney that have come before them? They actually had a good song, "Love Bug." I think it's undeniably catchy and well-written. Not written by them, of course, but whoever wrote it did a good job. So why can't we direct a day on a band that has never written a good song and everyone still hypes about them? Like uhh...The Deftones...or Hinder. Nickelback has written a song that I like before, so I can't say anything about them with that classification set.

I hate going in circles about good bands/bad bands. I'm going to clear things up for you real quick, just so I don't have to repeat myself a million more times. This list is subject to change all of the time on both sides.

[Mostly undeniably] Good bands:
Propagandhi, Dillinger Four, Toys That Kill, Superdrag, The Hives, Alkaline Trio, ALL, Descendents, Dead to Me, Randy the Band, Sick of It All, H2O, NOFX, The Weakerthans, Against Me!, Tom Waits, Nirvana, Motion City Soundtrack, LeATHERMØUTH, Cloak/Dagger, Paint It Black, Bracket, Jets to Brazil, Jawbreaker, Bad Religion, American Steel, The Dwarves, Weezer, The Lawrence Arms, and Frenzal Rhomb.

[Almost always undeniably] Bad bands:
Nickelback, Hinder, The Grateful Dead, All Time Low, Avenged Sevenfold, 3Oh!3, Kill Hannah, Three Days Grace, Three Doors Down, The Deftones, The Jonas Brothers, Rascal Flatts, and Staind.

God, I went through the top artists on MySpace to find a lot of those. Disgusting how terrible the world's music taste is. Nickelback was fuckin second on indie label top artists. Does no one get it? There is really nothing that Nickelback offers that no other band does other than the same shitty song written a million times and played on the radio for you to not be able to avoid. Fuck them. Fuck the radio. Is this me saying that my music is better than anyone else's? No. Is this me saying that The Dwarves kick Three Days Grace's ass? Fuck yes.

Anyway, Tim and I got together today and wrote some songs and taught each other song stuff for our new band. I'm kind of very excited for certain aspects. I'm more excited about playing in Charles Town with I Forget tomorrow. We haven't played "out" for a long time. Here's something funny about rehearsal today. Alex was supposed to come over and play drums for us, but I realized last night that...I don't have a drumset here. Kind of a big detail I left out, but hey? What can you do when you don't connect the dots of "I wish I could play my drums, but they aren't here" and "I can't wait to rehearse with Timmy and Alex!"?

Anyway, about tomorrow, we're gonna tear some ass up! Got some new songs to play for the mofos of the world! By "some," I think I just mean "a." But it's super punk and we ARE playing a punk show, after all. The kids will eat this shit up. Especially when we start singing Beyonce and Destiny's Child songs in the middle of the song. Wooo! Yeah, we're pretty much amazing.

I don't know if we're opening or not...but I guess we'll see! I don't care if we do, because at punk shows, it's all about just playing and having fun. There's not a pecking order bullshit thing. It basically works in that the local, most heard of band plays last. That's simple. Not putting us on last in Fort Ashby was stupid, and putting us last in Virginia was stupid.

If Paint It Black loses their drummer, I'm moving to Philideplhia.

love,
Kyle

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Your best friend is not your girlfriend

I mean that in an "It Hurts" kind of way. Any of you Angels & Airwaves fans would know that. Speaking of which, anyone heard the news about the blink-182 reunion? YES! IT'S FUCKING TRUE!

BLINK-182 ARE REUNITING (as presenters at the Grammys)

Yeah, isn't that a horrible case of blue balls? Fuck...but at least they're working together as friends again. They said there's speculation of a reunion, but they have to become stronger as friend and as musicians writing together than ever before before they start up again. In other words, they have to fall in love again before they get married. If blink-182 can get back together, ANYONE can get back together. Jessica and Nick, Benji and Paris, Caleb and Elisha. (hahahaha not funny.) But seriously, this is kind of inspirational if you care...makes me wanna...wanna I don't know. It's awesome, though. I want to have sex to the idea. I just want to have sex, who am I kidding? In a week, it'll mark 17 months of abstinence! Hoo-fucking-ray! *puke*

No, but seriously though, this made me very happy to hear about. Hopefully Mr. DeLonge is finished being a pompous frontman asshole and will start writing music on a plane that people care to listen to. hahaha, I'm funny tonight, I think. Dude, if Tom will start talking to Mark and Travis again then maybe....I'm not going to say it. hahahahahaha, once again, I'm not funny.

I probably shouldn't say certain things outloud, but I can't help to think them and want to verbalize. Posting this blog is probably going to ruin a lot of shit, but I'm laughing at me being an asshole right now so much that I don't care. Okay, Katie, if you're reading this and are saying "The fuck if I ever talk to him again, he's an asshole," then you're probably right, but uhh...I'd be glad to talk to you again anyway. I never realized I could apply an Angels & Airwaves Tom v. Mark/Tom thing to this situation. hahahaha

Okay, I'm digging my own grave at this point. Some positive things that won't get me in trouble! Uhh...this is tough. I haven't had a horrible week! Uhh...I'm feeling really fuckin' good about I Forget's next album. Uhh...I'm playing with a new band tomorrow after school and we're gonna see how we work together as musicians. Uhh..uh! Uhh...will someone make a Wikipedia page for I Forget? I could supply you with all of the information. Even if it said "I Forget is a pop punk band from Fort Ashby, West Virginia." and then listed our members, it'd be fine, I guess. I'd just go in and elaborate, even though that's illegal.

I just brought up a good point to Jordan when talking about I Forget and Freak Scene making it one day, hypothetically. I said that you don't even have to [necessarily] get signed anymore to "make it." Isn't that kind of very fucking awesome? Metric is self-releasing their next album as are many other bands. However, they have more capital than a band such as I Forget, but who said we pay to record? hahahahaha, I didn't say that.

I should stop talking now before I tell you even more classified things, like describing my penis or something else you don't need to know about. My cat is going to destroy this fucking basement.

love,
Kyle

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

It seemed to me like a good idea at the time

Donuts sound like a good idea at the time, don't they? Then you eat them and they're awesome and then you feel like shit. Why is this? Because they're disgusting. End of that.


You know what I can't resist? Ghost Hunters. You know what I CAN resist? Ghost Hunters International. GHI is like watching a cover band. I don't really give a shit at all.

I was kind of planning on a bath before bed, but I'm watching Ghost Hunters at hulu.com, which is probably how I'm going to watch TV from now on, since I can avoid all of the bullshit shows and I don't have to go upstairs.

You should read the Alphabet of Manliness by Maddox. I should do my homework.

Weather.com has been spot off all week.

Okay, let me sum something up. Things I should do: my homework, take a bath, get some rest. Things I'm going to do: write this blog, watch Ghosthunters, go to bed.

Is it obvious that my mind is wandering?

Maybe I should have done my homework during 4th block today while we had a free block.

I closed the Ghosthunters tab on this window. I've only got like 17 minutes to be up and I'm 10 minutes into a 43 minute episode. Somehow, I don't see me having enough time to watch all of it. So okay, maybe I'll go do what I should do now. Good night. I'm taking a bath and reading some poetry.

Oh, and my profile playlist on MySpace is awesome. It's got Paint It Black, Propagandhi, LeATHERMØUTH, Cloak/Dagger, and old Dillinger Four on it. The second half is like Jets to Brazil, Alkaline Trio, and Tom Gabel, so it calms down a little, obviously. But seriously, there are some good bands that represent that original hardcore genre out there, and you should check them out. I'm a scatter brain tonight, sorry for trying to write a blog. But hey, I think the title is actually fitting. A blog seemed like a good idea at the time.

love,
Kyle

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

We are the dead generation

First thing's first: I dig Marilyn Manson's music. As I've said to various people, I believe that if you changed the lyrics to his songs and changed the instrumentation/vocal style (not even drastically), any one of his songs would fit in with the songs on Radio Disney, and at the same time, blow the rest of them away. I also say that he probably draws a song name out of a hat to decide which one is the single for each album. He can write some pop. Very well.

Okay, second thing: the new Propagandhi song I've heard, "Dear Coach's Corner," is kind of not traditional Propagandhi at all...but then I asked myself this: has a new Propagadnhi album ever been "traditional" to the preceeding albums? Okay, uhhh let's think about this. Their first album (How to Clean Everything) was a very angry pop punk album with some songs leaning more towards speed punk. Okay, lots of speed punk, actually. Their second (Less Talk, More Rock) was kind of, I'd say closer to rock and hardcore? There was a lot less punk, while at the same time, John Samson had two songs that he sang on his own, which were like indie punk or something with a very entergetic band accompanying the vocals...or overpowering them, actually. (Another reason why it was good that Samson left to do his own thing.) Their third album (Today's Empires, Torrow's Ashes) was amazingly drastic. Not only was it like a fucking thrash punk album with some very UNmelodic songs with sometimes NO vocal melody whatsoever, but they also brought in a new member, Todd. No more happy pop songs to be found. More complex guitar riffs, basslines, and drum fills/rhythms. And the album following that one (Potemkin City Limits) was just a more drastically complex album than the third. Not only were there no happy pop songs, but there was no happy-sounding ANYTHING. It's probably the darkest album I've ever heard (I don't listen to metal albums, but who cares?). It's also one of the best musically-composed and political albums I've ever heard. And now, I have a feeling their newest album is going to be drastic in that EVERY song is going to be at least 4 minutes long. (See, they used to hardly reach 30 minute albums [Less Talk, More Rock was around 25 minutes] and they've been writing longer songs recently.) Anyway, to sum it up, I don't know how the new album is going to be as a whole, but "Dear Coach's Corner" started with a seriously shredding guitar solo followed by what sounded like a beatdown and then proceeded by very melodic music, an actually melodic vocal melody, and a rhythm that didn't beat your face off, as Propagandhi usually use. I wonder what Todd's songs are going to be like on this album...and I can't wait to hear for myself. I don't think they're satisfied unless every new album is shocking to the kids. It's like listening to a new band with each release. I love that, though. And they love how so many people wish they'd write another How to Clean Everything (kind of like how everyone wants I Forget to play more ska).

My Chemical Romance covered a Bob Dylan song "Desolation Row" and it's actually very punk. I hope these motherfuckers have figured out what punk is and stick with it. Did you know that Frank from MCR formed the band LeATHERMOUTH? They're like a weird blend of As I Lay Dying and Black Flag (I don't really know what As I Lay Dying sound like from song to song, but they represent "modern hardcore" to me and probably plenty of others). It's weird, but hopefully they've figured out that punk is amazing and it should be cherished. Let's bring back the revolution, MCR. I saw you guys before anyone knew you and I don't think you really knew what punk was then.

My Chemical Romance - Desolation Row


Oh, and if one day, everyone loves Cloak/Dagger, I called it! They're awesome. So check out Cloak/Dagger and LeATHERMOUTH because they're both pretty cool. Whatever's going on in the punk scene, I'm liking it (aside from Rise Against sounding almost exactly like Nickelback anymore...).

Okay, folks, show this weekend in Charles Town! I Forget! The Vankills! The Sex Robots! A Squirt Gun Drive By! Show at 6 pm! What is it? $5? If you live in that area (which you probably don't if you're reading this), you should come out to the Jumpin Java on Saturday. You know what I think about all day? I think about 1: how shitty this year has been and how it could have gone better and 2: how amazing our new album is going to be. I said that about the last one, but I mostly said it because I was going to have an album of my own. This one is really going to be something, I think, though. Hooray for boobies!

Oh, we had school today....and no delay. So I didn't get to record yesterday because of the snow, but had school the next day anyway. That's so shitty. And I slept all this evening (I'd say 5-9 pm). I think I'm still gonna sleep well tonight. I just have to write a fucking poem response to something...I forget which poem....

Which brings me to why I didn't post yesterday. Well, I didn't post yesterday because I didn't feel like it and because I didn't feel like it. Why didn't I feel like it? I was tired, exhausted, disappointd in the weather, I'd already written in my journal for school, and I really didn't feel like forcing words to show up on this thing. I'm not real sure if I'm in the mood to write today, even. I wrote enough the other day to last about a week, so I don't feel bad for it.

I have no joyful news for you on any subject, really. Umm...let me find something to report...I've sat here for more than 20 minutes trying to come up with something and I have nothing.

love,
Kyle

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Is this a huge, sick joke?

Okay, I went upstairs for literally like 7 minutes and when I got back, Timmy had messaged me on MSN saying that his girlfriend just broke up with him. What the fuck? He went to bed before I could talk to him about it, but I don't think he'd joke about that. Is this a sign that February is going to suck, too? Who the fuck won the Super Bowl? Why do I care?

It was the Steelers, I just found out. At least more people at school will be in a good mood tomorrow, but what the fuck is up with this Timmy getting broken up with thing? I have a problem with this. I mean, I've kind of felt like shit for a few weeks now because the girl I like(d) has completely quit talking to me and that's depressing enough to handle with, then I just finished reading The Metamorphosis which was also fucking depressing, and then Timmy told me his girlfriend broke up with him! God, I am not going to crack and try to kill myself tonight if that's what you're going for. This has taken me passed depressed and to the point of being irritated. What the fuck is up with this? Are feelings of being loved all false? Are we outside of an inside joke? Is there this huge "Let's make nice guys happy and then crush them" conspiracy? And what's worse is that there's been no warning! Maybe there was for Tim, but I haven't heard anything about it. He just kind of sprung that on me. I won't even say her name because I know so little about this situation that I'm not going to disclose anything other than Timmy got broken up with seemingly out of nowhere.

I don't know what's going to happen next. Is my stepsister going to break up with her boyfriend who came all the way out here from Altoona and spend the entire weekend with her and waited for her while she was at work all evening with a family that he doesn't know? I sure hope not, because they're one of the few truly happy couples I've seen in a while, and maybe it's because they're fresh and new to it, but I think it's beautiful. I would kill for a girl that would be willing to come to see me from two and a half hours away for the weekend and wait for me to get done whatever I have to do on my own time and stay with my crazy family while she waited. I can't even fathom that at this point, but it's beautiful to me. So if one of them breaks up with the other, I'm going to be very upset.

Is this somehow tied to the economy? With less faith in money, do we lose faith in each other? I'm certainly feeling like I'm heading towards a depression. Come on, this one's easy to fix. Love, people. Fucking love the fuck out of the ones that love the fuck out of you. And when times are hard, love them even more. This is no time to give up.

Okay, so on a happier note (I really, REALLY need some of these right now), I went back to the studio today and rerecorded some drum tracks, so I guess I wasn't really done recording drums when I told you last week. And I'm only going to rerecord more tomorrow, so we've still got a way to go. However, we're rerecording because Jason has figured out a mic set up that makes the drums sound huge and amazing. So when we finish up, it's gonna be well worth it. You see? I'm holding onto what I love and that is my band and my music. I just really wish I Forget could hold me.

Okay, so I should probably get to bed, but I'm going to bed disturbed by this cruel world. Oh, a month ago, I was happier than I'd been in like probably 18 months, though. That's depressing and inspiring at the same time, I think. Depressing that it's gone and inspiring that it can happen. I have some Trig homework to finish up...

love,
Kyle