Thursday, August 11, 2011

Crazy S*** From the World of Rock

In the world of live music and eccentric musicians and crazy fans odd stuff is sure to happen. Sometimes it's the bands that can't act right. Sometimes it's the fans! Warning, many of the clips have explicit language!





Henry Rollins (in his days as the front man for Black Flag) looking drunk or high hits an annoying punk fan.




Glen Danzig is always angry about something. He's a big guy so he's probably used to unleashing his anger and coming out on top. However in this case he bites off more than he can chew when he shoves a guy bigger than him. Not even his black magic charms can protect him from this guy's hook!




The late Kurt Cobain of Nirvana doing what he's done many times before, jumping into the crowd with his guy. That's what grunge guys do. However as the security guard is trying to pull him back in Cobain's guitar hits the security guy who isn't happy about it and attacks Cobain.




Axl Rose trying to recoup his 80s glamour with the 'not quite Guns N Roses' reincarnation performing Sweet Child O Mine (song I've always hated) getting pissed off at someone in the crowd and having him thrown out. Give the guy credit at least this time he didn't leave and a huge riot ensued.




Dave Grohl makes a second appearence in this post (see the Nirvana clip above) getting upset at a fight in the crowd. Hey who can blame him? People are supposed to have fun yet some punk(s) in the crowd can't act right.




The Misfits' Doyle Von Frankenstein tossing an annoying fan off stage rather unceremoniously.



Another annoying Misfits fan getting thrown off stage.




Lady Gaga hitting one of her dancers by accident, the rest is just funny!




Pitbull (another lousy act) pulls a guy on stage then clocks him!




Marilyn Manson upset with a guy in the crowd for hitting his bass player with a bottle.




Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers falls off the stage.




Johnny Rotten (John Lydon) of the Sex Pistols expresses his displeasure with a bottle thrower.









Friday, August 5, 2011

Garbage City








You thought you or your teenager was a slob? Welcome to Egypt's infamous Garbage City! Yes people live here and have done so for years. It's near a luxury tourist resort. How many tourists get out of the romanticized part of town and come see the squalor? Probably not many.











Cherokee Church











Welcome to the Cherokee Church built originally in 1860 and rebuilt in 1912. Long before air conditioning this was the religious and social center of the rural area around Woodville, TX. People wearing heavy, cotton clothing filled its pews every Sunday braving the cold Texas winters and blistering Texas summers. Praises of God were sung here every week for decades. While walking down the wooden aisle how many ghost of parishioners stood there watching me? After shooting these pictures I sat down by the alter and simply looked towards the door. I pictured men in heavy suits, women in thick dresses, and a preacher shouting praises and threats of damnation. Compare this to a mega church like Lakewood or Second Baptist and this little antique fire hazard holds more spirituality.



















The Tolar House







Welcome to the Tolar House. It was built in 1866 as a present to his wife. After they left he passed the house to his daughters who ran it as a "along the way" bed and breakfast. Up until the mid 1900s people travelling on horseback or Model Ts in rural Texas could pull up to this rustic cabin and get served a meal prepared over a fire then a night's sleep before hitting the road again. It was moved to the Heritage Village Museum in Woodville, TX, where it sits today still taking on travellers (though not overnight).

Thursday, August 4, 2011

I Needed a Hurricane in 1995







No not the drink. 1995 was not a good year for me. I was in college and was very lonely and depressed. I had two girlfriends dump me rather unceremoniously and I had serious doubts about my self worth. My life was my college courses and my sh** job as a grocery store sacker and restroom cleaner. Come Friday the loneliness really set in. I would stare out my window and see other collegiates get in their cars and leave for a weekend of family, intoxication, and intercourse. What did I have to look forward to? Asking customers if they wanted plastic or paper and wheeling their purchases out to their car and treated like a second class citizen. However that was my position in life and there was nothing I could do about it for the time being. After all what was I in college for if not to improve my standing in life? One night I sat in my dorm looking through the Public News and an advertisement caught my eye. "Planet Shock *sucha sucha date at sucha sucha time and sucha sucha place*" When I saw the show was on a night I had off from work my heart started racing. I saw Planet Shock a couple of years prior in a dive bar in Beaumont, TX, called Fuzz Gun. I was taken in by the mix of metal and Bob Marley. The night of the show came and as par for the course I couldn't find a soul to go with me so I said f*** it and went on my own. I made sure my 1986 Chevy truck with no air conditioning had sufficient oil and air in the tires to get me to Houston and back. I drove from Huntsville to Houston, at night, on Interstate 45. I got to the venue (now some stupid restaurant) and got in. I wasn't old enough to drink so I just sat in the corner by my lonesome until Planet Shock took the stage. After a few riffs I was up in the crowd. The fire had been lit. I forgot why I was miserable. I couldn't remember what I had been feeling sorry for myself for. All I knew was at that moment I was genuinely happy! I started jumping up and down with everyone else in the pit. I got hit in the face, the neck, the back but I didn't care. I felt no pain only happiness as did everyone else. I got shoved into people and I shoved people into other people. Despite people being punched, kicked, and knocked around there was no hate it was, in a strange sense love. Not love for each other but love for the moment. At that moment people were bouncing around but having the time of our lives. All our troubles, our worries, our cares were but a distant memory. Then came their song Hurricane. This was my all time favorite. "I take them head on I could be dead wrong!" I jumped higher than anyone in the crowd during the chorus. As I walked out of the dive bar about two hours later I was feeling beaten and bruised. That's how I knew things were going to be okay. I drove back to Huntsville with a smile on my face despite the fact that in about 7 hours I would be asking "would you like paper or plastic with that ma'am!"