A headless and harrowing future...

I wish to break the binds that keep me college bound;

The truly rich and enlightened have done so before me.

I grow tired of the crippling capitalistic caste

That gags you, holds you hostage and rapes you.

Only to add insult to injury with the famous cop-out:

“This is only to better your future!”

What future?

The future that herds you into a career like you’re a cattle,

So your job can gag you, hold you hostage and rape you?

Only to add insult to injury with the famous cop-out:

“You are creating a better future for this generation and generations to come!”

What future?

We have a right to question why. See through the lies. Re-sensitize. And look closer.

A brief (and loose) political post.

Ever since I was a young boy, I never understood the point of studying history. My parents would simply answer with "History repeats itself, so we need to study history so we don't make the same mistakes." At the time that made little to no sense to me. But now, I understand fully.

I would like to present 3 events that are happening right now, and link them to events of the past.

Event 1: Ground Zero Mosque

Way back when, there was a kind in England. He religiously oppressed the catholics. Eventually, the catholics left England, made America and kicked England's ass in 2 different wars.

Today, Muslims are trying to practice their First Amendment Right of Freedom of Religion, but people all over America, the same country that was founded on the wants and needs of the present day Muslims are trying as hard as they can to make sure this doesn't happen.

Can anyone guess what may happen next?

Event 2: Gay Rights

Not too long ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led the Civil Rights Movement so that people of color would have the same rights as whites and no longer be segregated.

Today, Gays fight the same battle for equality. Similar to how the Blacks did not have the same privileges as the Whites, Homosexuals don't have the same privileges as Heterosexuals.

Do we really have to do the entire civil rights thing over again?

Event 3: The Tea Party

After WWI, Germany went into a depression. With the people distraught and hopeless, they turned to a charismatic man by the name of Adolf Hitler. Hitler was at the head of the National Socialist Party, and they vowed to take back Germany and make it great again by eliminating the Jew.

Today, a similar crowd of thoughtless drones are backing the charismatic duo of Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, who will take back America and make it great again by eliminating the Muslims and the Gays.

Wait, Glenn Beck. He's the guy that calls everyone else Nazi's right?

Guys, I know this isn't the deepest and most well developed blog in the world, but the brunt end of it is there. Feel free to expand or argue with my views, but one thing is irrefutable. History is repeating itself, right in front of all of our eyes.

I can't take anymore of all the scum in this place...

So I'll go out to eat with my buds at NCC.

I know this is lame, but I hate like 98% of the people at Hofstra so any chance to meet up with all my friends at Nassau you can bet your ass I'm gonna take it.

So without further delay, here is my schedule this semester.

Monday/Wednesday:

Composition 10-11 am

Intro to Music 3-4:20 pm

Tuesday/Thursday:

Music Styles and Structures 9:30-11 am

Music Appreciation 11- 12:30 pm

Contemporary Society 12:45- 2:10 pm

Friday:

Composition 10-11 am

Tell me when we can eat!

Do you remember all of us together as we grew up under the sun?

So I haven't posted in awhile because every time I started to write something I felt like I was just doing more bitching than anything. But tonight I would like to talk about things I am happy about.

I have recently got involved in a new band with a bunch of guys who love just playing music which is such a wonderful change.

I have joined a film crew which is awesome cause its nice to be involved in something new and exciting with people who are actually experienced in the field, so I'm learning a lot of things which is great.

I have been reconnecting with old friends, and life is starting to make sense all over again.

Thats it.

Shut up! Shut up! Its my turn to talk...

... It is hard for me to find a good way to start this blog, so I decided the best way to start it would be to admit that.

I don't know why I am the way I am with some things. In this particular case I am referring to somewhat of a double standard that I can't seem to shake.

As many people may or may not know, I happen to enjoy consuming substance in large quantities. I also have no problem with other people consuming large quantities of substance. For some odd reason my problem comes in when this equation is completed:

Someone I care about consumes large quantities of substance+a cell phone= drunk texts= me a total wreck.

So in this case, my girlfriend is at after prom. I would be too naive to convince myself that her and her friends drove to the armpit of America to not drink. My problem was not there. My problem is that its now about 4:30 am and is telling me about how she drank too much. This makes me very uneasy cause she is in a different state and she is with at least 2 people that I am fairly sure would take advantage of her.

It also not helping that most of my friends were under the impression that I was going to cheat on my girlfriend tonight because I went on somewhat of a date with another girl. Proud to say I did not cheat on her, but since the idea is cheating on my head... well lets just say I have been shaking throughout writing all of this.

I try not to show my emotional side too often, hence why I use these blogs as a crutch to vent them, because this blog bares no judgement (until someone reads it and gets upset or offended but thats another story).

That being said, I still don't feel a whole lot better about this ridiculous predicament I forced myself into, so I'm gonna go take a walk and hopefully I don't smoke an entire pack of 54's.

I'm just happy to be alive...

First off, I would like to say that last nights show was absolutely amazing. We had a fun time playing and watching all our friends play as well. We also loved that the crowd was as fun and active as it was.

That being said, I would like to address I few points that several of my friends made to me during the show.

Desmond Zantua said it best: "Valet Parking breaks up and Vibe turns into an insane asylum. Why isn't it like this all the time?!"

This statement kind of urks me. Because he is making a really good point. Why does a band have to disband for kids to not only show up to the show, but go crazy?

The truth is more people should treat every show like the everyone treated last nights show. If more people came out with more enthusiasm and in greater numbers all the time, the scene would not "suck" as much as it does.

I was talking to Matt from VP a few days before the show and he was in absolute shock that so many people came out of the wood work online and stated how much Valet Parking meant to them. Where were all of these people who cared so much the last few years? Certainly not at shows.

In the words of Nick Ohrnberger. "This is our scene, don't let it die!"

If anyone does read this, don't take this as an attack, take this as incentive to support more local bands. The loss of VP was a devastating one, lets try our hardest to make sure that this doesn't happen to another great band from LI.

To conclude this post, I will shamelessly self-promote. Be on the look out for a few new recordings from The OverUnder, including 2 old songs done in new ways and a cover of a 1999 pop classic!

And of course, look out for good things to come from Matt, Travis and CJ.

I'll make the best out of a bad situation

It has been awhile since my last post. I have held off from writing in here for a bunch of reasons. Probably the biggest being that I did not want to hastily say something and subsequently fuck shit up.

I guess I will back track a few weeks to fill in all the blanks.

A few weeks ago, I had a pretty bad mental breakdown. I was desperately awaiting summer and it never came. I was under so much stress from school that all I wanted to do was relax, but the opposite actually occurred. Instead of being able to kick it, my stress levels spiked due to all the responsibilities I decided to take on that I mentioned in my last post.

I hit the climax of my stress the Tuesday before the show. My phone woke me up at 7 am. I ignored it because it was 7 am! My phone then woke me up again at 11. I decided that 11 was a more appropriate time for me to out of bed. I looked at my phone and saw a metric shit ton of missed calls and texts. I started to answer them all. Some time after I looked up at my clock and noticed that it was now noon. I spent a full hour responding to texts and missed phone calls, and they kept coming in faster than I could send them out. And then I snapped. I couldn't take being so heavily relied upon for everything. I then smashed my phone, punched a very big dent into my file cabinet and punched a hole in my wall. I then took every piece of technology I owned, put it in a bag and told my mom to hide it while I went out to calm down.

I am now doing a lot better. My phone still rings off the hook, but I have learned to just let it ring.

I decided that day that I could no longer be apart of the label and that I would stop booking shows. The last show that I did book went well though. I of course was still stressed out of my head for a million reasons, but at the end of the night it was a success.

Since then, I have kind of rerouted my summer a little bit. This of course would not be possible if a few things did not happen.

Thing one. The new drummer for TOU, Jason, has kind of been a fresh ball of energy and has been motivating us to take a more proactive approach to the band, which we have been.

Thing two. If Valet Parkings van didn't break.

Thing three. If I was not getting fed up with some behavioral choices of some of my friends.

Even though I know that if any of them read this, they will know I am talking about them I will say this anyway.

I have recently noticed that a select group of my friends rely heavily on smoking pot. It has gotten to the point where I am not sure if they do anything sober anymore. Now I don't have a problem with smoking weed, I enjoy the herb myself, but I was starting to get heavily inconvenienced simply by them having to smoke. Plans made with them would be delayed for hours. If I was at band practice, they wouldn't wait till I was done so we could hang out with out me having to drive miles out of my way, only to get high. I was even put in a tight spot when they smoked in a car at the last show I booked and the entire parking lot smelt like pot. Had someone who owned the place come by, I would of been royally fucked, but things like this don't cross their minds.

So I have been spending a little less time with them. I hope that sometime soon we can all hang out like we did last summer where being high wasn't the primary concern, but the secondary.

Till then, I will continue to hang out with some of the guys from the class of 08 and people in the scene.

There is one last thing I want to say.

In 2001, I started a band that grew into one of the more popular bands on LI. In 2008 I left. From then till now, I watched the band grow further and in venture off into new directions. Today, I get ready to say goodbye.

Valet Parking, like many other bands on LI, was started with a dream and a burning passion. I am sad to have to watch something that was so great and made me happy for so many years have to be put down. I wish everyone in that band the best of luck and I know they will be successful with what ever the decide to do.