Chris Jones, This One's For You

Few people understand my love of NorCal and San Fran punk rock - and SF skate rock for that matter - like my friend Chris Jones. Chris has been a fixture on the Raleigh music scene for ages working at the used record store, playing in bands and doing sound at the local clubs. You can currently find him playing the drums in the two-piece garage rock band The Loners (http://www.myspace.com/thelonersnc)

I saw Tales Of Terror once at the Wilson Center in D.C. back as a teenager and I hated them and thought they sucked. But then again I saw a lot of bands that sucked live. The Meatmen didn't. Anyway, Chris convinced me I should rethink my stance and slid me this burn copy of few years ago of their long-out-of-print debut LP as well as Rebel Truth and some other choice compilation tracks.

I suddenly felt the urge to revisit this record today...

I feel like gettin' ugly...

I feel like gettin'...

Sacro-mental!

Go Heels!

 


Future Tar Heels in the making.

Point guards at best as I don't see either cracking the six foot mark.

Everybody around - including the neighborhood kids - has a serious case of basketball fever what with UNC currently kicking every body's ass on the way to a NCAA championship.

So basketball has been the top priority on the afterschool play list.

We inherited a hoop that is set at about six feet or so and yesterday I took the sidewalk chalk and made a lane and three-point line.

I earned total cool dad points by dunking the ball in front of the kids.

Didn't matter that I almost killed myself in the process.

The Sound Of Summer

 

The kids were all playing in the backyard when one of the middle school kids jumped up and ran out front, hopped on his bike and took off.

"Where are you going?" said my son.

"I hear the ice cream man!" he said.

My wife looked at me and said she didn't think she'd ever seen an ice cream man before in our neighborhood, a spot we've been nestled in for over a decade.

We all walked up to the top of the hill in our front yard to the edge of the street and listened.

And sure enough, you could hear the jingle jangle of an ice cream truck, and then we saw it pass by at the end of the street... and the kids went fucking ballistic!

The biggest mindfuck of this whole situation was when the truck came down out street.

One of my neighbors - and older guy probably in his mid- to late-50s who is arguably a recluse - came out with this confused look on his face.

I jokingly said, "So this is what it takes to get you out of the house."

He looked at me like Jim from Taxi and said, "I haven't heard that sound in FORTY years!"

He paused and then said, "And it's a BEAUTIFUL sound!"


So, in honor of this moment, I give you a little Diamond Dave:

Fascinating!

 

Kids still play marbles.

The older boys in the neighborhood - the middle schoolers - have turn my boys on to marbles.

I find it downright amazing that in this modern day and age of Playstations and Gameboys that kids still find playing and collecting marbles to be something that is cool.

It's only a matter of time before that start in on the firecrackers...

ah, timeless fun!