my careless contagion

I don't know when I first started listening to punk rock. Sometime during high school. It is such an expansive genre. My preference was hardcore, notably melodic hardcore. I was drawn to Bad Religion because they were unique and intelligent but also listened to Nitro bands like Guttermouth and AFI. I knew all the Fat Wreck Chords bands. Greatly appreciated Gorilla Biscuits and, later, CIV. I loved Fugazi (I think they were my first show; tickets were $5 plus a Ticketmaster service charge of $1). Later, I got into Social Distortion, Face to Face, Samiam, and others too numerous to list. I had tapes. I had CDs. I had vinyl. Gigabytes of mp3s. Rare stuff, covers, bootlegs, live shows, stuff that was never released anywhere but Japan (why always Japan?). I recall seeing Sick of It All open for AFI and was more impressed with the opening band (even though I wanted to see AFI for about 15 years at that point). I was ready to go home after that. It was ridiculously good. I saw a ton of He...

Lately, I listened to some old CDs I used to have. Actually, listened on YouTube. I don't know if I still have them. But one was the Cable Guy soundtrack (they gave them away), as well as the Surge CD. Actually, the Surge CD was two CDs; you were supposed to give one to your friend. Remember the ill-fated soda Surge? They tried to promote it with alternative music. The CDs are still out there. If you search eBay, you can find them for as much as $75. I own two because I didn't have any friends. Oh, and Millennium Hip Hop Party, a collection of 90s hip hop, for, well, partying, which was always a hit (go figure) at the few parties we hosted. These albums are time capsules from a better, more interesting time, about 25 years ago. Speaking of old music ... It's time for my semi-annual posting of One More Day by the Descendents (whom I saw perform in Philadelphia many years ago). This is my Father's Day post. In case it isn't abundantly clear, my father was not a good f...

*My dad had surgery again yesterday. It's his second rotator cuff surgery. It seems like he's always going under the knife. And it seems like any time could be his last. I know none of us really know for sure when we're going to go. But, I will be very sad to see my dad go when it's time. This song reminds me of my relationship with my father. Does my father truly hate me? Ninety-nine percent of the time it seems like it. The other one percent is more like ambivalence. Honestly, he has never understood me, not even when I was a little boy sitting on his lap watching TV. We tend to dislike things we don't understand, and, I guess, I was no exception for my father. As the youngest of three boys, I found my own interests, even though I tried to do just as well as my brothers in things like sports and school. I wasn't the athlete they were, but I was much smarter than either of them. Sadly, my dad never recognized this fact. And, the fact that nothing ever beca...