Hey Wakka Wakka!

California Love

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 05:45:00 +0000

No new posts in a long while. again.

Sorry for that, not entirely my fault. I'm not in San Diego and there are no shows in Western Mass. for the most part.

On the upside I've been putting myself completely into school work after deciding I quite frankly don't want to be anything like the people I for some reason came to associate with out here. That is to say, selfish drunk pricks who use punk as an excuse to hide behind their actions when really they're just as bad as the "normal" people/fratboys/etc. they belittle.

Yes, these idiots use words like "norms" and "punx" un-ironically.

If you're thinking about going to school in Western Mass: Don't. There's nothing here. The area is great, the people are some of the worst I've ever met.

For the first time in my life I know where I'll be in the near future and I can't wait. And I'm not scared.

I Miss Home.

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:39:00 +0000

I should be in San Diego right now.

I'm in Northampton, MA for the summer. Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been moving in to my friend's apt for summer and dealing with summer session @ UMass.

MA, it should be noted, is currently trying to kill me with it's fucking batshit insane notions of "weather".

Bane is up/has been up but I've been too busy to post it. Search youtube for mercyhouse and bane for links to the full video and everything.

Tragedy and Blowback videos will be up when I get a steady internet connection. I'm sorry, it's not my fault this time around.

Did I mention that i miss home?

Anyways I'm hiding from the heat at Northampton's Forbes Library. And let me tell you... JESUS CHRIST EVERYONE WHO WORKS HERE IS GORGEOUS. Women and men, young and old.

Plus I totally have a crush on whoever helped to make the bitchin' comic collection they got going.

Air conditioning + comics = love.

Goin' Out West

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 01:15:00 +0000

Going home again, flight delayed at Chicago though (checking engine? You can bet your ass that I'm listening to Tom Waits all the way down if the plane falls through the sky).

Friends still living in San Diego: Will be there until the 23rd, hit me up and let's rage.

One billion and ten.

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:01:00 +0000

"I'm literally 5 years old" - Example one billion and ten

Goddamnit I am so stupid sometimes.

Full Ripshit and Aerosols tomorrow, I've been recuperating from hell week and now i think mike got me sick. Damnit.

"You make nothing out of something."

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 05:10:00 +0000

I neglected to update my own website. I've been busy. If you're on vlv or amherstpunk.com (if you are from west mass, why haven't you registered?! Stop lurking!) you've probably seen most of these. I'm posting chronologically, oldest to new. Nothing witty to say, just going to post the links to all the videos then go to bed. I'll use this to whine about growing up tomorrow probably.

P.S. If you don't see a link to the full video it means it's not there yet. Be patient, I have 2 tests and 2 papers coming up and I've uploaded about 15 gigs in 2 weeks. I don't have the time or bandwidth right now. If you are somehow able to freeze time Groundhog Day style then for god sakes do it.

Cruel Hand @ The Mercy House on 2.08.08
^ YouTube Sample 1 ("HD" Sample 1)

-----------------------------

Relics @ UNH on 2.14.08 Full Video
^ YouTube Sample 1 ("HD" Sample 1)

Furnace @ UNH on 2.14.08 Full Video
^ I need to clean my room and find this tape. Shut up. I know I'm an idiot.

-----------------------------

Acid Reflux @ The Ratscellar on 2.16.08 Full Video
^ YouTube Sample 1 ("HD" Sample 1)

Wasted Time @ The Ratscellar on 2.16.08 Full Video
^ YouTube Sample 1 ("HD" Sample 1)

Social Circkle @ The Ratscellar on 2.16.08 Full Video
^ YouTube Sample 1 ("HD" Sample 1)

Direct Control @ The Ratscellar on 2.16.08 Full Video
^ YouTube Sample 1 ("HD" Sample 1)

------------------------------

Blacklisted @ The Mercy House on 2.22.08 Full Video
^ YouTube Sample 1 ("HD" Sample 1)
^ YouTube Sample 2

Terror @ The Mercy House on 2.22.08 Full Video
^ YouTube Sample 1

------------------------------

Ripshit @ The Red Barn (Hampshire College) on 2.24.08
^ YouTube Sample 1

Failures @ The Red Barn (Hampshire College) on 2.24.08
^ YouTube Sample 1 ("HD" Sample 1)

The Conversions @ The Red Barn (Hampshire College) on 2.24.08
^ YouTube Sample 1 ("HD" Sample 1)
^ YouTube Sample 2

Aerosols @ The Red Barn (Hampshire College) on 2.24.08
^ YouTube Sample 1 ("HD" Sample 1)

Up and runnin'

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:10:00 +0000

The board/calendar has been up for only a few days but damned if we didn't hit the ground running.

So far:
- Wrote a guide to the 5 college area (still working on it, so help out!)
- Added a Chat Room
- FILLED the calendar
- Had one of the hampshire show dudes join ('sup Jeff) to keep us updated on their generally hard to find shows.

We need:
- More registered users! Join in!
- To complete the guide! Help!
- To constantly keep the calendar updated!

200 active users by the end of April. Make it happen.

Homieville

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:42:00 +0000

West Mass/Amherst kids:
mega-fucking-homieville.net is live

The domain is just temporary until amherstpunk.com is finished registering in a day or two.

Leave comment/feedback/criticism in this thread or just check out the calendar (you don't have to register to view the calendar)

Hope you enjoy?

Update: amherstpunk.com now works

Holy crap!

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:37:00 +0000

Some of my videos at archive.org have over 1k downloads. I'm averaging about 1k unique users per month.

What the hell? I thought I was talking to my self/small groups of friends most of the time. There are a hell lot of you lurkers and I've written some straight stupid shit (most of it is me complaining about growing up + wanting to be a kid again).

I suppose i should apologize at this point. So uh, sorry?

West Mass Kids Stay tuned in the next few days, there may or may not be a tasty treat coming...

And by tasty treat I mean I'm having eric install a message board on mega-fucking-homieville.net that will focus on Amherst Punk primarily, West Mass secondary complete with a little calendar and stuff. It'll be your one stop shop for punk round-these-parts.

Hopefully it'll help bolster the little community we have building, if it turns into a stupid mess of drama and shit talk, I'm shutting it down.

There may also be the fact that eric isn't able to install the board to norman's server (who i've been leeching on, also the reason sometimes ilovescifi sends you to sensitivetolight) and then you'll want to forget everything I just said.

Right.

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 05:28:00 +0000

Huge fuck you to the Cashin Hall UMass Amherst RA on duty at midnight on 1/27/08 who refuses to check me in even though I'm an out of state student who only could manage to get in at midnight (CA is 3,000 miles away you dumb fuck) and was fucking lazy enough to suggest I "go to a hotel."

Are you serious?

All it takes is for you to walk down stairs, sign a paper and give me a key. You were clearly wide awake and watching TV on your fucking fat ass.

You are officially the piece of shit for 2008. Congrats.

Update: Bonnie is the best fucking person in the goddamn world. RA of the year for 2008.

Bane @ The Che Cafe on 1.19.09

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 05:14:00 +0000

Bane @ The Che Cafe on 1.19.09
^ YouTube Sample 1 ("HD" version @ vimeo)
^ YouTube Sample 2 ("HD" version @ vimeo)

Full is uploading. I'm sick but I'll ramble later.

Update: Full is up, still sick, kinda jet lag, why am i awake? Will ramble later.

Update #2 on 1/27/08: Layover in ATL. Ramble time...
- Bane show was a nice mix of older hardcore dudes and young new kids, awesome.
- Video is a bit shakey, sorry about that. The side stage was packed and i tried my best to stay out of everyones way, but that generally consisted holding my camera above my head with hands outstretched...
- Video is black and white because the shots of the crowd would have be totally dark so i used night vision, opted for blown-out contrast in place of shadows.
- Please respect your venues, be it the Che Cafe in San Diego or Mercy House in Amherst or whatever. Kids being pieces of shit and giving attitude when I suggest using some goddamn common sense = mega bummout. The Bane show didn't spur this comment, a Mercy House show did.
- Try not to hang off the rafters dudes. The Che is old, you're heavy...
- Volunteer! Help clean/pick up trash/plates/whatever! It helps a lot and is totally appreciated.
- Which speaking of, my hands smelled like garlic that night because i was chopping it in the kitchen, sorry if you stood near me and had to deal with that.
- Wish i could've filmed other bands esp. outbreak and trash talk, was doing winter session homework until 8:30 pm. Damn.

Back

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 11:09:00 +0000

Actually I've been back, but I lost the video that Shipwreck was on so uh....

Yeahhhh.

Winter session has been killing me, I NEED and "A" and I keep on falling short... story of my life.

Bane up within a day or two, going to bed now though. Maybe a taiwan report if I have enough time to write one before school.

Oh and one last thing, I've been using skype a lot to talk with family in taiwan, so that's another way to contact me you know, besides listing everywhere I live online, my AIM screen name, my e-mail, a meebo chat widget... I own the internet.

Dear skinhead girl...

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 23:22:00 +0000

Dear skinhead girl who was wandering the B gates of PHL at 7ish in the morning on 12/22/07,

Normally I don't get crushes (read: pretty much never) but you should know that for the brief second you passed by I was completely enamored with you.

You are positively completely fantastically gorgeous.

I'm finally home, i haven't slept in like 36ish hours... I want to die and will proceed to do so right now.

My dad showed me the new library near us when we drove back from the airport because he knew i would love it haha.

I love San Diego.

P.S.

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 11:57:00 +0000

On a completely unrelated note, deadformat is pretty swanky for the record dorks out there.

It's a bit more friendly than Viva La Vinyl but not by too much, still clique-y and suspicious-of-outsiders to an extent. Odd to think i've grown up with a few kids on there/VLV/CMHWAK that I haven't and will probably never meet.

Man, shit talk all you want but I miss CMHWAK, it was fun and helped me pass time in my HTML class. Most of those kids are on VLV/DF now regardless... I wish some of them were less jaded and angry all the time *coughdanielcough*

Back I go.

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 11:02:00 +0000

I'll be back in San Diego in about 15 hours after I take a final.

Yes, this is my yearly sappy thank you to everyone in Amherst. In past years i would say something along the lines of "thanks for making me feel at home" instead this year was the tipping point when Amherst stopped feeling like a place where-I-live-8-months-out-of-my-life and was quite plainly, Home.

Mike told me the other day "Dude, you know what i just realized? San Diego is far man..." and I vividly remember thinking how for the first time since ever that it didn't really feel like that anymore. I've been getting bouts of homesickness less and less because Home wasn't necessarily 3000 miles away anymore.

Oh and as usual: should my plane fall out of the sky I demand you throw my remains through a woodchipper, turn me into mulch and plant a tree on top of me. Should my remains not be found or I be cremated then please throw a stupidly righteous Rager in my honor. Also copy Jim Henson's funeral (mood/spirit, less actual ceremony).

Yes this is funny to me, yes I fully expect you to follow my instructions if anything should happen, and yes you can bet your ass I'll probably be moshing my way into oblivion in those final moments. Or at least listening to kermit/fozzie...

Oh I should also mention I'll be in Taiwan from Dec 24 - Jan 5th. Please send e-mails instead of texts/calling and I'm sorry if it takes awhile to get back to you.

Alright, its 6:22 am, back to studying and packing for me. See you Amherst jerks at the end of January.

When spring comes. We SHRED.

Video: Shipwreck (Deathwish Inc.) @ The Mercy House on 12.7.07

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 02:34:00 +0000

No full video until winter break, just a sample unless someone wants to be my sugar daddy/mommy and buy me an express card esata port adapter and a 500 gig esata hard drive. I have no space left.

YouTube Sample #1
^ Vimeo has an HD version

YouTube Sample #1
^ Vimeo has an HD version

Also if the video is jumpy it's because i saw someone running at me full speed and thought my ass was going to get knocked the f' out. Thanks for showing restraint and not kicking me and my camera. Good lookin' out.

Check out Chris R. starting at the 48 sec mark (blue Mental shirt). Sweet Dude. Killer Dive.

Anyone from Taiwan read this?

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 09:52:00 +0000

This is a super long shot i know but... Does anyone from Taiwan read this? I'll be in Taiwan from the Dec 24th until Jan 3rd.

I read this MRR scene report but it seems like all the bands/kids are... well let me put it this way: like a 5 year old kid who doesn't get what the hell they're doing but are slightly adorable in doing it so you want to give them a tap on the chin and say "awww shucks, you'll get it soon enough" I know the rest of SE Asia is ragin' but Taiwan.... Yeeshhh.

Amherst Cinema

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 04:14:00 +0000

For West Mass Kids:
Amherst Cinema is having a one day blow out ticket sale on Saturday (Dec 1st). 5 bucks for anytime tickets (sold in packs of 20), holy hell!

I love this theater to death, it does everything I want and it does it right.

If the theater somehow turned into a person the next day I would ask it out Say Anything style only instead of Peter Gabriel in the boombox it would be Andrew W.K.'s "She Is Beautiful", also? I would have a mic with a 50 ft cord and sing (scream) to it/them/her(?) like a belligerent fool.

That's how i roll.

COMICKAZE BLACK FRIDAY

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 09:25:00 +0000

FOR GOD SAKE, IF YOU LIVE IN SAN DIEGO YOU HAVE NO REASON NOT TO BE AT COMICKAZE TODAY FOR BLACK FRIDAY

INFO HERE

i would've posted this earlier had i had steady internet, i've gone for like the past 4 or 5 years and i've been missing comickaze like crazy (i don't like the store here, bleh)

My heart aches for it. Shut up. You don't understand nerds.

GO SAY HI TO ROBERT AND LUCKY FOR ME, AND HAVE FUN! THE DEALS ARE INSANE (BUY ONE GET ONE FREE)

I'm going to go to bed and snuggle with robs roommate's cat named waffles now.

I'm at Rob's

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 07:12:00 +0000

I'm at Rob's for thanksgiving break, might not be going to circle pit fest after all (bummer) but dude/ttes, his house is freaking sweet.

Internet on my computer isn't working properly at his house, if you need me call/text instead of e-mail/IM

Two things

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:15:00 +0000

1) You staying in amherst/noho for thanksgiving break? I'm pretty much free wed and thur, anything going on? I think i'm going with rob to his work at the movie theater in CT and just doing my homework or watching every single freaking movie that's out right now.

2) Make me a mp3 mix, zip a few files of your favorites/what you've been listening to recently/a theme (or none)/whatever and upload it to sharebee.com, post the link in the comments

Last time i tried this i only got one response (thanks dude)

I set up the comments so you can post anonymously, go for it.

Tony Takitani

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 07:22:00 +0000

No videos, just me rambling in a blog post that I will inevitably delete when I'm more self conscious and get embarrassed by the stupid shit i wrote.

1) I went and saw Japandi and Sleeping People tonight which was fun because it reminded me of home, I wont be home for thanksgiving so this is the only taste of home I'll get until December. Too bad I didn't bring my camera... Sleeping People is on tour all over the east coast right now and Japandi is playing a show tomorrow in CT. Catch them if you're a fan of mathy rock.

2) I'm probably going to Circle Pit Fest in Baltimore over thanksgiving break with Rob, I'll probably be repping the edge while filming in the corners.

3) For West Mass Kids: WMUA blog run by erika and eric, get into it.

4) So the movie Tony Takitani randomly popped into my head last night and I ended up musing about it for a good three hours in bed until 3 or 4 am and had Julian rent it for me from amherst college as soon as i woke up. I know how corny this sounds, but the movie is haunting. I don't know how many of you actually listen to any of the recommendations I make (such as this one) but i strongly urge you (90% on rotten!) to rent/buy Tony Takitani if you can stomach a melancholy film dealing with the nature of being alone and loss.

In fact, saying the movie was haunting before was an understatement. When I watched it for the first time over winter break of freshman year, I sat for a bit just staring at the T.V. while the menu looped after the credits. Besides being one of the most lovingly crafted adaptations of a work of literature (by Haruki Murakami nonetheless!) the movie was absolutely devastating by how deceptively simple it was. You could watch it for face value and get as much out of it as one who choose to dig a bit deeper. The scene changes elegantly resembled the pages of a book turning while the narrator filled in the story with soft strokes.

And the story... reminded me of why I left san diego for amherst. Having the disastrous mind set that one had to have love to be happy coupled with the contrarian view on relationships of "better to never love than to love and loss" since as far as I can remember, Tony was a wake up call to me of who I was becoming. I was determined not to go down that path well before viewing the movie, moving to amherst was my last ditch effort to find some sort of salvation that was bound to come if I just let it find me. I didn't want to be stuck for the rest of my life doing some lifeless job with an empty house filled with meaningless trinkets, there was something better for me. There had to be something better.

When the movie ended that first time, I pitied Tony because being alone was a death sentence. I thought no one should lead the life he lead, disconnected and distant. He was a good person, he didn't deserve that. That last phone call was supposed to go through and he was just seconds away from happily ever after.

I wasn't saved, of course. Fast forward a year and in a sudden panic of what I was going to do with my life I was reminded of my parent's advice that they gave since grade school which was to choose something practical which I "could live on" and settled on becoming an accounting major.

I just finished the movie for the second time and I didn't feel pity or any sort of unexplainable strong sense of sadness for Tony when the movie ended on this viewing. The lifeless job and empty house don't seem as scary, nor does being alone. I'm fine with going down the same disparate path that he took and quite frankly I'm already well on my way. I'm not sad or lonely, far from either.

I just don't mind anymore.

Best new band

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 18:13:00 +0000

Cheap Art are more or less one of the best new punk bands in San Diego.

Well done Jake, well fucking done!

See them Dec 2nd, copy and pasted from the myspace:
Cheap Art

December, 2 2007 at ESCO house (CASSETTE RELEASE)
883 Eden Pl, Escondido, California 92026
Cost : $4

Crime Desire Loser Life Waco Fuck

I need a favor done.

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 07:46:00 +0000

Do you know of someplace online (torrent/usenet/whatever) where i can get the movie Angus? Leave a comment.

Thanks. I'd kinda really love you.

Having one of those nights at 3 am where I don't want to be 20 and would give anything to redo my life, or at the the 90s...

I want to be a kid again.

I lose.

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 10:21:00 +0000

I will never ever in my life beat this:

Unless...

Engineer + Views

noreply@blogger.com (Wakka Wakka!!) — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 08:31:00 +0000

Whoa, somewhere between today and the past 4 days i've hit 100,000 YouTube views!

Well not really, I'm taking a gander that most of those views are from the same 30-40 people of which 75% are friends/people i know.

No one seems to click "more info" on any of the videos so they don't come here and only 2 or 3 of my friends read this blog but i like that, it's our little secret.

Michael filmed Engineer with my camera on October 26 when they were in CT, i'll have the full info later but for now:
Engineer in CT
^ YouTube Sample 1
^ YouTube Sample 2
Again, all credit for this video goes to Michael I.

I've also been playing around with vimeo the site is fantastic, the quality is basically that of the original wmv's if not slightly compressed and the options and the site design is great. I'm not switching though for a number of reasons:
1) the first and most important being that i'm a stubborn bitter old miser and i hate web 2.0/new media buzz yadda yadda youthful bullshit that the site and CV (busted tee's ring a bell?) tries to be.
2) They make more money then i will ever see while having fun doing it (see point 1)
3) The site is slow, god awfully slow
4) I like me some ugly. (re: youtube)
5) Youtube has a greater user base and the whole point for posting samples is for the greatest amount of people to see it and to download the full video (if they are smart enough to click more info and get the link to archive.org)

In regards to the last point this is not for any sort of glory or recognition, I've said it before and I'll say it again: tell people you shot any one of my videos if it'll earn you points with a lady/dude you've been crushing on, get you a free lunch, impress your friends, whatever. This is a dumb hobby that I continue to keep because it's fun to me and I have no idea what I'm doing (anyone with any sort of background in video/film/photo will tell you this) you ever see American Beauty? Remember the creepy kid with like a drawer full of mini-dv tapes? Yeah...

Anyways it's 4:27 am on 11/11/07 and I'm rambling again for this update. I added a meebo chatbox to the right ---> but i expect only trolls to use it so have fun with that.

I've been in Amherst, MA for three years. The sunrise is fantastic.