Happy Helloween....

... a barrage of posts is due. I'll try to keep each one concise. This site is Attention Deficit Disorder complient!!

Chronologically, when Scott smashed his guitar, it got me to thinking about all the poor, lonely, homeless guitars out there... so I picked up a new one.


I went out to the bay area again for work, and was bored, as usual. So I took a vow to entertain myself regardless. Saturday I found some good motorcycle racing over in Stockton. "You ever take it off any sweet jumps?"



There was a stunt show during the intermission, and this dude was doing some stuff I just couldn't believe on a Harley.



Then I decided I'd had enough of the motorcycles bit, and I headed back west. Made it to Hwy 1 on the coast just in time to snap a few rising tide/setting sun shots...



More to come....

What the hell is this about?

beating
Originally uploaded by tjayswift.

I normally try to stay away from topics like this, but for some reason, I got extremely riled up about this one tonight.

Incase you haven't yet seen it, this 64 year old man was roughed up a bit by the police in New Orleans..... WHY on earth? I don't care how drunk and beligerent he may have been, he was struck repeatedly in the face.... does it really take 4 experienced officers to subdue and arrest a disorderly 64 year old?

A fifth officer apparently threatened and assaulted the AP photojournalist on the scene, as well. Classy work, fellas.

I DO understand that you fellas on the police force in New Orleans are highly stressed and overworked, and that you have been working 12 hour shifts 7 days a week since the hurricane. The ones that didn't desert, that is... and I DO understand that the older man was intoxicated and unruly.... AND that police officers are only human- BUT- seriously, as an officer of the law, you should have the restraint to avoid this type of situation... if you know you're in the mood to beat an innocent party because you've had a rough week, let one of the other FOUR officers present make the arrest. I guarantee you the victim had a pretty shitty week, too... but he chose to have a couple of drinks and keep to himself.... YOU chose to be a violent asshole. When he resisted your unnecessary roughness, you turned up the heat and beat him some more. He was stuck in the face at least 6 times on camera. You must punch like a pussy if it took you six licks to knock out a drunk grandpa.

I hold a lot of respect for police officers, and I always will, no matter how many stories like this I hear. These guys work hard and risk their lives for little to nothing every single day, and that earns kudos from me off the bat. But I do hold tight to my opinion that many cops got the job so that they could continue their high school bully days and not have to grow up. They have an ego problem and they feed on the weak. There are bad apples in every bunch, and I apologize to my (good) cop friends, but for some reason it seems like the rotten ones stand out a lot more when they're sworn to serve and protect.

Fortunately, 3 of the officers involved have been arrested and suspended without pay. Hopefully karma will catch up to them sooner rather than later- don't drop the soap, bitches.

The sad part is this- I've always believed that violent people are just that- violent people. They always have been, and they probably always will be. It pains me to imagine how many times this has happened and there hasn't been a camera around to expose it. And we all know what happens to the complaints that get filed at the local PD with no video or photos to back them up...

And just when you thought the NOLA soap opera couldn't get any better, I ran across this at the bottom of the article-

"On Friday, state authorities said they were investigating allegations that New Orleans police broke into a dealership and made off with nearly 200 cars, including 41 new Cadillacs, as the storm closed in."

Oh my god, I can't WAIT to find out more about this one....

Do you know what 200 cars looks like? It's a lot. How many officers would you imagine would have to be involved to put up a number like that? What in the hell did they think they were going to do with them? They're cops- it's not like they were going to drive them to Arkansas to avoid the storm- they had to stay and work. And it's not like they could register them after the storm or sell them for profit. Where are the cars now?

With some crimes I can understand the motive. I'm no angel- but that was just plain stupid. Only a true retard would risk his freedom, his job, his integrity, and his future to play with a new Cadillac for a couple of hours. Hell, you're a cop. You can go test drive one anytime you want... you could probably even make up some bullshit lie to convince them into loaning you one for the weekend- and I wouldn't even look down on you for that one- but don't STEAL it. Jesus. I sure hope the new chief of police down there has the heads rolling for this crap.

Honestly, I'm not too sure what I'd do with that piece of shit city if it were up to me... part of me just says to let the ocean reclaim the land and forget it was ever there... but I know it's home to those people, no matter how crappy a place it was/is. And I know as well as anyone how it feels to miss the things you love about your home. But how do you rebuild a city of that size when you have things like this happening? It's fucked from square one. Do you honestly think that the residents that are there now are going to respect the powers that be after this senseless shit? It's had to imagine that city being any more unruly than it was before, but I've got a feeling.... if things don't improve, we're going to see some major civil unrest. They folks left down there may not be the most educated on the planet, but I can promise you they're not stupid. They're not going to put up with this foolishness any more than you or I or anyone else would... They have a lot of pride in their city, and with pride comes a sense of respect- if they don't get any respect from the authorities, don't expect them to give any.

One thing's for sure- something's gotta change in New Orleans. And if I weren't too busy looking for elderly drunks to beat up, I'd go down there personally and do omething about it.

it's all about the music, baby.

band5
Originally uploaded by tjayswift.

Before somebody asks: Yes, I'm drunk.

So finally, I get to the good stuff...

We had a gig a couple of weeks ago at the Electric Ballroom in Knoxville.... I ended up playing bass, actually, which was a surprise, cause I'm totally a guitar player.

Nonetheless, I DO enjoy a lil bass fiddle now and then. It allows me to drink a little more onstage than I normally do, and bounce around like an idiot, since I don't have all the intricate chords and licks to hit.... and I've played bass in a couple of bands before, so I wasn't too scared, and I knew quite a bit of the material already.

Here's the stage before we went on:



Sooooo..... I got the call on Monday, I think, that we had the gig on Wednesday. I was up north visiting S, and not planning on coming back until Friday or so, but I made the sacrifice and tried to come back home on Tuesday to rehearse. And then lady luck caught up with me. I had just bought the aforementioned rims and tires for the 'Stang, and had a blowout on the Interstate about 50 miles out of her town.

I put the spare on and drove back to town to get it replaced, since it was brand new and under warranty against "structural failure," which is exactly what had happened. By the time they got the tire replaced, it was 6PM, and a drive home was pointless, so I stayed another night and drove home on Wednesday.... straight to Neal's house to do a quick run-through and pack up the gear.

We arrived just in time to miss soundcheck, but luckily the sound-man was smooth enough to squeeze it in before we went on in the least obtrusive manner possible.

We then proceeded to rock the faces of the Knoxville slums. This is what a stage full of ROCK looks like-




I don't think anyone got a picture, but some ghetto dude got onstage and tried to rap with us, and security made him get down. He obliged with a super-pimp backflip off the stage. For reals.

I got to sing a lil bit.



THIS is what I look like when I'm rocking your own personal face. Note the look of complete and total focus, depite the drunken haze. Or, as my buddy Doug said, it looks like I "got my thumb stuck." Hehe. I know you can feel the thunder, baby.... and be sure and dig the belt buckle.


Neal and I switched places so I could rock ass on his side of the stage.


Incase you were wondering, the blue wristband means, "I'm with the band, so I get to do whatever the hell I want, and I drink for free... so gimme another Grey Goose and Red Bull, wench." Maybe if you come out next time I'll get you a blue wristband....

Missed opportunity of the night: Backstage, I spotted a massive plume of Mardi-Gras colored feathers. I initally thought they were angel wings, so I decided that I would walk onstage in nothing but the feathery wings, my underwear, and my boots. But when I inquired about the feathers' ownership at the bar, I was told that it was "a 10 foot long headdress" for the drag shows, and that if I were to put it on, "all hell would break loose with the queens." I'm not so sure that 10 drag queens could kick my ass, but I'd rather not have to tell the story if they did.... So, reluctantly, I had to let the sexy feathers be.

The night did end on a positive note, as we had a fantastic show, and management was evidently really impressed with us. They asked us to play the first Wednesday of every month. Which is tomorrow, and I'm in Cali. But that's the breaks...

------------ time warp---------------


The following Monday, my UBER-talented buddy Scott McMahan had a gig at Alf's in Pigeon Forge... he graciously invited me to sit in on lead guitar, and I humbly obliged.

As you may recall, Monday was the night that the UT-LSU game was rescheduled to...

First off, let me say: Alf's has no damn clue how to make money. Scott brought an easy 20 people just to hear him sing, and they told him (AFTER he set up) that he wouldn't be able to play because a couple of regulars wanted to watch the game. Oh yeah, and he wouldn't be getting paid, either. 3 people wanted to watch the game, to be exact. And for some reason, it never occured to management that those people could actually watch the (closed-captioned) game while Scott sang for pennies and raked in the business....

But alas, Pigeon Forge saints Bobbie and Grant came through, and offered Scott the same amount of money the bar was paying for him to come play at their house immediately.

Then, one of the coolest things I've ever seen in my life happened: We packed up, and the ENTIRE bar with the exception of the 3 fogeys left with us. We stopped off and picked up beer, and then set up at Bobbie and Grant's house, where we played to 25-30 people in a basement on a MONDAY night in backwoods, TN.

Scott and I did some sexy duets. In a totally platonic way, of course.



I played wicked solos to Sid, the dog with the best musical taste in East TN.



A wonderful time was had by all, and Scott was so happy, that he smashed his guitar at the end.



We wrapped the night up at Denny's, where Scott did shots of maple syrup while Jimmie and I did our best to act not drunk.


I'm out in Cali now, trying to keep from being bored to death in the Bay Area, and then I'll skip over to NYC in a couple of weeks. I do sincerely hope that things are swell at home, and I promise to keep you folks updated about future gigs.

Enjoy the waning summer sun.

-t