Ruix Blog

Hey Tumblrfolk. How is everything? You all okay? Because, here we are looking down the barrel of Thanksgiving week, which means the beginning of a stressful time of year for many of us. Lots of financial concerns, family stress, et cetera, et cetera... If you’re one of those people who has a hard time around the holidays, hang in there please. And certainly know that you’re not alone.

Personally, I love the holidays. I get stressed like anyone, sure, but growing up it was always a really warm and lovely time around my house. At least, before my parents’ divorce it was. Every year, I try and create my own new traditions, but mostly I just try to enjoy the loved ones I’m surrounded by, listen to my favorite Christmas tunes and watch movies and football constantly. Even when I’m alone, I just like the holiday season. So if you’re ever in need of a bit of yuletide cheer, come hang out with me for a day and I’ll help keep your spirits up.

It’s Monday, a day later than I usually post. Last night I had a mandatory work meeting to attend, followed by some drinks with co-workers and home in time to watch the new Curb Your Enthusiasm and Succession episodes. So needless to say, I didn’t have quite the chance to write anything last night. 

EDIT: Scratch that, it is now Sunday... the new Sunday. Meaning the Sunday I should be posting something new. Everything before this I saved in a draft because it was an EXTREMELY busy week, both in the retail world and in my life. So, technically, I missed last week. That’s okay. I’ll include enough content for both weeks, including two new Spotify playlists. 

First, let’s get into the aforementioned work meeting. This was the first one of these in a couple years, for obvious reasons. Basically, it’s a Sunday night meeting where everyone comes in after the store closes, eats pizza and listens to Paul (the owner) tell the story of how he and his old lady bought the store way back in 1988 and made it the successful enterprise it is today. And we go over some basic rules and Black Friday/holiday protocols and we’re usually done within an hour or two. It’s fine. Not necessarily the best use of everyone’s time, but it’s usually an excuse for a few of us co-workers to go get some drinks on a Sunday night. Which, as I said, we super did. I mean, I really relish in any opportunity to show these Colorado folks my Iowa good ole boy drinking abilities. Most people I know out here, with the exception of the people from Dubuque that live here (of which there are many) are stoners and really don’t know how to fucking drink. I like to show them what it’s like. Also, drinking at high altitude for five years makes me look like a god damn superhero when I go home to Iowa and drink. But, I digress. Besides this meeting, not a whole lot of exciting shit went down last week. So let’s talk about this week. But first, last week’s playlist:

11/17/2021

Now moving on to this week. Obviously, Thanksgiving was this week. What a blast that was! So, I have taken to cooking a full bird the last few years, not to mention some sides and gravy and whatnot. The problem is, my roommates are vegetarians, so I end up with SO MUCH FUCKING TURKEY leftovers. This year, one of my roommates invited his family (parents, sister and nephew) over. So even though the pressure was kinda on (I’ve never cooked for that many people before), it was nice to be able to feed that big of a horde with my award-winning* Thanksgiving feast.

*I’ve never won an award for anything in my life.

The next day was Black Friday. In the retail world, this is famously a busy sales day. In the record store world, this is yet another bullshit cash grab with insanely pointless vinyl releases, all under the umbrella of the shitstorm known as Record Store Day. I have discussed Record Store Day in previous posts. I’ve hated it for many years and think it’s become such a fucking travesty that it makes me hate that I have worked in record stores for two decades. It started in 2007 as just a simple way to recognize that record stores are important and maybe we should all recognize this. Now it’s one of the major reasons that record pressing plants are backed up to the point that indie bands are unable to get their shit pressed on vinyl without a two-year wait. Because we all need a $30 12″ single of some shit YouTube-famous star’s ignorant fucking bullshit. But, again, I digress. This year, Black Friday’s drop was not that great and we didn’t sell anywhere near all of the shit that came out that day, so maybe (hopefully) that’s an indication that this vinyl bubble is about to pop. FINALLY. I’m sick of overpaying for shit that I’ve collected my entire life because of these fairweather collector scum fuckheads. Phew... sorry about that. Sometimes you just need to rant.

I watched part one of the new Beatles doc The Beatles: Get Back, which is a new three-part Disney+ feature from director Peter Jackson, who we ll know because Lord of the Rings and Spider-Man and nerds, nerds, nerds. Anyway, this is basically all this raw footage and audio from the sessions where the Beatles, at a time when they pretty famously did NOT get along, sat down to write a handful of new songs for a highly-publicized secret show, which ended up being the famous rooftop show where they got busted by the police. It’s fantastic. Totally surreal to watch this hitherto unseen footage of the most famous rock band of all time, in their element, laughing and goofing off and basically just acting like a garage band from Anytown, U.S.A. It’s truly an amazing film so far. I’m very excited to watch the next two parts, which officially came out the following two days. But I haven’t gotten around to watching the rest of it because the rest of the weekend I did other things.

On Friday, my roommates and I went to our neighbors’ house for a fire in their backyard and got to know them a bit more. We also got to know some of their friends, which ranged from the mundane to the truly depressing. One girl who’s name I either never learned or can’t remember (I was drunk, after all) cornered one of my roommates and I for a good 20 minutes and started talking about her dead husband. At first, I felt deep sorrow for her. That cannot be an easy thing to go through. And based on how much she said “my husband died” or “my husband is dead,” it almost seemed like it was the first time she had ever talked about it. But by the end of the night, I was so sick of hearing about her dead husband I almost called her on it. That would have been in poor taste though, so I’m glad I didn’t. Moments later, she was falling down drunk, to the point where her friend and I had to help her to the car. No judgment. Definitely been there.

Last night, I went to the Gothic Theatre and saw Sebastian FUCKING Bach! I got tickets free through work and my friend that was gonna go with me bailed at the last minute, so I almost didn’t even go. I’m SO glad I didn’t skip it. I convinced one of my co-workers to go with me and we got down there in time to see the second band, Kaleido do their thing. Hot female singer, just heavy and glammy enough. Think a slightly less gothy Evanescence. Not too bad. Anyway, I thought the show that followed would be kind of fun, slightly sad but with enough familiar material to keep all us X-ers and baby boomers interested. Dude, it was incredible. Sebastian still looks and sounds amazing. He and his band ripped through an hour’s set of all classic Skid Row songs. They played the entire Slave to the Grind album (which is my favorite album by them) and a bunch off the first record too. And it was so much fun! I was very pleasantly surprised. 

And that brings us up to speed. Today, I’m taking it easy, for the most part. My friend and former roommate Ryan and I jammed a bit today and sent a few shots to celebrate his recent engagement. Since then, I’ve just been watching football, drinking seltzers and writing. A mellow Sunday, which is what I needed. That’s about all I have for now. I’ll try to get back on track, writing every Sunday. For now, here is this week’s playlist. Be good!

Well, I actually got out and saw a band this week. But more on that in a sec.

I realize that everybody lived through the same thing and it’s not news, but not mentioning the pandemic in the context of this blog seems weird, considering my long period of absence. Also, everyone had their own experience with it, so let me talk about mine. In March of 2020, I was called at home by my job saying not to bother coming in, as the rapid rise in cases of the new (to us anyway) novel Coronavirus, or COVID-19 as it is sometimes called, was threatening the lives and livelihoods of everyone everywhere. So for the first time in my life, my parents’ lives and even the lives of my grandparents the world went into lockdown. For several months, businesses, save for those that were deemed “essential” were shut down, and we were all required to observe a stay at home order. Now, after the initial panic and figuring out of unemployment, you’d think this would be a dream scenario for anyone who doesn’t like to go to work (which is everyone), but it really wasn’t. This thing was scary because we didn’t know what the fuck it was, only that it was making people sick and, in several million cases, killing people. Fast forward to summer 2020, people are starting to calm down, businesses are opening up, and cases were going down as more people went outdoors. I went home to Dubuque in June because I had just lived through a series of months where I didn’t know if I was going to see my family ever again. Plus, the government was giving me way more money to stay home than I was EVER getting paid working and that includes all of the jobs I’ve ever had since 1994. But that’s neither here nor there. The point is, here it is fall 2021 and, while the pandemic is by no means over, (though it has, just like any other issue, divided us up into us vs them with regards to face mask mandates and vaccinations) it seems surreal to me that we all just went through that. 

And during this shutdown, I went through my own ups and downs. I started smoking cigarettes off and on again. I gained a ton of weight. My drinking spiked considerably (and actually hasn’t really un-spiked as of yet, but I digress). Then I started dieting and LOST a ton of weight. I lost and gained roommates. I graduated college. All in all, I guess I’m trying to say that it’s amazing how quickly we can adapt to a new way of life if we’re forced to do so. I mean, right? I started school in the normal fashion: going to campus, attending classes, interacting with classmates, etc. Yet the last year and a half of my time there was spent, for the most part, over Zoom, which FUCKING.... SUCKS! I don’t know why I bring this up, I guess I’ve just never really written about it and it was, you know, like I said, very significant. 

I’ve been back at work now for over a year and I’m back to struggling. I’m about to take a bartending gig at the bar by Twist, Route 40 (formerly The Goods) in order to help make ends meet. With the holidays coming up, I could use the extra scratch, y’know? 

I’m hoping to organize a Twist & Shout company Christmas party this year. Likely it’ll be at my house, so we can spread out. 2019′s party was held at Casa Bonita and oh what fun that was. 2018′s party was held in a private room on top of a high rise where a co-worker (now roommate) lived at the time. That was even more fun because it was before all this worrisome bullshit hit and a bunch of people weren’t at each other’s throats all the time. I dunno, I just hope that I can drive some holiday spirit into somebody’s life this year. 

But first thing’s first. Thanksgiving is coming up in a couple of weeks and with it, a new tradition that I started last year of me cooking a bird and making this ungodly gravy, the recipe for which I got from one Gordon Ramsay. But shit, I might be too broke to even buy the ingredients. 

Anyway, I don’t want to dump all negative shit on ya all the time, but since I’ve got a lot to catch you up on, I’m starting with a little at a time. I did want to mention the show I caught. On Monday, I went and saw this band called Uniform, who I think are amazing and I’ve always wanted to see them. They did not disappoint. They’re metal I guess, but they’ve got kind of more of a ‘90s noise rock-y kind of vibe to them. Think Today is the Day or Unsane before they signed with Relapse in the late ‘90s. Anyway, I assumed Uniform were the headliners, so I was surprised to see that they had started already by the time I got there. They were actually opening for a band called Portrayal of Guilt. These guys were good too, but didn’t quite grab me as much. Maybe it was because following Uniform, they looked like chumps. But really, it was just kinda more straightforward shoegazy-typed extreme metal. I mean, kind yawn right? Considering I’ve been to about 4,000 of these kind of shows, it could just be that I’m over it. Well, whatever. Great show overall and I’m glad I checked it out.

Here is this week’s playlist which happens to be heavy with Israeli music because for some reason that’s what I was feeling last week. Enjoy. 

From now on, Sundays will be about two things: NFL and me unloading some musings, witticisms and complaints (most likely, a LOT of complaints) here on the blog. I realize not a lot of people, if any, are going to read this and I’m okay with that. I just need a place to put all this toxic shit that builds up in my brain every week. 

First, I want to address some of the things I merely glossed over in my last post in regards to my time away from this blog. The most significant thing is that after four years, I graduated from CU Denver’s Film & Television program back in May. I got my degree in the mail about a month later. It feels both amazing and surreal to be done with that particular journey as it is essentially the main reason I moved to Denver in the first place. And now, with that chapter of my life in my rearview, I’m slightly terrified of what the future holds. I don’t know if I can even find a job in my field anywhere, let alone here in Denver where there really isn’t much of a film presence. Then again, now that school is over, part of me never wants to work on a film set ever again. Some of those productions got insanely frustrating. Of course, I’m exaggerating a bit, I miss it like crazy, but honestly I need to figure something out soon because in February I’ll need to start paying back my loans. I’m broke all the time as it is now, so that’s going to be no picnic.

Now, I am still at Twist & Shout Records for my job at the moment, but I get paid for ABSOLUTE SHIT. When I first started, five years ago, this didn’t bother me as much, but after living through a global pandemic which put me out of said job for six fucking months, returning to it seemed almost foolish. I made way more money on unemployment, and I am in no way exaggerating that. At the very least, I will need to take on a second job if I’m going to carry on paying my bills. Otherwise, a move back to Dubuque may have to be in the cards.

All right, anyway... I don’t want this whole post to be doom & gloom. I do still love living in Denver and am hoping that shit will turn around soon. I’m optimistic anyway. I’ll get it together. I’m gonna keep it short tonight because I’m in the middle of a Kitchen Nightmares binge (how did it take me so long to get into this show? It’s amazing!) and I wanna get back to it. But here is a link to a Spotify playlist I made this week, another thing I’m going to try to do every week. So I will share those here with my ramblings. Thank you and good eve.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3pc21uia6J0z4jpeDNS5ia?si=otb8PfdcRpSDWqKxemufbg

Oh, but before I forget, here is a link to my thesis film, y’all. I’m pretty proud of this damn thing. Let me know what you think if there are any actual readers of my shit out there.

So I just finished a full re-read of every blog post I ever wrote for this Tumblr and I have some takeaways. First, it turns out, I’m actually not too shabby of a writer. I mean, sometimes I’ll read something I wrote from years ago and either laugh or get irritated, but I think this blog is pretty interesting and funny. That said, now that I’ve sucked my own dick a bit, re-reading this blog has also made me want to start writing posts again. But, I mean, I’ve said that a lot. Like, remember in that last post when I said I was going to start regularly posting blog entries again? That ended up being a total lie. Why did you ever trust me? Would you believe that was four years ago? Evidently, my time here in Denver has warranted nothing interesting to write about and nothing has happened to me since then worth mentioning. 

Obviously that’s not true. But how do I resurrect this thing and at the same time, keep myself interested enough to keep posting? At this point, it would be tough to fit four years’ worth of shit (including my graduating from film school) into one blog post, and I wouldn’t wanna do it that way anyway. That will make this post so long that no one would ever wanna read it. So perhaps I’ll start little by little, and start telling you about things as I think of them, yeah? I mean, a lot has happened since 2017 when I posted ONE post and completely bailed again. Even more has happened since 2016, which is when I was last really active.

First and foremost, let me share with you all an entry that I started in January of 2018 that I never finished and thus never posted and that will fill in at least some partial blanks. Here is that text:

Well, it’s officially a new year. And that means trying like hell to work on things about myself that I will inevitably abandon by February. Mine are mostly the same as last year: “lose weight,” “write more,” “do a comedy open mic,” “lighten the fuck up,” and always “play more music.” I got off to a great start on the first thing by eating two bags of microwave popcorn and drinking a case of Pabst on the first day of the year. When Kim questioned me about it, I actually used the excuse “we’ve got to get rid of it somehow” and I was not in the least bit kidding. Well... false starts have always been a part of my life, so there’s always tomorrow. I am writing on the 2nd, after all so a little procrastination is obviously in my nature.

I’ll come back to the second and third things in a minute. Since I’m probably never going to fully lighten up, I will have to stop trying to resolve this. I’m just going to accept the fact that uncontrollably screaming the foulest of obscenities at, for instance, my shoelace when I step on it and accidentally untie it is just who I am. Some unresolved anger issues, perhaps leftover from my childhood, are always going to be there and it’s silly to fight them off now that I’m going to be forty. I’ll just embrace them and hope that other people/things stop not going my way this year.

Oh, that... yeah, I’m going to be forty this year. That’s kind of weird to me, although I remember turning thirty being kind of weird as well. Like, I was all midlife crisis-y over it leading up to the birthday (minus the sports car or mistress, of course). But then when the day came, I barely thought about it at all. It helped that I was in Boston with two of my best buddies going to Red Sox games and getting too hammered to think about it. But I do remember it weirding me out. Also, after hating them my whole life, I started liking Steely Dan, like, overnight it seemed. I wonder if I’ll start liking something on my 40th that I’ve always hated. Maybe it’ll be green bean casserole. I’ve always wanted to like that. Fuck, I hope it’s not George Thorogood though.

“Play more music” is a realistic goal for 2018. The last time I posted here, I was jamming with a local Denver band called The Trip with a pal of mine from work. That is no longer happening, unfortunately. Why isn’t really important or that interesting. So I’m going to focus on what is currently happening. The band that Jeremy and I started (and Drew joined later... I talked about this last time, so go read the last post if you’re lost) is going strong. We now have a name, New Standards Men, a couple shows under our belts (and more on the horizon), a handful of digital releases on our bandcamp page and a physical release recorded by one Mr. Luke Tweedy at Flat Black Studios in the can. That’ll be on the way soon. Hoping to maybe do a little jaunt around Colorado this spring and/or perhaps even a full coastal tour in summer. Who knows? We’ll see how realistic all that is. My point is this, though: I am playing music... and it’s been one of the most rewarding bands I’ve ever played in. I just can’t say enough great shit about it. Please, if you get a chance, listen to it and come see it. Okay, actually that is enough great shit said about it.

Now... the others. “Write more” and “do an open mic.” Many of you who know me know that for some time now, I’ve wanted to try my hand at stand up but something or other always prevents me and I always never do it. I don’t know if it’s chickening out, exactly... some shyness may definitely be a factor... but it’s not like I haven’t gotten up in front of a crowd and said funny shit before. I have. I think for the most part, it’s the fact that sitting down to write an act seems like such the biggest bummer to me. But I’m not like an Andrew “Dice” Clay kinda guy where I can get on stage and talk about tits for an hour and it’s funny. I think I need to prepare something. Or maybe I’m overthinking it. I don’t know. All I know is that I’ve been wanting to do it for a long time, and now that I live in a city with a bit more anonymity, the time is fucking now. Plus, by the way, I have seen some comics, actually met and know some comics now from around the scene and some of them, their acts are so unfunny it’s depressing. So if they can do it and not be embarrassed by their terrible shit, then it’s time I step up and at least try it. I may be terrible too. But I think this might be the year.

Which brings me to the last thing I mentioned above: “write more.” Two things I’ll say about that. 1) I love writing and I hate writing. I just got done saying that writing a bunch of jokes for a five-minute open mic set sounds like way more of a chore than it does fun, and now I’m saying I want to write more. Once I get going, I actually do love it. It’s therapeutic in a way I can’t explain.. But getting around to actually doing it? Fuck. Most nights I’d rather just veg out and watch the fucking A-Team or something and not think about writing anything. The last blog post I wrote was in April. It’s now January, for chrissakes. Now, a lot of that inactivity I can blame on 2) school. I finished up my first semester back in school a couple weeks ago. It’s film school, so I’m writing scripts and shit. It’s different than I’m used to, but kind of cool. But also, when it’s happening it’s a drag... because the difference is, I have to do it. So give me a bunch of writing assignments with deadlines and that’s the easiest way to get me to ignore recreational writing. I know, I know... this is not anyone’s problem but my own. But I need to force myself to do this more.

Now, if you’re still tuned in and reading this, you are a good friend, or you’re my mother. Either way, thanks. That was a whole lot of diarrhea of the mind that needed to be flushed out. But that is kinda what this site is about. So let’s turn our attention away from the future and back toward the past. 2017 is over, dudes. I mean, that’s a big deal considering the country is still being run by an insane, sentient My Pet Monster doll. I thought maybe he would have gotten us all killed by now but no such luck. Anyway, I thought I would talk a little bit about my year this past year because a lot has happened. If you’re a regular reader, some of this info may be repeat. Then again, I think my only other entry was the one I already mentioned back in April. So even if it is repeat info, it’ll be good repeat info.

The most recent and probably the most significant event of this past year is the aforementioned semester at University of Colorado Denver I just finished. Some initial reflections on that: First of all, when I moved here with school in mind, I didn’t realize the program I was looking at was essentially film school. I thought I was getting into a kind of media studies degree. I also didn’t know it was going to be minimum eight semesters... Four fucking years. It’s going to be weird graduating college when I am 42 years old. And then still not having any guarantee that I’m going to be able to work and live comfortably... which is kinda the point. So needless to say, I’m getting cold feet a little. Although, not to toot my own horn, but my grades were god damn exemplary, so that did kinda warm them a bit. And it’s not that I still couldn’t change my major around a little bit to better suit me, I’m just not exactly sure what it is I want to be doing. Not just in the future, but in general. Like, now either. Again, I love playing with Drew and Jeremy and I’m still killing it at my job at the record store, but I feel like there’s more I could be doing. More I should be doing. And I’m not 100% convinced that finishing a bachelor’s degree in an industry that is hard to break into is the right next step. I was going to use this holiday downtime to kind of figure out some shit about my life. But here it is half over and I’m still not sure.

Wow.. So, where to even begin on the dissection of THAT post. It is now the fall of 2021 and not only have we, as a nation, (mostly) survived a global pandemic and the remainder of the Trump presidency, but nearly everything in that post no longer applies to my life. I’ll just go down the list, in rapid-fire succession:

Kim and I broke up and we no longer live together.

I not only turned forty, but have since turned forty-one, forty-two AND forty-three

I was fired from New Standards Men by two of my best friends, only ONE of whom I have since repaired my relationship

I still haven’t technically done a stand-up open mic, but am still holding out hope that I will man-up and do it one of these days.

I did stick with film school and, in fact, graduated this past May. And guess what? I’m not doing a damn thing with it.

Hey, pals. I’ve decided to bring back the Ruix blog. So let’s delve into the last nine or so months and I’ll fill you in on some lost time.

First of all, I’ve decided to resurrect the Ruix blog for a couple of reasons. I’ve recently been invited to participate in the music and film review blog for the record store, Twist and Shout, where I currently work. (More on them in a while). Before I do that, I’d kind of like to begin writing and producing content just for practice’s sake. I ain’t written shit for months and it’s starting to bother me. So, I’m going to start writing some thoughts out here. Some of it may be long winded and unnecessary, but hey... so is my personality, according to many of you. The other reason is because I realized that just because I moved out of Dubuque, doesn’t make me any less affiliated with Ruix. Ruix the zine, will hopefully always continue in some form or another whether I am contributing to it or not. But Ruix, as a concept, has always been about art and music, DIY aesthetic and above all, collaboration among friends and peers in our community. In that respect, I’ll always be connected to Ruix, so why not continue the blog from Denver? (Plus the word itself, ‘ruix,’ is a word my younger brother made up when he was a kid to mean penis, so there’s that).

Which brings me to my first point. My girlfriend Kim and I moved to Denver in August of last summer. Most of you reading this probably know that. We moved at a time when not only my brother and sister-in-law moved there, but also some of my best friends, so the timing felt comfortable. I also graduated from NICC last May and promptly got into the University of Colorado Denver out here so that I could pursue my bachelor’s degree in Media Studies. I also got into my “dream” school (I put that in quotes because I only recently decided it was my dream school), Emerson College in Boston which was super exciting and unexpected. However, I opted for Denver because I believe the average price for a one-bedroom apartment in Boston is around $200 million a month. So here we are. And honestly, I do not regret the decision in the slightest. It’s gorgeous out here, everyone we’ve met are super cool and I got a really rad job.

Oh that. Yeah, I got a job at one of the largest and most reputable record stores still left in this country, Twist and Shout Records. It’s a job that I love, that I’ve been doing for over a decade, I love all of the folks that I work with, I get a killer discount on shit and, as I said before, I get to do a little writing for them. If I had one gripe, it would be that the pay isn’t great (which is really less of a gripe and more of a factual statement about a common thing in retail) so I am on the lookout for a second part-time job as of late. So if anyone I know in the Denver area is reading this and has a lead on an investment banking gig or a lawyerin’ gig or maybe a CEO-of-a-Fortune-500-Company gig I can apply to, please let me know. 

(But in all seriousness, I am actually looking for bartending or barbacking jobs at the moment).

I’m playing music, which feels good. I started playing with one Mr. Jeremy Brashaw back in October or so and it’s been a hell of an outlet for both of us, creatively. Recently, Drew Bissell, the aforementioned pal who moved out here at the same time, started joining us and the shit we’ve been coming up with has been incredible. It’s largely improv, with some written parts Frankensteined together to make for, what I like to call a cross between Pharoah Sanders and Lungfish... or something like that. Anyway, it’s great. And we hope to debut it live sometime in April when our pal Bob Bucko Jr. comes out here on his spring tour.

I’ve also been playing with a Denver garage band called The Trip that is made up of a couple of new pals that I met out here, one of whom I work with. We had our first show not this past Saturday, but last Saturday on February 18. (I missed a Tracii Guns/Phil Lewis reunion L.A. Guns show to rock with these guys. If you know me, you know that’s a big deal). Anyway, it was a really fun show that was NEARLY thwarted into not being so fun by a person literally shitting on the floor of the bar. I’ve been going to shows most of my life and playing shows for most of THAT time, and not ONCE have I ever seen literal fresh human shit laid upon the floor. It was during the second band. I was walking over to meet one of my bandmate’s wife and out of nowhere the smell hit us, as we were shaking hands. We all tried to brush it off and act like nothing was off, but then I started gagging and had to go outside which, in retrospect, I hope my friend’s wife didn’t take offense to. Kim was the one that pointed out the ACTUAL shit on the floor, being smeared around by oblivious dancing showgoers. The bartender came out with the mop bucket and the whole bit. The smell never really got completely out of there either. But all-in-all, it’s a pretty funny story to tell. And by the time we got onstage, the dookie was cleaned up and it smelled mostly like Pine Sol in there (which, in a way, is just as bad because I knew what that Pine Sol was covering up, but I digress). Popular consensus was that the culprit was a homeless (or homeless-looking, at least) dirtball that had already been kicked out once before, came back in and dropped a grudge-deuce in his JNCO’s, plopped it onto the floor in the middle of where people were watching the show, and bailed.

And THAT was how my very first show in Denver went down.

A lot has happened to both Kim and I since moving here and I don’t want my first entry back to be a TL;DR. So, I’m going to end on the shit story note. However, as I said, I plan on being back here more often to update you all and perhaps even relay some more stories from our first 6 months as Coloradoans as often as I can (maybe not every week, but often). I think I covered the most important bullet points, anyway. For now, I’d like to leave you with a recent obsession of mine, a song that has served as a soundtrack to much of our life since we’ve been here (for better or worse). Enjoy.

Hello everyone. A lot has happened DAAC-wise and also me-wise the last few weeks. I know I keep repeating these long hiatuses from the blog, and for that I apologize. It’s likely most don’t notice, but I still get anxious, particularly with myself, when I can’t keep up the routine. It will more than likely happen again at some point, but I’m going to stop apologizing for it. Call it a late resolution.

Anyway, the most prevalent reason for the absence, aside from it being the last few weeks of my final semester at NICC, is the Project I Music Series Mentoring Program. We are officially looking down the barrel of the final week of the program, culminating with the show at Smokestack next Sunday, May 1. These kids have come into their own over the last 12 weeks and formed bonds with each other, both musically and as new friends. Not to mention the bonds we the mentors have formed with them. I couldn’t be more stoked to have been a part of this program and couldn’t have asked for a better group of students. I think I can safely speak for all of the mentors when I say that we are proud of the work and effort that the students have put forth. So, again, please come see the result of this extraordinary program on Sunday May 1. This is, obviously, an all-ages show and the doors open at 5. 

Also, Drew and I spoke with a handful of the students last week about their thoughts on the program. That conversation will be available soon as the next episode of the Ruix Podcast. 

Speaking of the Ruix Podcast and hiatuses, the show returns after a month-or-so-long absence with Episode #22. In this episode, Andy Schneider (aka Riff Worm) from Snuff Queen, Sludgeburner and Woress joins me for a discussion on music and skating and drinking and other cool shit. Plus Matt, Drew and Bob are there hanging out, tossing their two cents in here and there. It’s a hilarious conversation and it’s up and available now. Check it out. 

Another reason I wasn’t able to put anything up, at least last weekend, was the arrival of yet another corporate cash grab known as Record Store Day. Listen, I have a love/hate relationship with RSD. I love it, because the store I work in (and record stores all over the world, really) make money that day. And I like to use the day as an opportunity to reward our customers with deals, grill burgers and dogs (weather permitting) and maybe showcase a band for an in-store. Because record stores SHOULD be celebrated. But I hate it for basically everything else that it has become. Every Record Store Day, there’s a line out the store prior to our opening. That line consists of MAYBE 2 or 3 people that come in the store regularly to spend money. The rest are these once-a-year motherfuckers that are probably just there to buy shit and flip it on eBay the next day. I can’t confirm that, but whatever. It sounds like I’m complaining about the store being busy, I’m sorry. Not what I mean. Ok, so that’s annoying enough, but I can deal with it. Then the questions start, “did you get that Black Keys 12″ single?” “Did you get that Celine Dion/Anal Cunt Side by Side 45?” “Did you get that dollar sign-shaped Jack White LP filled with real infant tears?” First of all, NO motherfucker. Every Record Store Day exclusive release that we got is sitting together in the same area like it is EVERY FUCKING YEAR! And even if I am hiding something, there’s a reason for it. Maybe it’s the one item in a barrage of ridiculous and overpriced other items that I WANT for myself. So why would YOU be the one to get me to hand it over? Like I’d be like, “Oh, yes of course. Right this way. We keep those under the counter for the jerkoffs that think to ask for them.” Then, you say no and you get these uppity pricks giving you negative Yelp reviews or talking shit on Facebook (both of which has happened recently). People are shitty. Oh, and also, no one in their right mind should be paying between $12 and $15 for a god damn 7″. That’s just rape. But anyway, it was a good sales day, all things considered. And the folks that stuck around and bullshit all day and killed beers and hot dogs with us are the ones we appreciate. 

Let’s see, what else?... So Bob Bucko and I recorded five songs for a Dirty Swears EP last weekend with one Mr. Matt Hohmann. That’s pretty cool. I imagine that will be out in digital form fairly soon and some sort of vinyl incarnation sometime after that. Maybe, knowing Bob, in cassette form as well. Who knows? But look for it soon.That will lead into another recording session with Matt next weekend with my brother Ben Eagle and his pal and ex-Hans Helmut bandmate Joe Marxen. They’ve written some songs and asked me to play drums with them, so we’ll see how that goes.

I’ll tell you one thing though. It’s nice to be playing drums sort of regularly again. After the disbandment of Legal Fingers which, again, ended kind of shittily and put kind of a bad taste in my mouth, I didn’t really have any interest in playing much anymore. Then I started working more closely with DAAC, doing this blog and the podcast and just sort of got occupied with other things. But even just sitting in, playing with some of the students from Project I kinda stirred some feelings up in me. It’s just good to be back, I guess. Now, even some final Legal Fingers shows and recordings before I leave town are possibly in the works. It’s looking good. And if it doesn’t happen, I’m fine with that too. I’m trying really hard not to get worked up anymore (as if my Record Store Day rant above wasn’t an indication of that). I’ll never not be annoyed by little things, but I’m trying to not let those annoyances occupy all of my attention and make me lose my mind. 

I went to see a couple of shows over the last few weeks too. Here’s a couple of rapid fire show reviews real quick before I wrap things up. 

Thursday night, I went to RibCo in the Quad Cities and saw Reverend Horton Heat, Unknown Hinson and Nashville Pussy. Lucky Tubb played too, but we got there too late and we missed them. I haven’t seen Nashville Pussy since I was in high school. They were great. Still the same dumb lyrics, but such a blast live. The singer Blaine, at one point, poured a bunch of beer into his hat that he’d been wearing and sweating profusely into for the entire show and chugged it.. That got me a little queasy. But not as much as the “spit tricks” asshole from Goddamn Gallows, which was the last time I was at RibCo. Reverend was great. I’ve seen him a handful of times as well and he’s always fun. Unknown Hinson, who I’d been looking forward to, came out and played a very short set with RHH as his backing band. That was rad, and kind of the reason I was there... but way too short. It would have been cool to get a whole set. Ultimately, I had a lot to drink, had a great time, bought an obscene amount of gas station bullshit to “snack on” on the way home and passed out before I got to eat any of it. Oh, and I very nearly got arrested for public urination behind a Casey’s outside of Davenport. So there’s that.

Two weeks ago, I went to see Marc Maron in Iowa City at the Englert. He did almost two hours and it was mostly new material. It was really great, and over early. So it was a nice rare occasion when I do not return from Iowa City drunk. The opener, whose name escapes me, was actually really funny too. Unfortunately, this was the only Mission Creek Festival event I got to go to... And there were quite a few artists this year that I would have loved to check out if money and time weren’t a thing. Black Milk and Guilty Simpson would have been cool. Deer Tick probably would have been all right. MAYBE Kevin Smith, though I tend to kind of think Kevin Smith would suck to listen to speak. I liked the An Evening With Kevin Smith DVDs back in the day, but I FUCKING HATE COMIC BOOK MEN MORE THAN GOD DAMN ANYTHING! And listening to Kevin and his spazz friends on that show gives me a migraine like nothing else, so perhaps it’s best I didn’t go see him. My biggest regret, of course, is not going to see my pal Bob Bucko open up for Faust. I would really have loved seeing that. Based on pictures posted from the event online after the fact, it looked like it was a pretty damn good time. Oh well, you can’t go to everything, I guess.

At first, the numbering of these things seemed important. I don’t know why. I guess maybe because when I started this blog, there was a lot more shit going on and that was the best way to keep up with it all. Also, it seemed like a good way to remain being too lazy to think up a title every week. Anyway, I think the numbering, while arbitrary, is semi-accurate still, if not pretty close. Not sure why I’m dedicating a paragraph (and the first one, at that) to explaining my numbering, but I’m not that normal of a guy so whatever. 

But anyway... It’s been a couple weeks and a lot has happened. Let’s start with Project I. We’re over the halfway mark at this point and have some pretty remarkable talent in this group of young people. I think that it’s going to manifest itself into one hell of a live performance when this thing is all over. Here’s a little taste of some of the kids collaborating on an old Cramps tune.

See? Rad, right? So don’t forget, the kids will be performing together live a month from today. The show will be at the Smokestack, will be free and will be, of course, all ages. I’m really proud of this program and am really excited for this show.

And speaking of shows at The Smokestack, tomorrow is the second installment of the newly-resurrected Readings Under the Influence. The theme this time, in keeping with the ushering in of Spring is “scavengers.” Join hosts Ellen Goodmann, Kristina Castaneda and myself for an evening of words and liquor. Featured readers are Ryan Werner, Andy Benson, Heidi Zull and Alice Oleson and live music will be provided by Cranes/Vultures. This should be a good time. And keep in mind, this event doubles as the release party for the latest issue of Ruix Zine. Doors at 7:30, show at 8. This is also a free event.

The podcast has been on a sort of hiatus for the past month or so. Matt and I have been brainstorming some ideas as to who to reach out to for guests, so hopefully we will have some more episodes available soon. In the meantime, if you haven’t already please listen to the 21 episodes that are available either by subscribing on iTunes or by clicking HERE.

My hope is to get as many episodes up as possible before mid-July because I am officially joining the University of Colorado - Denver’s Radio, TV & Film Bachelor’s program for the fall 2016 semester. That’s right, I am moving to Denver. It’s sort of been in the works for a while now, but became official pretty much this past week. It’s bittersweet really. I’m excited at the prospect of a new town, new surroundings and a new school. But on the other hand, I have just recently (the past year) begun doing really cool shit that I am proud of and I now am faced with leaving behind this town that I’ve really grown to love over the years. Silver lining is, Denver is not that far from Dubuque and I don’t feel like it would be hard to visit often. Which means more podcasts, more In Harmony and hopefully plenty of other DAAC-related events for years to come. 

Anyway, that’s it in the way of DAAC-related events. Stop by the gallery during office hours if you get time and check out some work by artists Ryan Bentzinger, Matt Mikulice and Jenny Weber. 

I saw Shellac and Mono in Iowa City last night. I’d tell you the details, but if you are from Dubuque and reading this, chances are you were there too. It seemed like the crowd was 70% Dubuque people. But they couldn’t have picked a better show to go to. Both bands were killer. Plus, I hadn’t been to Gabe’s in a long time so it was a good time. I’ll be down there next week again to see Marc Maron. I’ll let you know how it is. And hopefully be better about being regular about this again. I know there are some things I’m forgetting that happened within the last couple weeks, but I have to go see some midget wrestling (No shit) for my buddy Jon’s birthday. 

As I mentioned last week, I was in San Francisco for the Neurosis 30th Anniversary shows, so I didn’t do too much in the way of blogging. I’ll start with that trip. 

We went to San Francisco for a couple of reasons. And both of them were Neurosis. But my girl and I actually decided to do this trip back in December as a Christmas present to each other. Because FUCK is it expensive to hang there. Anyway, we ate a ton of killer food, did some light touristy shit (Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz [the prison, not the band] and the Full House house) and got to see one of my favorite bands twice in one weekend. All in all, we had a blast and we got to hang with two of my favorite people, Jeremy and Alayne. And did I fucking mention the shows? 

The first night’s show was kicked off by Mike Scheidt’s new-(ish) band Vhöl. We got there during their last song and that sucks because I’m a huge fan of YOB and got to know Mike a little bit during the handful of times YOB played Dubuque. So it would have been cool to catch up with him and see the set. But the bit we did hear from the lobby (in addition to the shit I checked out later after the show) absolutely ruled. Sleep was next. This was my first time seeing Sleep and I was super excited about it. I was waiting in line for beer when they started, but I could see okay, all things considered. Within minutes, the whole room smelled like the Kottonmouth Kings fucked Phish. As a non-weed smoker, it was a little jarring. But I adjusted and Sleep put on an amazing show. Neurosis rounded out the night with about a two hour set. Mostly mid-period shit (Times of Grace, Through Silver in Blood), some new/some old and a few things I didn’t recognize. The second night, I noticed they played a few of their early hardcore tunes. Sounded amazing. I hadn’t heard some of those songs in years, so it was nice to see them live. We missed the opening band Alaric (who I have yet to check out) completely and got there just in time for Shellac’s set. I haven’t seen Shellac since the Touch & Go 25th Anniversary fest in 2006, so it was rad to see them again. And Neurosis somehow played LONGER than the night before.. I feel like it was maybe six hours or something, but it was probably more like three-three and a half. But both nights were amazing. I would have loved to stick around maybe one more day, hang with a few more people, go to Aquarius Records and go to the third night of Neurosis.. but what can you do?

As for here in the Midwest, I’ve been on Spring Break from school this whole week so I’ve been doing a bit of drinking, a bit of underwear Netflixing and a bit of sleeping in. But it hasn’t been all sloth. The weather has been considerably warm for early March so I’ve been making it a point to get outside when I can. I discovered a new hiking area here in town that I never knew existed, so I went on a good two hour hike the other day with my pal Drew. "Hike” in this instance means walking around near the river crushing beers, but still... it counts as exercise. I also went and saw this band from Chicago called Mama last night here in town. They played here a few months ago and I caught them quite by accident and I was hooked. I bought both of their 7″s and bullshitted (bullshat?) with the band for quite a while. Really cool fellas. It’s a real testament to how awesome a band is when they can get me to come see them at a St. Patrick’s Day party, but they truly are one of the best bands I’ve seen/heard in a long time. I urge you to check out their bandcamp page here, but just know that it’s nothing compared to seeing them live.

The Project I Music Series mentoring program is entering the halfway-point next week. So far, so good. I’ve been sitting in with a few of the kids, drumming on one of the kids’ originals and a couple Guns N’ Roses tunes (their idea, I swear). It’s been super fun and really rewarding, I’m glad to say. Stay tuned for more updates about that. Hopefully, some great ensembles and songs will be born out of this by the end of it.

I also wanted to plug the Spring Readings Under the Influence because it’s right around the corner. April 2, to be exact. The theme for this installment of RUI is “scavengers“ and will feature readers Heidi Zull, Andy Benson, Ryan Werner and Alice Oleson, plus games, prizes and live music by Cranes/Vultures. As always, this event will be hosted by Ellen Goodmann, Kristina Castaneda and myself. So stop down, hear some scavenger-related words and musings and have a few drinks in the process. Like last time, this will also coincide with the release of the new issue of Ruix as well and they will be available that night, so that’ll be good. Also keep in mind that this is a 21+ event, so leave the kiddies at home for this one. Oh yeah! And it’s been moved to a new venue. It will be at The Smokestack which is at 62 E. 7th Street in downtown Dubuque.