Sunday, September 20, 2009
First Love...
Growing up in my family there were two things stressed; family first and loyalty to the Raiders. Almost every memorable moment of my childhood the Raiders are either in the forefront of the memory or in the background. By 7 I knew that Howie Long was the only player on the team that played in Oakland and would recite that eagerly. In 1992 I watched as Bo Jackson was injured against the Bengals in the playoffs. I remember being extremely heart broken because I knew that if he would have been healthy we would have won the Super Bowl that year. In 2000 I remember being able to call out when ever Rich Gannon would run a naked bootleg for a touchdown before the play was even called. I remember feeling like I was punched in the stomach with the "Tuck Rule." The Raiders have been there for so long its almost like a relationship. We have had hit a pretty rough patch the last couple of years. With that rough patch, there have been some longing to go to another team. One thats more mature and better looking. But like all relationships I just can't turn my back on them. This is when they need me. To show my love more then ever to help them back to the top. Yes, it may be a one sided relationship but it's one that I will never leave. I have invested too much energy and love. Yeah, they may break my heart but they never leave. Every fall they come back in my life. And every fall I embrace them with open arms.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Sorry...
Hey everyone. I am sorry that I haven't been posting that much. Unfortunately work has been picking up and I have been absolutely exhausted when I get back. I just haven't been able to get the creative juices going. Hopefully, once I get a day off I can sit down and knock out some posts. In the mean time I will just keep posting videos of shit I like. But there will be more writing I promise.
Anthony
Anthony
Friday, September 11, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
From my ipod to the blog...
Being deployed sucks. Being away from friends, family, and everything you love to be put into a situation where everyday is just a grind to get through. Few people that haven't been there understand the complete feeling of isolation. Of those few, I feel that indie musicians probably have the closest experiences to the deployed soldier. Being on the road for 9-10 months trying to squeak out a whatever living they can make. Sleeping in rundown hotels or on the bus, they just leave everything they love behind for what they believe in. The soldier has his nation and the musician has his music.
No album I have heard yet proves this point more than A Day to Remember's Homesick. This album basically plays out the struggles of deployed through the eyes of the band. Through writing music based on their struggles with touring they have given me my soundtrack to my deployment. Every song on this album feels like it is ripped from my own personal feelings. From the opening acapella breakdown of The Downfall of Us All to the closing acoustic sing along If it Means A Lot to You, ADTR gives you a glimpse of the life on the road and overseas.
Homesick is crammed full with gang vocals over breakdowns. A wrinkle that I can not get enough of. It just begs to be sung along with while picking up change. Some people have come down on them for being a little too poppy or watered down. But when you take a step back and look at the finished product its hard to argue with the band. Walking the tight rope of hardcore with pop punk they deftly put on a show that I believe should be pleasing to both crowds.
The first track begins with the band doing gang vocals for a breakdown. Personally, I think its genius and shortly it blasts into driving riffs. The song is their letter to their families explaining why they have to leave them. With lyrics like "I sold my soul to the open road," it's hard to blame them. As a soldier its eerie how they've captured that feel of the love you have for your family versus the commitment you've made to serve. Its absolutely heartbreaking to leave but its what you know, and what you love. And ADTR have gotten it perfectly.
The song Have Faith in Me is the band's letter back home promising their loved ones better times and a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Opening with drum rolls it's easy to bring to mind the endless road rolling beneath the wheels of the convoy as your thinking of home. The song is the soldier's plea to his family to trust him that everything is going to be alright. That he has their best interests in mind.
The title track pretty sums up every tour I have been a part of. The feelings of missing out on home and being away from everything you love isn't something you get used to. It's something you just deal with, and everyone is different. The song plays as a letter to their parents just letting them know that they are still wanting to be home with them but they have made their choice to follow their dreams.
If it Means a Lot to You is the song that hits way too close to home for many soldiers that I know. Sung as a letter home to his girlfriend and her replys it is heart wrenching to listen to. Along with Sierra Kusterbeck of Versa Emerge. ADTR tells the story of being away living the life you chose while their girlfriend doesn't understand answering their letters with a Dear John letter of her own. Knowing multiple guys who have been through that situation and having been through it myself if never gets easy listening to it.
Overall, Homesick is a great up tempo rollicking trip down the touring path. I highly recommend it to anyone that has trouble imagining what exactly a soldier feels everytime he is called away to work his craft.
No album I have heard yet proves this point more than A Day to Remember's Homesick. This album basically plays out the struggles of deployed through the eyes of the band. Through writing music based on their struggles with touring they have given me my soundtrack to my deployment. Every song on this album feels like it is ripped from my own personal feelings. From the opening acapella breakdown of The Downfall of Us All to the closing acoustic sing along If it Means A Lot to You, ADTR gives you a glimpse of the life on the road and overseas.
Homesick is crammed full with gang vocals over breakdowns. A wrinkle that I can not get enough of. It just begs to be sung along with while picking up change. Some people have come down on them for being a little too poppy or watered down. But when you take a step back and look at the finished product its hard to argue with the band. Walking the tight rope of hardcore with pop punk they deftly put on a show that I believe should be pleasing to both crowds.
The first track begins with the band doing gang vocals for a breakdown. Personally, I think its genius and shortly it blasts into driving riffs. The song is their letter to their families explaining why they have to leave them. With lyrics like "I sold my soul to the open road," it's hard to blame them. As a soldier its eerie how they've captured that feel of the love you have for your family versus the commitment you've made to serve. Its absolutely heartbreaking to leave but its what you know, and what you love. And ADTR have gotten it perfectly.
The song Have Faith in Me is the band's letter back home promising their loved ones better times and a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Opening with drum rolls it's easy to bring to mind the endless road rolling beneath the wheels of the convoy as your thinking of home. The song is the soldier's plea to his family to trust him that everything is going to be alright. That he has their best interests in mind.
The title track pretty sums up every tour I have been a part of. The feelings of missing out on home and being away from everything you love isn't something you get used to. It's something you just deal with, and everyone is different. The song plays as a letter to their parents just letting them know that they are still wanting to be home with them but they have made their choice to follow their dreams.
If it Means a Lot to You is the song that hits way too close to home for many soldiers that I know. Sung as a letter home to his girlfriend and her replys it is heart wrenching to listen to. Along with Sierra Kusterbeck of Versa Emerge. ADTR tells the story of being away living the life you chose while their girlfriend doesn't understand answering their letters with a Dear John letter of her own. Knowing multiple guys who have been through that situation and having been through it myself if never gets easy listening to it.
Overall, Homesick is a great up tempo rollicking trip down the touring path. I highly recommend it to anyone that has trouble imagining what exactly a soldier feels everytime he is called away to work his craft.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Salvation from the most unlikely places...
Being contemplative is a trait I rarely make use of. It's not that I don't try to think about my life all that much. It's more or less that I've developed an attitude of acceptance. I just happen to accept all outcomes of my life. So, tonight while I was working out it somewhat startled me when I started to think about how my life has changed drastically since this time last year.
Last summer was probably the hardest summer I had ever endured, including the year I spent in Baghdad before it was a safe place. I was lost inside myself. Stuck in a life that didn't seem to be living. I was involved in a relationship that had lost all sense of connection and love. Parading around in a hollow shell of what it used to be. The promise that was my future became a grave of unseen expectations. Everyday was spent in the same haze of self torture. Doubt, regret, and despair were my only companions.
I was working at a nowhere job for a pinch above minimum wage. Though I love my brother dearly I envied him so much for having the life I thought I would have. I hated myself for what I became. Perhaps I put too much weight on my shoulders or I never fully recovered from the emotional scares of my first tour. Whatever the case my life was going no where.
In October I received a call from my reserves unit out of Vallejo. They alerted me that I was on a list to possibly be sent to Iraq. This was the absolute last thing I wanted. Despondent I took off early from work to go home and contemplate whether or not I was going to volunteer.
I didn't leave the Army because I sucked at it. In fact it was quite the opposite. I served 3 years very honorably never once garnering any kind of negative counseling. I just realized that the soldier's life as noble as it is, wasn't for me. But at the same time, my time in the Army was the only time my life made sense or had a purpose. Struggling with this I spent most of the day talking with my then girlfriend and parents about my choice. Seeing that maybe this was an opportunity to get my life back on track I decided to roll the dice. I was told that I was going to deploy in January to Fort Hood then to Iraq a few months after that.
This decision turned out to be the greatest thing that ever happened to me. It gave me purpose and pride that I had lost for a few years. I have gained some great friends through this deployment. E Rock, Shaun, Jayson, Chris and everyone else have helped me see the future for what it could be, and how to get there. Through this deployment I was able to get out of my self destructive relationship. Though I won't be staying in the Army when I return home, I will be forever indebted to it for saving me from myself. Of showing me who I could become and how to get there.
Anthony
Last summer was probably the hardest summer I had ever endured, including the year I spent in Baghdad before it was a safe place. I was lost inside myself. Stuck in a life that didn't seem to be living. I was involved in a relationship that had lost all sense of connection and love. Parading around in a hollow shell of what it used to be. The promise that was my future became a grave of unseen expectations. Everyday was spent in the same haze of self torture. Doubt, regret, and despair were my only companions.
I was working at a nowhere job for a pinch above minimum wage. Though I love my brother dearly I envied him so much for having the life I thought I would have. I hated myself for what I became. Perhaps I put too much weight on my shoulders or I never fully recovered from the emotional scares of my first tour. Whatever the case my life was going no where.
In October I received a call from my reserves unit out of Vallejo. They alerted me that I was on a list to possibly be sent to Iraq. This was the absolute last thing I wanted. Despondent I took off early from work to go home and contemplate whether or not I was going to volunteer.
I didn't leave the Army because I sucked at it. In fact it was quite the opposite. I served 3 years very honorably never once garnering any kind of negative counseling. I just realized that the soldier's life as noble as it is, wasn't for me. But at the same time, my time in the Army was the only time my life made sense or had a purpose. Struggling with this I spent most of the day talking with my then girlfriend and parents about my choice. Seeing that maybe this was an opportunity to get my life back on track I decided to roll the dice. I was told that I was going to deploy in January to Fort Hood then to Iraq a few months after that.
This decision turned out to be the greatest thing that ever happened to me. It gave me purpose and pride that I had lost for a few years. I have gained some great friends through this deployment. E Rock, Shaun, Jayson, Chris and everyone else have helped me see the future for what it could be, and how to get there. Through this deployment I was able to get out of my self destructive relationship. Though I won't be staying in the Army when I return home, I will be forever indebted to it for saving me from myself. Of showing me who I could become and how to get there.
Anthony
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