Read this book The Four Hour Work Week because like all Internet Marketers swear by it. It was a pretty good but I realized half way through I don't really want to only work a 4 hour work week. I want to bust ass and consume tons of music, movies and art and some turn a buck in the process. The book talks about ways to save time, how to work from home, how to have an automated business and at the end it talks about how to be a world traveller but I stopped reading here because that just seems so far off if I ever even get there. Pretty neat book though I enjoyed it!

Got Throat Culture #14 in the mail. I guess I am on a mailing list and get free zines now which is awesome! I'm gonna send dude the some cash anyway for the new Crash Hounds tape and to try and get an ad in this zine. More awesome music reviews and this time a bunch of great zine reviews as well. Many of the zines I've heard of but a few I haven't. This zine totally makes me want to go old school and mail away for a bunch of stuff!

The only thing I am bummed about is there was only one comic in this issue. I wish instead of having two separate zines, one for comix and one for reviews, he published on zine that had both comix and reviews. Anyways def get on this guys mailing list because he sends out great stuff!!

Gonk Publishing
2700 White Ave #3
Chico, CA.
95973

Made the trip to Boise to see Calabrese live at The Shedder in Boise. This was like my best decision ever because they rocked so hard and it was the most fun I've had all year!!! Calabrese is so horror punk legit, watching them on stage I felt like I was in a horror movie! They played a long set but I was pumped the whole time and was wishing it would never end! One thing I never knew about Calabrese is that they are all brothers which I think is totally cool. They had awesome merch and I bought a sweet poster that I had them all sign and also picked up a rad patch for my friend. Calabrese has a new album coming out October 1st and I will definitely check it out!

Trinomikon opened for Calabrese and they were totally fun to watch as well. The upright bass player drew bleeding cuts on his face with marker which is super hardcore! I'm pretty much an old fart and when I go to concerts I pretty much want to stand in back but when this band was on I was really into it and the dance floor was wide open so I got right in front and did my movement/headbanging thing and it was a great time. I guess these guys haven't played in a while and have been together for a while but never recorded. I am going to see if I can help them out as I decided at the show I am going to focus on working in the Boise scene more from now on.

Best show ever!! Check these bands out!!

Chicago punk band Control is releasing a new EP entitled "Blood" and I got to take a early listen to it. It sounds awesome! Kinda a mix of horror punk and rockabilly. Very melodic and I could understand the lyrics that are sung well and not screamed. Spooky lyrics and over all dark theme make this a totally fun album! You can check out their first album here. I got to ask them a few questions:

Your recordings sound awesome! Quality sound but still with a raw kind of vibe. Could you describe the recording process?

The recording process was fairly simple, we had the songs prepared and practiced going into the studio.  The hardest part was finding a studio.  We originally planned on recording at the same place where we recorded our first Ep, but it went out of business.  We tried booking with the same guy who recorded us the first time, we actually had time booked, but that fell through as well.  We basically searched Chicago for a good studio at a great price.  We found Sonic Palace.  Matt Mercado is awesome, and has a great ear.  He was able to flesh out the sounds we were looking for with vague descriptions of how we want to sound.  We recorded the songs in about a day and a half with another day of mixing.

"You don't look like any punk I've ever seen." I've heard this statement a few times through out my life. I try and picture what kind of punks these people might be familiar with. Maybe some X Games looking jock onstage singing about his high school sweetheart. Maybe the petty criminal punk that was popular on TV back in the day. In my current neck of the woods maybe it's the Portland street punk on the corner begging for change.

What does a punk look like? Here is a quote on the nature of punk:



"To me punk is being an individual and going against the grain and standing up and saying 'This is who I am'." - Joey Ramone

What are the greatest problems that could be fixed with the punk scene and the people in it?

That's a very big question considering that there are MANY problems with the punk scene, and some are so big to the point that I'm not sure if they CAN be fixed, but it's a good, and legitimate question, so I'll try to answer to the best of my ability. I must state, for the record, that what I will be talking about, when answering this question is what I see happening specifically to the CHICAGO scene, and my answers are NOT meant to be taken as universal solutions, but if my answers help inspire the individual to support and help improve their own local scene, then that's a Mitzvah on my part. (Sorry about the Yiddish, but I'm answering this on Yom Kippur)

 Two of the biggest problems I see, in the Chicago scene at least, is that there are almost NO all ages shows, and shows are at least $15.00 to get into. There needs to be a place that has ALL AGES shows on a REGULAR basis, and the price of admission has to come down.

 Another problem I see is that when independent promoters and music fans actually TRY to put on independent, all ages shows at reasonable prices, the cops inevitably show up, shut the shows down, and sometimes arrest people on trumped up, or absolutely FALSE charges. This happens a lot ESPECIALLY at basement or back yard shows! We've lost a few collectives in Chicago because of this. To be fair, SOMETIMES the C.P.D. are cool. They'll just shut down a show, give the owners a warning, and tell everybody to go home. It depends on the cop(s) and where the show is.

 Another problem is territoriality. Some people won't talk to other people because they're from THAT part of town. That kind of behavior must stop. We're all fans, we're all here for the music, so I think we should use that as a starting point to find common ground w/one another.

And the last thing that I can think of which is not only a Chicago problem, but a universal one is how people have become factionalized in their taste of certain styles of punk. I've been listening to punk since 1977, and back in my day we listened to EVERYTHING, but today, people only listen to certain styles of punk and won't give anything else a chance because it's different. Variety is the spice of life, so people should open up their ears. Minds are like parachutes. They only work when they're open.

What are you looking for as a musician? What are your goals?

What am I looking for? I'm not sure I understand the question. What are my goals? To be a rich and famous rock and roll star, and if I can't have that, then to at least be known internationally, have an international fan base, and be able to make a living with my music.

There is something about the punk scene that is so awesome and yet so hard to explain. The bands, the music, the friends and the crazy wild fun. It seems like if someone could bottle the underground punk experience they could make a million dollars! Has the punk scene ever been properly captured? How do you think it could be captured?


How does one bottle lightening? How does one bottle pure, raw, energy? Many have tried, and all have failed. I don't think it CAN be bottled and sold to the masses. You can document it with film, pictures, and the written word, but unless you're there in person experiencing the moment, you can't really capture what's going on. Only document it, record it and reference it for future generations to discover. I could talk about all the shows I've been to, but it wouldn't be the same as actually being at that show yourself.

 Now, I DO think the subculture has been accurately documented through out the years, but one must remember that a lot of documentation is a reflection of the times that the documentation was taking place, and these moments in history can NOT be recaptured, or even repeated in the same way. I know that there's an old saying that says that history repeats itself, but you CAN'T recreate, replicate, or duplicate what it was like to see The Ramones at CBGBs in 1976, or The Sex Pistols at The 100 Club in 1977. All one can do is live in the moment and make that particular moment special for the individual in question. If nothing else, you'll have some great memories to take with you as you journey through life.

Would you want a music video of one of your songs playing while a stripper in a bikini did a pole dance? The song would have to be under two minutes.

I don't think I write music to strip to, but then again, nobody thought Rob and Rachel Rotten would succeed in mixing punk with porn either. If somebody wanted to use my music for a strip tease, I'd be fine with that. I don't think it can be done, but I'd like to see somebody try. Best of luck with that.

Tukatukas is a high energy punk band from the French governed island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean.

They sing mostly in english about topics that affect them like drug abuse, pedophilia and sexism but they stay away from party politics.

There shows are non stop action and cause their fans to pogo. They recorded an album in 2012. You can listen to there music here. I think they sound totally awesome!! Find them on Facebook here.

Most magicians dream about one day visiting the Magic Castle but Poppi is so good at magic he works at the Magic Castle! I was blown away when I watched this video! He is a total master of sleight of hand! David Blaine is one of my favorite all time magicians and Poppi does tricks you might expect from David Blaine one one ups them and makes them even better.

There is one trick in this video involving a window that must be an original creation because I have never seen a trick done this way before.

Another thing I really like about Poppi is that he comes off as a very smooth, laid back guy and someone you wanna get to know and hang out with some time. I think this is very important for a magician. It makes people want to see more of of your magic.

Subscribe to Poppi's youtube channel here so you can see all his latest videos!

I met the great magician J4ckTricks recently on Twitter. He has an awesome youtube channel with trick performances, tutorials and contests. You will definitely want to subscribe to his channel so you keep up to date anThe video above was my favorite. J4ck clearly shows for jacks then magically and without any suspicious moves all the jacks turn into aces!! This really blows my mind!

I met this great young magician who goes by the name Oblivious To Magic on Twitter and Facebook. In the video above he does an awesome magic trick called Dresscode. I checked out his youtube channel and there are also some very helpful tutorials about learning magic tricks. He is very friendly and wants to help out so if you want to know how to do certain magic tricks you can ask him to do a video for you.