javs blog

on friday i picked up the key to my new apartment.

it is about 5 blocks from the first apartment i ever lived in in california, when i moved with my parents in 1990? 1991?

anyway, went in friday evening, and noticed a few things missing. mainly, lightbulbs. only one lightbulb worked in the entire house. no prob. go to target, get some new ones, come back in the morning. looked around some more, noticed that a LOT of stuff was broken. i got really bummed out and pretty much ruined someone else’s night too.

went back on saturday morning to see just what i was dealing with. almost started crying. the house was SO fucked up. the landlord (not the owner) had told me that the previous tenants were bad people. apparently the man of the house had some sort of accident in mexico, breaking his neck, and turned into an alcoholic. the lady had to take care of him and became very paranoid and her behavior towards the landlord and owner became increasingly hostile.

heres a brief list of SOME of the stuff wrong with the place

broken/ dirty vertical blinds (and i when i say dirty i mean looked like someone threw up on them)
holes in baseboards
toilets dont flush all the way
shower filled with 8 inches of water
closet doors not hung
sliding bathroom door off hinges
water damage in ceiling of kitchen, causing minor cave in to the cabinet
kitchen drawers broken /dirty (one was filled with debris including a splenda packet, cigarette butt, and chopstick)
kitchen cabinets filled with kitchen knives and pots and pans
holes in every screen
sliding doors? not so sliding.
doorbell not covered/ blood stain on wall next to it?
two black widows killed in first 24 hours
the previous tenants also installed there own stove, which is nice but about 6″ too wide and therefor cuts into the space where a full-sized fridge would go. jorge let me use a mini fridge which should help for now.

not to mention the neighbor two doors down has two dogs and smells like they have 20, and the communal “yard” was filled with a rocking chair, ladder, fan, broken chair, broken grill, and dead broken tree.

the only real stand out positive aspects of this place, besides how big it is for the price, was that the whole place was freshly painted and new carpet. i guess except for the blood stain on the wall. the back yard is actually a deck and i have a deck/ patio off of my room. 1.5 bathrooms, one of which was fitted with a new toilet after calling the plumber myself.

most of my 7 calls to the owner in the first 48 hours were met with a “what do you want me to do” or “ok ok ok ok ok”. at first she seemed pleasant but i guess after a few calls anyone would lost their patience with me. she said she would send the maid back out, but the stove was not her responsibilty and the vertical blinds no longer were either.

ive been doing some research online of what landlords ARE responsible for and some of the stuff she definitely is not responsible for unless its “dangerous”. my “in” with the is that i have a 6 year old.

im a bit more optimistic about things today. if you would have talked to me saturday, you would have gotten an ear full of whining and complaining.

the squeaky wheel gets the most grease.

That’s what the dude tells the cook when I order from alejandros. Such a good shithold mexican shithole. I don’t wanna say its BETTER than albertacos (in mission viejo), but its fucking good.

When I worked in san diego, there was a shithole around the corner from work. i dont even know what it was really called, but vince called it “regretto’s” due to the fact that once you ate it, you instantly regretted it. it even had a b rating for a while.

these songs currently pump my nads~

“a shocking interrogation” by GRAF ORLOCK
“on the nod” by AVAIL
“choke” by VOD
“kill traitors” by ENDEAVOR
“gimme the loot” by NOTORIOUS BIG

actually stoked on halloween this year. weird.

I really love AVAIL. This morning “on the nod” came on from a playlist, and I decided to listen to just them for a while whilst I ran errands.

It was probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

After about 5 songs I was in an insanely good mood. It really was a great way to start the day.

I first heard AVAIL in I’d say 1993? I bought the Satiate lp. The drum roll near the beginning of the first song and the “g-g-g-g-get down!” was enough to get me hooked. The song “sidewalk” that originally appeared on the GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE comp (and later on DIXIE) remains my favorite song.

When DIXIE came out, it fucking blew me away. That album is fucking solid. 4AM FRIDAY has some truly amazing songs as well, but doesn’t pack the punch dixie does. OVER THE JAMES… the production is amazing and it has some great songs, but it just didn’t hold my interest. I’ve never heard an album after that.

Live, avail was one of the best, most passionate bands I’ve EVER seen. I saw them a couple times at showcase and even saw them play behind some building (maybe a rec center?) in santa barbara. I heard last time they played here, at chain reaction? There was like 150 people there. Sad.

Tim Barry’s solo stuff is equally awesome. I read that he spent some times jumping trains in between tours and started bringing a guitar along. I saw him at chain reaction, with maybe 100 people there. It was him, another dude on slide/ electric guitar, and his sister on violin.

I saw a trailer about the dvd coming out. Can’t fucking wait.

I asked a couple people to comment. Eric Markley didn’t answer, Joe Harder signed off, and Ray Harkins had this to say…

“4am friday should have been as big as Green Day’s DOOKIE”.

Its always interesting to look back at certain events and realize they were of minor historical importance.

Take, for instance, the first hardcore show I ever attended. It was supposed to be Insted’s last show, and would have been if it weren’t for those meddlesome anaheim police.

I only think of this at all because two AT THE DRIVE-IN songs just came on.

I saw that band three time that I can recall. Ill give the recollections in reverse order, as the most historically significant was the first time I saw them.

The last time I saw ATDI was at the Glasshouse. It was them and MURDER CITY DEVILS. The only two things about the show I remember are Dustin Oleander trying to goad me into fighting him, and Spencer Moody passing out on an amp while watching ATDI. Also the drummer of Murder City lighting his cymbals on fire.

The second time I saw ATDI was at Cal State Fullerton. They played on a platform in the middle of the day. I think its in one of their music video. I also saw Rocket From The Crypt and Jimmy Eat World there at different times. ATDI was awesome that day, even though the crowd was about 30 feet away and the sun was blarinf down. I remember them sounding good, and was amazed that you could see EVERYTHING that was happening on stage.

The first time I saw ATDI was probably 1997, at the Troubador. I think it was really last minute that I went. My friend offered me a ticket and ride cause her friend bailed or something. ATDI was fucking brilliant that night. They utilized every part of the stage, and even climbed the scaffolding on the sides of the stage. (On a side note, the troubador is one of my favorite places to see a hardcore show, due to the remarkable sound and accesibility of the stage for diving. Seeing strife after 4 beers there a few years ago was incredible.)

The thing that makes that night at the troubador significant was that it was the last show of the band KNAPSACK. They are a truly underrated and not-often-enough discussed band. Sure, that may not sound HISTORIC to the average person, but to some of us its a big deal.

After the troubador show, we went to Club KIIS at the Palace. KIIS, like the radio station. I’m sure the “urban” people didn’t know what to make of the white girl and brown dude with tattoos dancing, wearing v neck sweaters and jeans. I’m surprised that we got in, let alone didn’t get beat down.

my top five favorite reggae songs~

1. CURLY LOCKS by junior byles
2. SMALL AXE by bob marley
3. HAMMER by bob marley
4. I LOVE I JAH by bad brains
5. POLICE AND THIEVES by junior murvin

#2 is a tie between small axe and duppy conquerer.

yesterday erakuh and i went to the cemetery where Bradly Nowell is buried.
i wrote “jah will guide you” in chalk on the ground near it.
people left all sorts of things on the gravestone. blunts, notes, guitar picks.. someone left him an invitation to their birthday.

im weird.

Corpse bride is an amazing movie. Nightmare before christmas gets all the attention. Boo.

Speaking of boo, its almost halloween. That means lots of things to decorare my NEW HOUSE!!! Going in a couple hours to put down the deposit. Had to give the manager a “little extra” to grease the deal. Pretty sly.

“Things change these days in such quick, cruelly absurd ways”

Started to write a post that concerned DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979, robby haight, albertacos, and a gay man named greg… but the post got lost cause I didn’t finish it in time.

Sitting at the airport, waiting for my uncle who I’ve barely seen in the past decade. Should be nice and awkward.

Looking for apartments today. Also nice and awkward. Found one on westside costa mesa, by alejandros and detroit. PERFECT inside and devin LOVED it. But the neighborood sucked and I am kinda over it.

Just signed up for twitter, at the behest of the almighty Josh Highland. My name is

Javjavjav

Follow me or perish, sweater monkeys.

I’m writing this from a jack in the box in tustin. Devin recently discovered breakfast jacks. I’m trying the ultimate breakfast sandwich. Its like two layers of cheese, two layers of eggs, bacon and ham on a sesame seed bun. Intense, but awesome. I’ve not had much luck deviating from my normal menu choices at jack. Christian swears EVERYTHING here is good. I don’t.

The other day I took a polaroid of a four foot KAWS companion. Terry Richardson would be proud.

On the hunt for an apartment again. I hate moving.

Now I’m blogging while I’m driving. Fuck technology.

Wtf… two posts in one day? That’s more than I do in a month sometimes…

Things are becoming familiar and almost comforting in santa ana. The whistle of the train (if that’s even what it really is, a whistle…). The xerox building, which sometimes feels to me like the devil’s tower to richard dreyfus in Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. The fact that anyone brown assumes that I’m mexican and that I can speak spanish.

Today I was driving from the golden west swap meet, in huntington beach (where I got two polaroid cameras and some random plastic camera for a total of a whopping 15 dollars) on the 405 towards irvine. At around the harbor exit I decided to call target at the irvine spectrum to see if they had one hour photo. Much to my dismay, a highway patrolman happened to pass me. He immediately put on his brakes and lights and pulled me over. The first thing I said to him was “you got me”. Apparently he didn’t think this was funny, and the only pleasent remark he gave me was “do me a favor and merge back onto the freeway carefully.”

Developed pictures from my Smena 8m camera. Nothing special. Every time I get a new camera I expect the same reaction as when I developed my first holga pictures. That result being “HOLY FUCK THIS IS AWESOME!!!!” I have yet to get the same results with any other camera.

I also got a polaroid spectra today, which doesn’t take the same kind of film as a “normal” polaroid camera (that being 600 film). In trying to track down spectra locally, my fears were confirmed in that polaroid film is indeed discontinued.

Dumb.

I don’t give a fuck what you say, the new SLIPKNOT record is fucking awesome. The track “psychosocial” is a fist-pumping, catchy anthem that I wouldn’t mind starting my day off with from now on. It could replace “its time to party”, “move along”, and “numb/ blind to faith” as an early morning motivator. I’ve caught devin dancing to it twice now. Erakuh caught me sitting in bed, listening to it while reading the lyrics sheet.

I fucking hate laundry rooms. Like, the communal washer/ dryer combos that plague apartment complexes everywhere. I don’t trust them, they are too humid, and I hate walking back and forth. I suppose in larger cities like sf and ny, you have to go to laundromats anyway, but I’d almost rather do that than walk to the end of the hall and battle for a machine.
This morning dev didn’t have any clean clothes so I had to wake up extra early to wash her some stuff. The machines were already taken. Waited 30 minutes and threw them in. 30 minutes later her clothes were done, and the ones in the dryer were done but they hadn’t taken them out yet. I simply did them a favor and took them out and placed them on top of the dryer to put mine in. Fuck ‘em, even though I hate when people do that to me. I half expected them to return the favor by opening my dryer mid cycle and not restarting it. Classic retaliation. But the rest of my dry cycle went off without a hitch.

Going to swap meet to try and find more old cameras. Hopefully ill run over a pancake eating jesus freak. Inside joke.