Dear Friends,
Well…yesterday it happened. I was walking my students out to dismissal at the back gate of my school and who was out there waiting for me? The one and only Cocaine Baby.
He grew a little bit over the summer. He also looked healthy and, for him, really happy. He gave me a little side hug and talked with me for about five minutes or so. I got the run down on how fifth grade was going and his summer activities and such.
He got to go swimming five times. For whatever reason, this made me smile. He promised he would come say hi every once in a while, and hopefully he will.
One funny thing that happened was I asked him if he was behaving for his homeroom teacher, who I worked with the last few years. He said, “I’m being good.” Then I said, “Well, I can text (her) and find out,” and I saw the facial expressions I got to know so well.
“Well…I’m being good sometimes.”
This made me smile more.
*****
Yesterday was also a really eye-opening day and it gave me a look into the personality of my new class. They are so damn chatty that I pulled the “okay, I’m just going to write down the names of the people who are talking when they should be quiet and those folks who make my list are going to lose their brain break.”
A brain break is a fancy name for recess.
So, I made my list. There were about seven kids who kept talking during work time and I’ve been very clear that while people are still working, talking is not okay. They made bad choices.
About two minutes before brain break, I read the list, and no one denied that they were talking. Then I pointed out that a few people were talking, too, but didn’t make the list because they were trying to help their neighbors with the assignment.
Suddenly, two boys said, “I was helping my neighbor, too.”
Now, I know exactly what they were up to, and it wasn’t helping a neighbor. I also wasn’t going to waste recess time for the rest of the class. I shot them down and one of them took it and the other kept whining. It was hilarious.
Some of these kids, mostly the boys, are so damn spoiled. I had a student a few years ago that I wrote about back in 2022 who I know didn’t wipe his own ass at home. I mean, I don’t know for sure, but it certainly seemed like mommy was probably more than willing to believe that he was helpless. I have a few this year who seem to think they are entitled to being able to do whatever they want.
Fun, fun, fun…
*****
Today will be another fun day, I’m sure. After work I will do a little jamming over at Aaron’s. I’m looking forward to that. Our project is coming together nicely. I think people might like it when we put it out.
*****
For many years I resented Henry Rollins for ruining Black Flag. I just didn’t like the version of Black Flag with him and preferred the version with Keith Morris. This was primarily because I heard the Circle Jerks first and heard a few of the different earlier versions of Black Flag before I ever got around to the Henry years.
What can I say, I’m a Keith Morris fan.
But…in the early 90s, my buddy, Alex, turned me on to the Drive By Shooting record by Henrietta Collins and the Wifebeating Childhaters. It was something of an eye opener for me. Right around the same time, Alex also turned me on to Rollins’ book, Get In The Van. I loved that, too, and I learned to appreciate Rollins more and more.
At some point, I got my own copy on vinyl and considered it to be quite a score. I don’t think I paid very much, and it was one of those situations where I don’t know if the record store I bought it from knew or considered that someday, these records would go for more than a few bucks.
It’s a fun record. There is a lot of anger on it, but it is done with Rollins’ unique sense of humor. Musically, it’s pretty interesting, too. If you’ve never heard it, I highly recommend it if you like Rollins, poetry, offbeat post-punk stuff, or just want to hear a bitchin’ cover of Wire’s “Ex-Lion Tamer.” Honestly, that was the song that really got me into it first.
“Ex-Lion Tamer” is a great song, but also a really tough song to cover. Rollins and crew, Mick Green (Drums), Bernie Wandel (bass), and Chris Haskett (guitar) would later become the original lineup of Rollins Band, so all of them could play, and they definitely deliver the goods on this cover. It’s not the most interesting track on the record, though.
All the original lyrics on Drive By Shooting are kind of beat poetry done Rollins’ style and they are quite interesting. “Men Are Pigs” has to be heard. I don’t want to give anything away. He certainly drew on this song for his “Rockin’ Roger” personality in the movie, Suck.
“Drive By Shooting” is pretty fun, as is “I Have Come to Kill You.” The first one is kind of a surf song about drive by shootings and the latter is a piss-take on “We Will Rock You” by Queen. The band is really just having some fun on this record, but it is also a statement from Rollins on the things he was against in the mid-80s. A lot of the themes are reminiscent of his work with Black Flag (which I still think is the worst version of the early years of Black Flag).
Overall, it’s definitely an EP that all Rollins fans should hear. I listen to it every so often and love spinning tracks from it when I DJ, which is not nearly enough lately.
One more thing: “How many words do you want?”
*****
See you tomorrow.
I kind of love that there are ducks in the pool.
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