Mondo Bungle

You know, I wasn't too excited when I first arrived at my would-be Summer home. The house is very small, I don't even know if where I'm sleeping qualifies as a bedroom. I wasn't upset about there being no TV, because we had movies galore, but the television itself wasn't all that great. The screen on my Inspiron mini is larger than the one on the TV, but no disc drive. During the first few days, I couldn't get my laptop to play music through the stereo, and I've heard all the CDs we had so many times already. Eventually I figured it out, I just had to plug one of those input chords with the red, yellow, and white, you know, into the back and plug red and white both into my laptop, that made me a little happier. I was also happy when our neighbor let me use his wifi, he's a nice guy. I'm not dependent on these things, not at all, but you can only take so many walks in the woods. And I can't drive, so I can't just go on into town. The other day I bought a few books, 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami and The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays by Albert Camus. The house I'm in was already jam-packed with books, but they weren't my thing. They were the kind of books you find at the front of a supermarket. Countless novels by James Patterson, Clive Cussler, and Dean Koontz. Anyway, I was a little more optimistic about things with these additions, that was the first week.
Another thing to keep me busy was working with my grandpa as a painter. I was getting paid ten dollars/hour, higher than minimum wage, at least in Nevada. I put in forty hours on one house, we had to do the whole thing. I got paid after two days, a hundred dollars. We started another job, painting a deck, after we finished the first house. In total, I've got about eighty hours in two weeks working part-time, I haven't got the rest of my pay yet. This was my first job, and I found it rewarding and almost fun. The best part was getting finished, and taking a step back to see what you've done, I felt like I did a good job.
It wasn't too long, and all the negative thoughts I had about staying here were gone. I started to feel right at home, working, going to local shows in Cannon Beach, walking on the beach, and hanging around. I got to know everyone who worked in town, and many other people since it's such a small area. I ate my weight in freshly picked raspberries everyday, and stuffed myself with a glut of other fruits. My grandparents are great cooks, so dinner was always wonderful. When I first got here, my grandpa could see that I wasn't extremely happy, he told me "You just gotta learn to relax", and so I did.
I do however genuinely miss all my friends from Reno, and every day I wonder what kind of shenanigans they're getting into. But if I learned anything from Playtime Posse, it's that a lot of things change, but the game stays the same, nawmean? I know exactly what he means. Besides, it shouldn't be much longer before I'm on the move again, I'd say another two weeks at most and I'll be gone. I'm not moving back to Reno, though, I gotta adjust to another new area and start another new life, even go to a new school. I'll be moving to South Lake Tahoe, and I'll be staying there. It's what? A thirty minute drive to Reno from there? There's even a bus that could take me, I'll be seeing the old gang again pretty soon. We've got a special kind of bond, my friends and I. I know that's how everyone feels about their friends, but each relationship is personal. We have a tight group, about eightish people, and it doesn't grow apart, at least not yet. Though I honestly don't think it ever will. Sometimes people come and go, but at the core it's always the same. But yeah, it's gonna be all systems go when I'm back down there, I just feel it.
I was thinking during school that this was finally gonna be an awesome summer, we had so many plans to do this and that, but of course, something like this happens. But it's been a good time for me to take it easy, take a break from doing crazy things and life in general. It's too bad that it's almost gone. I need to enroll in a new school before the year starts, but I have no idea when that is, it's usually late August. So my Summer away is slowly coming to a close, but I desperately needed it, stay tuned and I'll explain why!

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Mondo Bungle

I'm almost positive everyone here listens to music, lol, and maybe some of you have had truly remarkable experiences while doing so. I've had a few, myself. I'm starting a short list now.......of my


This is number ten, so it's not all that flashy or epic, just a really awesome discovery. I don't know why I remember the first time I listened to this album in full, but it was neat. Before that, I had only heard the song "Washer", which I enjoyed, (now it's one of my all time favorite songs) but I had seen their name mentioned a lot. Forerunners to the whole post-rock thing and stuff like that. Back then I was getting into post-rock, like GY!BE and Explosions in the Sky, all the main groups, so maybe I'd like Slint, seeing as they also combined noise rock and post-punk. I downloaded Spiderland one day, but didn't listen to it right away. It was kind of a 'just to have' thing at that point. But after a while, I got around to it, it was a boring and quiet afternoon and I had no plans. I was just sitting there. I went to put on some music, but didn't know what I wanted to listen to. Something not too hard, but not too soft either. I decided on the Slint album after a minute. The beginning riff of "Breadcrumb Trail" started, and I thought it was real cool. But I was moreso enticed when the guitars got louder, and the vocals went from low talking to a louder singing delivery. After that was "Nosferatu Man", and I enjoyed the guitars again. The riff at around 2:50 onward was hypnotizing. After these two songs I was hooked. "Don, Aman" is a quiet one, and I thought it was going to be that the whole time, but I was surprised by the second guitar somewhere around the 4:00 mark. After that is "Washer", my favorite track. I didn't hear anything for 20 seconds, but then the melodies started. Another riff I really liked. It was the only track where singing was done over a quiet part, instead of talking. I love the lyrics to this one. But of course the best part is that loud, squealing guitar solo, makes me just wanna go on some kind of rampage. "For Dinner" is a good atmospheric instrumental, and I thought it was at a good place on the album. "Good Morning, Captain" was full of little melodies I liked, and the end of it is one of my favorite parts of the album.

This is one of my favorite albums now, which is why this made my list.

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Mondo Bungle

These bottom three spots all belong to first time listens of the entire album. This one came more recently, as after hearing so many good things about Ufomammut, I wanted to give them a hear. I only had their first album, Godlike Snake, before I quit internet for the day. I have to go next door to my grandparents back porch if I want to get online. I didn't listen to the entire album, but I did play a few select songs, which I liked. It was some pretty good stoner metal, with a lot more added psychedelia. The next day, I got their next three albums. Afterwards, I was alone in the house, and I was trying to figure out which album to play. I put on Snailking.This one was heavier, and had cleaner recording and even more mind juggling psychedelic effects. The stereo my neighbor had let us borrowed kicked all kinds of ass, and I had this album turned up all the way. The house was shaking, at least it felt that way. Monstrously awesome riffs and sounds poured out of the speakers. My neighbors three houses, and a couple tool sheds and a garden down could probably hear it. Listening to heavy as f*ck, psychedelic as sh*t stoner metal made me long for a bowl, or three, you know. But it still blew me away. "God" is my favorite track on the album, and when it came on, I was basically mid sh*tting my pants. And then there's the epic, brain melting last track, long droning interludes included. I'm glad I listened to this, because it may very well be my new favorite stoner album. Move over Holy Mountain and Come My Fanatics.

I recommend this to any fans of psychedelic, metal, and generally heavy music, you should be thoroughly blown away after a listen to this.

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Mondo Bungle

Forgive me for interrupting my list, but I'd like to post these couple passages that I wrote back in Reno, before I left. It was mid-late June when I wrote them.


We weren't even living in our new house for four months when I came home late one day to my dad sitting alone in the living room. "You'd better start packing your sh*t," he said, "we've got till the end of this week." Things haven't worked out in a while.

Lately life has been so stressful. I can't recall the last time I was truly happy or at ease. I've wanted to find solace in companionship, but my brain is forcing me to think that my friends don't want me around. I don't know how they feel about me sometimes. I've always felt removed from the group. I'd still like one more chance to hang out before I leave. After my overwhelming surge of emotion and loss of control last Saturday, (it may very well have been a mental breakdown) I've grown more and more depressed. I'm not looking forward to moving to a new town at all. My whole life is here.

I feel like I'm losing it. I can't sleep to well, my mood is shifting rapidly. Each day has been interweaved with moments of extreme depression, severe anxiety, and violent anger. I have no one to turn to. I'd wish to go back in time, but I'd always know that this is the future.

I was hoping for a better summer. WHY THE F*CK DOES SHI*T HAVE TO SUCK. maybe moving will be good, no one will know me in a new town.

I NEED DRUGS AND ALCOHOL F*CK DAMN IT F*CK.

People care more than I think...........why is my brain a piece of sh*t? why won't you let me be happy? Deep down somewhere I know that my friends care about me, but stupid things make you push those thoughts away.

I told a friend I would be leaving, and he said they all were gonna throw me a party

I knew my friends cared. I should try to understand that they all have jobs now, and I don't. But our little get together was fun. I was considerably more drunk the next morning though, after making like ten delicious vodka cranberries. I got a ride to my old house but my dad was at a storage unit. I misunderstood him on the phone since I was so drunk. We had to free buffet coupons, so we ate like kings that night, we probably wouldn't have much for a while afterwards.

I'm living in a garage, f*ck yeah! I haven't taken a shower in a week and a half, and I just can't get enough stale bread. THINGS ARE SOOOO GREAT. At least I'm leaving soon.

I'm leaving tomorrow, so today I went up to my friends' neighborhood for one last day. I took a shower first, because I desperately needed one. We just sat around talking that afternoon, I left before it got dark.


That's about as good a summary as the last two-ish weeks in Reno as any, but it was the week before where emotions really started to run high.

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Mondo Bungle

Top Ten Music Listening Experiences

8.

diSEMBOWELMENT - Transcendence into the Peripheral

Back in my metalhead days I would play a lot of death metal on internet radio stations. I never paid much attention to the artists, though, unless they REALLY stood out. Autopsy was my favorite death metal band, so I would just let an Autopsy station play for a while. All kinds of sick death and death/doom came up, one song that played on more than one occasion was "The Tree of Life and Death" by Disembowelment. It slayed, so I took note. I found out they only released one album in 1993. Instead of downloading it, I went to my local record store and ordered the CD, it was rather expensive, but I needed, seeing as how many people love this album. When it came in, I went home to blast it. Boy, I'll tell ya, this is one of the best metal albums I've ever heard.

I recommend this if you haven't heard it already, and you're one of those metal guys.

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Mondo Bungle

Top Ten Music Listening Experiences

7.

Planning for Burial - Leaving

First and foremost, I love this album, I've listened to it countless times. "Verse/Chorus/Verse" is probably the most hauntingly beautiful song I've ever heard.
This experience came during those last weeks in Reno. I was having a sleepless night again, it was three a.m, and I had been lying there awake for four hours. Music usually helps when I can't sleep, because if I'm not tired, I'll get bored and impatient, and start jerking around and stuff. With music, I can lie still and listen to it. And I can fall asleep to almost anything, from Biosphere to Agoraphobic Nosebleed. I put on my headphones, and put this album on. I was calm, for some reason, especially after the guitar got louder on the first track. It felt like everything had slowed down. I lied on my back, just listening, not thinking about anything. The album went by quickly, it seemed, I stayed awake the whole time. My goal was to go to sleep, but I felt better anyway. I did however, fall asleep minutes after it had ended, and slept great. It was fantastic, in complete silence and darkness, hearing nothing but this album.

If you like any slow music at all, you'll dig this. I don't know what to call it, post-drone doomgaze?

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Mondo Bungle

Never start a list you didn't want to finish, folks.


6. Death - Sounds of Perseverance: Picked this CD up in a record store in Sacramento, and listened to it fully during the car ride home. Everyone was silent the whole time. It was pretty epic.

5. Sublime - "Boss DJ": I mentioned this in the music in dreams thread. In hypnagogia, my brain played this song, seemingly on a loop, and the visuals danced with the song. When I focused on one specific image, the song became heavily distorted, but was still mesmerizing, almost ethereal.

4. Smashing Pumpkins: I stayed home sick a couple days one week, and one of those days, I played SP albums Gish through Adore. I had earlier drank a whole bottle of mucinex because my sinuses were as clogged as anything could ever be, I had no recreational interest in this action. If you read my drug journal, I'll go more in depth at some point, but until then, Mucinex and similar products contain DXM, a decongestant which in large doses acts as a hallucinogen/dissociative. It's effects are generally unpleasant, but that blended in with the sickness. I lied still for seven hours listening to the albums, just tripping out.

3. Boards of Canada - "Chromakey Dreamcoat": I listened to this the very first time I did DMT. Within seconds I was inside the song, hearing it clearly everywhere. The trip itself wasn't very visual, but everything was crisp and beautiful. There was a nostalgic feeling throughout.

2. Gas - Pop: Another one listened to in hypnagogia, except I actually had it playing this time. I was in this sleep limbo for the entire duration of the album, surrounded by green meadows and falling leaves.

1. Pygmy Lush - "A Good Day to Hide": Another DMT song, but this trip was much more powerful and immersive. I do have a trip report on this one, so that should be posted in Entering Infinity. I feel almost some connection to this song now, whenever I hear it, it just makes me feel incredibly content, time almost slows.





BUT MOTHER**** THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL IS TOMORROW AND I'M NOT GONNA BE THERE WTF ASSSSSSSSSSS.

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ShopVacAbortion

Gigantic Brain is wow

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My RYM account

Mondo Bungle

I stepped off the bus to see my father, it's been a few months, and even longer for my mom. They share a long hug. The air is hazy from a huge fire that had happened earlier. He tells us his opinions on the new town, how great it is, how nice the people are compared to Reno. We're getting ready to take a city bus to our room. My dad tells us it's not big and it's not great, but it's all there is. Though before we left, my mom told me he had a surefire house to live in. I guess I wasn't upset because I've come to expect things like this in a family built on lies. At the bus station were two young girls, presumably my age,if not younger, dressed in skimpy outfits, smoking cigarettes, blaring some sh*tty rap music on a phone, and yelling obnoxiously. An old man stumbled by and fell down on the grass. Didn't seem much different to me.

After the bus ride, my dad led us a few feet to our motel room. Number eight at the Sky Lake Lodge. He unlocked the door and we went in and set down our bags. The first thing I noticed was a makeshift bed on the ground. A stack of couch cusions wrapped in a bed sheet with a pillow and blanket. A short, wood cabinet was beside it. It took some getting used to, but now I accept it for what it is. Less than one hundred square feet, terrible water pressure (It takes me twenty minutes to rinse my hair), dirty clothes strewn everywhere, and what have you.

I had a meeting with a counselor regarding my enrollment in South Tahoe High School on September eleventh. We talked about the classes I'd need to take in order to graduate, and what would otherwise be best for me. I started right after that meeting, second period business and finance, a class I have now come to abhor.

School was going fine, I suppose. Every day I think about my friends back home, my cat, my belongings, which really only consists of a guitar and some vinyls. I don't know how long I'd been staying here, a week, maybe? My parents were arguing, and my mom was threatening to leave (again). She seemed so sure of herself, she was making phonecalls and everything. My dad said he was going to stop paying rent on the room if she left, and she wasn't going to take me. So if that's how it was going to be, what was I to do? I packed up what I had, which filled my backpack, and stuffed what little clothes I had into a dufflebag. I wrote "RENO" in sharpie on a notepad and started walking East along the highway. No one stopped me.

This endeavor proved entirely unsuccessful, especially considering it was getting late. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I had expected not to be picked up. After about an hour, I stopped at a gas station and held my sign up. An old man walking past noticed it and talked to me. He told no one could see it here, and that I'd have better luck at the liquor store a block away. I thanked him and walked to it. When I got there, I noticed much less traffic and it was significantlly less bright. I don't know what he was talking about. I was only there for about ten minutes, then continued. After another hour I stopped and sat outside a weekly motel. It was completely dark now, and I was just resting. A woman who worked at the motel came out and asked if I was hungry, I said yes, and she handed me a salad kit. I hadn't eaten that day, and I devoured it quickly. Now just walking, until I felt it necessary to give up for the night. I occasionally stopped at a fast food restaurant for a glass of water. I walked for about five hours total, I passed Stateline and made my way into Nevada. After a bit further, I came to what appeared to be the end of the urban area. Ahead was complete darkness, no sidewalk or lights. And it was late, so no traffic. I tried my hand at the sidewalk's end, holding out my sign under a streetlight whenever I saw a car coming. No hope. So I sat down, and checked to see if there was any wifi I could exploit (I had my laptop). No use. I was sitting in a grassy area, pretty much unseen to passers by. I was going to sleep here. But I saw the headlights of an oncoming vehicle, and got up once more with my sign. The car was slowing down, and as it passed I saw the word POLICE printed across the side. Great. He got out, did his little "interrogation" thing. This was actually a nice cop. I explained what had been going on, and initially he was trying to figure out a way to get me to Reno. I had no money, so the shuttle was out of the question, and it was too late to call any friends to pick me up. He called another cop, and they tried to figure this out. The other cop was very nice as well, both were quite considerate of me and my situation. We couldn't figure out a way to get me home, so the final decision was to take me back to my motel. They asked if they could search my bags, I said "Go for it", but they never did.

It was about a thirty minute drive back. He dropped me off and wanted to talk to my parents, but they were asleep. He left, and my parents and I discussed the situation the next day. I just wanted to sleep.

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Mondo Bungle

It's weird, things continued on somewhat smoothly after that. I mean, no one was employed and food was scarce, but I can't really remember a time when it wasn't like that. I hadn't made any true friends at my new school yet, there's a couple people I talk to occasionally, but that's it. I mostly spend my lunches by myself, doing whatever. I don't really care about making a ton of friends here, to be honest. I've made it to Reno a few weekends, and seen old friends. At least my parents have started to look for jobs, as have I. But up until just this week, we've had absolutely no luck.

I'm going to try my best to address another sh*tty night, but I don't remember all too much of it. It was late, my dad was sitting up drunk listening to our radio. My mom was doing some beading on the corner of their bed. My dad had been mumbling gibberish to himself for about an hour, and when he decided to use real words, his statements were completely nonsensical. It was about midnight, and I had school the next day. All lights were on and he had the music as loud as it would go. I was considerably tired. My dad said something along the lines of "...they can sit there and suck their own dicks and maybe they'll realize how bad it feels to know someone so much better than them." I don't know, I can't quote anything correctly he said that night, but I've never heard anyone talk about how much better they are than everyone else lol. Whatever he said was in obvious reference to me, even though he acted like it wasn't. I acknowledged it, I said something like "Yeah man, that's the way it is." He blew his lid from that point. Once again, I can't remember any statements 100%, but I remember the highlights of that night. There was me, throwing a full glass of water against the wall and shattering it, him, taking our garbage bag full of cans and tossing it across the room, littering the floor with them. Me, ripping a lamp unplugged and smashing it against the floor, and then doing the same with our radio.

Eh, I can't really just document the whole thing. I would have killed my dad that night if that was at all possible. After our little disagreement, I passed out for a few minutes from the subsequent adrenaline rush. I woke up and the lights were off, my mom was sobbing outside, and I don't know where my dad went. I cried the hardest I've ever cried that night as I tried to go to sleep. I've cried almost every day since that night as well, but I always hid it.

TBC

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