Sometimes this just seems like a plea for attention. Okay, I can embrace that. LOOK AT ME! LOVE ME! LOOOOOVVVVEEEE MMMMMEEEEE! :D

WARNING: this is a stream of conscience rant/download - there will be very little self editing, and may not make any sense...



A while back, during my Wednesday night darts game, my friend Craig had introduced me to someone as a genuine, scooter riding, punk rocker. He then started asking me about different bands and shit. Really kind of testing me about punk music. It reminded me of what an employee of mine had said about me to someone. That I was a poseur. I was running a national chain clothing store that sold skate and surf attire to suburban youth in large upscale malls. I hadn't been on a skateboard in about 15 years (though at the time I still had a collection of what could be called antique decks, from when skateboards thick wood and had steel wheels, real dinosaurs), as a kid, I learned to surf on the outer-banks of North Carolina, and still occasionally windsurf (a big old floater board, and smaller performance board), and I had snowboarded pretty much since the sport began (I also lived in a ski town for 15 years and had been on the mountain more in that period of time than most people will ever be in their lives) so it wasn't like I lacked some credibility. Then again, was hired for the job because I had 10 years of retail management experience, not for credibility with the kids. So I asked this guy why he thought I was a poseur, and he said that it was because of my musical tastes.

Well, he kind of had me there (I will eventually bring things back around to my conversation with Craig, I swear), because when it comes to music I am a punk rock poseur. Yeah, growing up I loved the Stooges, X, The Germs, the Clash, The Damned, The Buzzcocks, hell, I even drove to Texas when I was 16 to see the Sex Pistols. I've seen shows with Black Flag, Hüsker Dü, The Cramps, the MC5, Green Day (before Dookie blew up), etc. So on paper you might think I have some "punk rock" cred.

But still, when it really comes down to it, musically, I'm a poseur. I'm a poseur because while punk rock has always been a part of my life, it's never been my only musical love. While I would go to show one night, I'd be out disco dancing the next. I can sing showtunes with the best of them. Okay, my voice sucks, but I know the words to all the songs from Oklahoma, South Pacific, Dream Girls, etc. I even love country music (Dolly Parton is a DIVA). I have never really held back on my diverse musical likes, and to a 17 year old punk officianado, that means I'm a poseur.

I'm pretty sure that at this point in my life, I'm okay with that. It's just another label/catagory that people seem to have to put people into. Of course, I also schooled the 17 year old on where the term punk comes from (a derogatory prison slang for a passive homosexual - a bottom) and that no original punk rockers ever called themselves punks, it was the music press that stuck that name on them. I also rattled off a list of famous gay punk Rockers (Darby Crash, Pat Smear, Bob Mould, etc).

So anyways, I told Craig (who for all his punk roots, is a DJ specializing in house music and remixes, check out his remix of the Dream Girls on iTunes), that I wasn't really that familar with punk, "Sorry dude, when it comes to punk, i'm just a poseur..."

Well, that's all I've got for right now. Anyone who might actually read this, I hope I didn't bore you too much.

I feel the need for sleep. Mmmmmmm, sleep. (the cortasteriods are helping, yea!)