Thursday, November 20, 2008

Atlanta O'Neill gathering, etc

Hey Ya'll,

I just got an evite from Thomas Wix who was a friend of ours a few years ahead of most of us. Not sure if the evite url will work here but it is:
http://www.evite.com/pages/invite/viewInvite.jsp?inviteId=NEFHAUARAJUDVMIVNIRS&li=iq&src=email&trk=aei6

Host: Thomas Wix
Location: Atlanta
When: Friday, March 20, 7:30PM
Phone: 770-314-0413

Doubt I'll make it but I know a few of you are in or close to Atlanta. Enjoy.

If anyone is ever in the Portland Oregon area look me up! mark at rootsrealty dot com.

Now let's hear some more about those legendary exploits...

Reminds me of the very 1st night I hung out with some of ya'll after just moving in, we stole a cooler of beer from a tail gating motorhome and got drunk in the woods. This became a regular pastime... and I guess old habits die hard. Cheers.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Veteran's Day Posting

I'm going to take a break from the "We-Were-So-Cool-In-High-School" postings.

You'd think a bunch of former smart-mouthed, (mostly) pot-smoking, slacker, skateboard teenage thugs wouldn't be patriotic, but you'd be wrong. My brother, for instance, is one of the most patriotic people I've met. The common bond to all of us in the West Point Skateboard Gang was that our fathers were in the Army. Most served overseas or in a war. My own dad was badly injured in the Vietnam War.

None of the Skateboard Gang did time in the services, except Huck Tater (I think). For me, it was never an option. Shave my head, sleep with men, tell me what to do 24/7, where do I sign? Nah, no thanks. But that doesn't mean I'm not patriotic. And while, none of us in the Skateboard Gang have been lost in action, I'd like to take a moment to remember those we went to high school who have.

Donnie Tillar was different in many ways from us back in the day. He was clean-cut, popular, and completely confident with himself, even as a freshman (a rarity at James I. O"Neill, trust me on this one). I wish I could write more about him, but I didn't know him. He was a couple of years younger than me, and our circles of friends were completely disjoint. He was killed while serving in the first Gulf War.

CJ Meine was another we went to school with who went into the military. He went to West Point, got married, and served our country until a horrific accident injured him. I can't say I really know much about CJ either. In fact, if I'm being honest, I'd confess I didn't care for CJ much in high school, and I don't think he thought much of us. But that's ok. It doesn't mean I don't admire the sacrifices he made for his country. I do, and I think part of the maturation process is being able to let bygones be bygones. We are all very different people than we were in high school.

If I could write more about Donnie or CJ, I would. I'm asking that you leave a comment about them (you can do it anonymously if you want), or any others that we went to high school with that I've overlooked. In the spirit of Veteran's Day, let's take a moment to remember them and give thanks for their sacrifices, the benefits of which we enjoy every day.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Another Max Q. Peck YouTube Classic

Before you go see this shameless display of goofiness from 25 years ago, I'd just like to add these thoughts.
  • Max's DMTV Project (Dumb Music TV) was unscripted for the most part. We turned on Max's camcorder and went with the flow. Max eventually did all the editing. I posted about the Sister Twister video here.
  • Yes, those that made this video couldn't stand Kevin Debreaux and Quiet Riot. He was a dick, completely deserving of our scorn and ridicule.
  • We were pretty good at ridiculing things because we practiced so much.
  • Uh, yeah, we broke into the West Point Movie Theater at midnight or so, filmed for an hour, and got out before anyone caught us. I was a projectionist there (awesome job BTW), and the movie in the background was some forgetable flick with major nudity scenes in the first 15 minutes or so.
  • The guitarist, Mitch, is a serious musician in real life and was actually playing the song note for note on the first of two takes. (Me: Dude, we're lipsynching, you don't have to really play it. Him: I know, I just want to be accurate.)
  • I am donning a wig for this one. Why? I don't know. My hair was as long as the wig. The wig was definitely goofier.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

More Awesome Photos


This was our not-so-awesome sign on our 12 shades of awesome half-pipe (picture from Dave Stewart). Would it have been "cool" or "uncool" to be suspended from the ramp? And how would we have enforced it? Had Clem Adone watch it for us?

The Final 4 of the West Point Pot Smoking Championship.

Doesn't it seem kinda narrow? I remember now all the little beat up spots we had to avoid. I think Huck Tater (2nd from the right) was punking us. He couldn't skate the half-pipe, could he?