I've been smoking now, addicted wise, for 23 years. I smoked every now and then with my bros that were regular smokers in high school (Match and Ivan, maybe Ki, if I remember right). We usually did that underneath the library or in the Zody's parking lot. The stoner gangsters smoking weed on one end of the parking lot smoking weed and the punks on the other end. The stoners knew that we would whistle of the school narc was headed their way. Funny even then I can remember when bumming smokes, Match using a phrase that I would use for many years after that, "why don't you buy your own pack". Once I moved away to college though I was buying my own packs daily, I think I missed the second hand smoke I was getting at home, with my mom. My Cuban godfather, go figure, was a very regular cigar smoker. My first year at the university this guys Stephan (who was killed by a logging truck on his way up to the campus to start the second year) taught me how to roll my own cigarettes, which as you can imagine came in handy for smoking all kinds of things. He also introduced me to doing nitrous whippets (ever want to hear the sound of millions of brain cells dying, sounds like an approaching helicopter, give that a go). I've smoked just about every brand I could ever find, but never did like menthol. Mostly I've stuck with whatever's cheap and has a palatable flavor. These days it's Skydancer, a native made, additive free brand, that you can get by mail or dirt cheap on the reservation. There's no such thing as a healthy cigarette, I'm not an idiot, they do kill you, just like exhaust from a car and the pollutants spewed out by most kinds of manufacturing, but these aren't bad. I don't know if I've ever envisioned myself not smoking, but I did the other day. Not a bad vision, really just as peaceful as the act itself. I know I could use the money spent on them elsewhere, we're in the process of finding a way to buy the property that we currently rent. But damn, all I have left is tobacco and coffee. Except for the killing yourself part, which we're all doing every day, it's harmless isn't it. Is there ever a good time to quit smoking?
I know everyone probably has, but if you haven't seen The Big Lewbowski, go check that out. It's been a while since I have but with Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buschemi, Flea (in a cameo) and John Turturro, you can't miss it. Sophisticated and dark, but I guess that kinda comes with a Coen brothers flick.
Finally got myself a Clash single the other day and seeing as how it's my favorite tune of theirs, I thought I'd share it. Everything I have by these guys is dubbed stuff on cassette (I don't really count mp3s as actually having the music). I try to spend $10 each paycheck on myself, after all what's the point of working if all you're doing is paying fucking bills. I don't squander my money, like so many people do around here on beer, pop (sodas) or junk food, so I'm able to pick up a couple of 7"s every two weeks. Been after this one ever since Jay and Mike were talking about these guys. I'm not going to pretend to know a lot about these guys even though I've been listening to them since the late 70's. If you don't know much, you can do what I always do and check Wikipedia. I can remember listening to these guys with my room mate Dave Slam when we lived up in Kneeland, in the mountains of Humboldt. Undoubtedly we were up to no good, but we were listening to some damn good music. The first Punk band to sell out or is there even such a thing as selling out? We're all sellouts really, aren't we?
My second favorite Clash tune. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6EIxn3tbX8&w=425&h=344]
No comments:
Post a Comment