Three of my favorite Blogs are ultraviolencia,suicideblonde, and thisisnthappiness. All three are tumblr blogs. So i started a tumblr blog to see if that magic is contagious. This haloonthefloor is a darker undertaking. I will continue to run both and still promote this blog via facebook etc. The other blog will probably not be mentioned again. I want that blog to grow more organically, both in content and in its followers.
I was at a Halloween loft party years ago and my night was taking a bad turn. Earlier in the night some friends and i had eaten a lot of "mushrooms" on our pizza. I think i heard someone mention my ex was at the party and the "fear" started to creep in. I was spiraling into a full panic attack and was heading for the door when the crowd of people seemed to part and i saw the Cookie Monster.
The "fear" instantly left my body as i approached Cookie Monster. "Cookie Monster?" i said. He tilted his head in a questioning manner. "Can i have a hug?" I asked. He shook his furry blue head in a yes motion as his googly eyes danced in opposite circles. He opened his arms and i hugged him hard. The "fear" was gone. I stayed at the party and completely forgot about whatever had been troubling me earlier.
I've told this story to a few of my friends who had been at that party. None of them remember seeing anyone dressed as Cookie Monster.
On Valentine's Day my son woke me up and handed me a piece of rolled up paper. It was sloppily taped together. I carefully opened it and inside was a drawing he did of me. He told me he loved me and i was his best friend. This past Saturday while finishing the robot on my sleeve, my friend Patrick tattooed the drawing on my inner bicep. Next to my wedding ring tattoo, this is my favorite tattoo on my body.
More like They Are "Could Have Been" Legend. It's funny how someone i thought was legendary as a kid can become the biggest Grade A dork in my adulthood. No one exemplifies this better than David Lee Roth.
When i was a kid there was no one cooler. He was a Rock God. Looks, Charisma to burn, fronting one of the greatest rock bands of the time. And he Blew It. He went from this..
A fucking Rock and roll machine!
To this...
The 1980's were cruel to a lot of artists and even greats like Bowie, Elton, and the Stones put out some of the worst shit ever but THIS! He left Van Halen for This! This guy was always larger than life but he made himself into a "character". A product. An action figure.
Van Halen went on to be bigger, more famous, and some people say better. (Not me. I don't hate Van Hagar, in fact i'd bet a million dollars Sammy is probably a likable guy. Dave i would probably kill in just under an hour.)
Dave made a few more solo albums. Than a bluegrass Van Halen album. Then a techno remix Van Halen album. Then he became an E.M.T. Then he was a Disc Jockey. Somewhere in there he got busted for buying a dimebag in Central Park. Recently Eddie Van Halen decided to take his son Wolfgang on a rock star vacation and since he was mad at Sammy that week he looked under various cardboard boxes until he found Mr. Roth and reformed Van Halen. Now Mr. Roth can have his drugs delivered like a normal person.
Jesus he looks like the guy that brings you pizza at Chuck E. Cheese now.
Another person who comes to mind when i think They Are "Could Have Been" Legend is Ice Cube.
As one of the original members of N.W.A. Cube was the first to leave the Gangsta super group (unlike Mr. Roth) over money disputes and not ego. Having been the writer of 45% of N.W.A.'s music he was able through his solo albums to prove very successful. Never was Ice Cube more on top his game than after the riots when he released The Predator.
The Predator, to me, is one of the greatest Hip Hop albums of the 1990's. The anger of a people as voiced through a lyrical poet. Cube started to garner success in films both good (Boyz in the Hood, Friday-as writer and producer) and mediocre (Higher Learning) but never choosing anything outright bad or "sellout".
Yet.
In my eyes one of the last dope things he did was re-collaberate with Dre on Natural Born Killas, a single for the film Murder Was The Case.
My first "Uh Oh" moment with Cubes Career came when he started hanging out with Korn and Limp Bizkit. I saw Cube perform at the lollapolloza festival in 92 and it was there he was turned on to rock by performing and traveling with the likes of ..
To bad he wasn't able to differentiate good rock music from bad rock music and what was once pure black anger was replaced by white boy suburban angst. Crappy jocko rap-rock turned a legend like Ice Cube into a joke. Soon after he was making crap movies and hanging out with Fred Durst.
(This is not photoshoped)
In writing this post i can really only think of one artist who in my eyes is and always will be a legend.Even when he turned fat and went crazy with drugs and women. Made more bad movies than good. Actually had the indignity to die on a toilet and is still a legend! Yep. The King.
Long Live the King.
Random side note- I'm not a good writer and i apologize if my run on sentences and half formed ideas get on any of your nerves. I bring this up because my friend Nolan and i were talking about this post and i was saying how i wish i knew how to write better and he said " you aren't the best writer but your really good at spewing"