Skate and Surf Festival 2003:

My Lineup:
2:00-2:30 Madison
2:55-3:25 Miasmics
4:20-4:55 Homegrown
5:15-5:55 Coheed and Cambria
6:20-7:05 Thrice
7:25-8:10 Andrew W.K.
8:15-8:40 Onelinedrawing
8:45-9:30 The Starting Line
9:55-10:30 The Used

Me, Steve, and Mike got there around 1:30 but we didn't feel like waiting on the line so me and steve hackeyed for a while. Mike's not the hackey sack kind so he read a magazine with an interview about David Hasslehoff's cousin. While hackeying, a kid came up to us to hackey with us. His name was Steve from Long Island and he promotes for bands, which i thought was pretty cool. Then we waited on line for a long long while, and we watched Madison perform outdoors. Once we got inside, we watched the Miasmics, who were pretty good for a local ska band. Then we checked out the merchandise where Mike was outrageously happy because there were $5 and $2 shirts. He bought plenty, while i bought my trucker hats. Then Homegrown was on... even though i didn't know them at all, i liked their performance. It was fun-packed and happy with catchy beats. The only song i knew the lyrics to was when they played their "Barbie Girl" cover. You can't go wrong with that material.

Next on the mainstage was Coheed and Cambria. I love these guys and got most of my friends hooked on them. It's amazing how they've only been around for maybe a year, and their sudden explosion to total success is mind boggling. A couple of months ago they were playing at small venues and opening up for bands... but now they're headlining their own tours for decent size venues and playing on the MAIN stage at Skate and Surf! If you would see them live, you would think they've been touring for years because of their confidence and great stage knowledge they show. They began their set with Neverender and then Junesong Provision. They played a new song and an Iron Maiden cover! Heck, they could play a Spice Girls cover and make it sound good. Then they played Delirium Trigger, Devil in Jersey City, and closed it off with Everything Evil. They were great... again!

After the Coheed and Cambria set, i had to get a drink since i tried to sing along with Claudio's amazingly high, girlish voice. So i did that and bought a shirt for Marissa, and then i sat down to watch Thrice. They kicked some major booty. From watching above the crowd, i saw how there were 5 pits in the audience, and there was one major mosh pit at the center. I watched as the kids were pushing and throwing their arms everywhere, it was just crazy! I listened to their cds, and they sound amazing... and the cool thing is they song exactly alike when they're live. I couldn't get over that. Well, i enjoyed their set, and this will definately make me a Thrice-fan for a long while. I even bought a Thrice hat.

Andrew W.K. was next, but i planned to see Onelinedrawing (who was playing at the same time at the Paramount Theater) instead, since i listen to Jonah almost everyday. Well, the schedule changed and it looked like Onelinedrawing was to play after Andrew W.K. So i sat myself down and watched the amazing set of Andrew W.K. It was the most entertaining and funny set i've ever experienced. Andrew didn't stop moving around the stage and shaking his head with his hair flailing around for the entire 40 minutes. Even though all of their songs sounds exactly alike, it didn't matter. To be able to watch Andrew head banging and his guitarist (Jesus) dance... it was something i will remember for quite a while.

Once they were done, i ran over to the Paramount Theater just in time to witness Onelinedrawing's first song. The reason why they changed the schedule was because Jonah wanted to watch Andrew W.K. so badly he asked the Skate and Surf people to delay his set. So Jonah was happy, and so was I. He played songs like Lukewarm, Bitt Ein Kiss, 14 to 41, Smile, and a Deftones cover. Here's one of the coolest experiences. I went to buy a Onelinedrawing shirt prior to the set, and i didn't know that i was conversing with Jonah himself when i bought the shirt! Anyways, i bought a tshirt and asked how much it was, and Jonah responded, "$11 to $15" I was puzzled by this and asked, "Huh?" And he just told me how much i could afford, and i should make that decision. I thought of this major cool, and since i love Onelinedrawing i paid the full $15 for the tshirt. I just thought it was very unique to have the customer put a price on the shirt he/she was buying. Anyways, back to Jonah's set. During the middle of a song, someone yelled out, "SHUT UP!" So Jonah politely stopped the song and asked, "Were you telling me to shut up, or someone near you?" So the girl responded, "You." Jonah then said, "Well, okay. I understand that people might not like my music and i totally respect that. But there are more people here that doesn't want me to shut up so it would be nice for you to keep your comments to yourself. You see this is what is wrong with society today. Motherf*ckers like you!" The crowd cheered like crazy, it was so great. Then he finished, "Aight, i'm going to finish the song now and hopefully we won't have to deal with assh*les like her ever again." This just made my night 10 times better.

After Jonah, i walked quickly to the main stage and caught it just when the lights went out and the Starting Line were coming out. They came out to the music of Bruce Springsteen's, "Born in the USA". Then a huge poster unfolded that read, "I <3 NJ" in the same writing as the I <3 NY logo. It was hella cool. The Starting Line has always been very very supportive for NJ. During the break of every song, they would thank the crowd and talk about how great NJ is. How NJ is when they first started to feel like a band. How this is the best state to play at in the world! They played Saddest Girl Story, Left Coast Envy, This Ride, Given the Chance, A Goodnight's Sleep, and Best of Me. I love it when Starting Line plays... idk why, but they just make me feel so happy. I just can't get over how they're music is perfect for jumping to, and when thousands of people jump along with me, it just feels thousands of times better. Well, one more band to go.

The Used!!! The Used!!! I heard good things, i heard bad things. I decided to judge them based on my own opinions... which more people should do. Well, they performed songs Maybe Memories, Bulimic, On My Own, Buried Myself Alive, Box Full of Sharp Objects, and Greener with the Scenery. They were pretty damn good live, and the mosh pits were scary. The funny part of their set is when the singer asked for everyone with a demo cd to throw it up on the stage. After that, all you saw were dozens of cds being tossed at the singer. It was hilarious as he tried to protect himself from the cds being thrown at him. Anyways, very very very good set... even though i didn't know when the last song came. Oh well, Skate and Surf was a blast!
posted by Rob at 2:59 AM

The past couple of days have been dedicated to working on George's garage. The first day was fun because it was all breaking and tearing things down. That was fun. Then that night we had a BBQ. Then yesterday we didn't do as much, but we did jam so that was fun. Then another BBQ since the first one was so much fun. We even made smores! Heh... also me, jill, steve, and mike worked on a barbie puzzle... 100 pieces of agony, and then once it was finished.... we burnt it. Then i went to the movies with Marissa and Phil to see Chicago. I fell asleep during it. Les Mis tonight... woot woot.
posted by Rob at 12:28 PM

Hockey today.... Teams were Me, Alex, Sean, Petryszyn, and Matt with Callaghan in goal against Mickey, Kapp, Jeremy, Vivenzio, and Furino with Jay as goalie. Things were even at the start, but then the first shot my team let up turned into a goal. Then the next 2 shots resulted into goals too. It was very very bad.... Callaghan couldn't stop the ball if it were the size of an elephant. Anyways, i came up from defense and immediately scored a goal. 3 - 1, but then they came back with another goal. Then we decided to switch the teams up since they were pretty unfair. Petryszyn was traded for Jeremy, and we switched goalies. So then our team went on a scoring spree. In no time, the score was 6 - 5, with us on top. About 30 minutes later, it was 7 - 7, sudden death time. We were all searching for the golden goal, but defense and offense turned up another notch so it was extremely difficult. Then as everyone started tiring, i scored the game winning goal on callaghan's weak side. Man, that was tiring stuff. Goodnight...
posted by Rob at 6:50 PM

I've been gettin almost little to no sleep lately. I'm trying a new sleeping pattern.... 6 hours of sleep from 1-7, and a 6 hour nap from 3-9. I'm thinking that this will make my body more relaxed because of all the rest in a 24 hour day... i would be getting 12 hours of sleep a day! So we'll see how that goes. Besides that, it's tough to type a blog entry when millions of people keep chattin....
posted by Rob at 9:25 PM

Joe Dipalma: "I gave my Tamagotchie to my mom when i had a little league game once, and when my game was over, i found out that she forgot to feed it, and he DIED!!"
posted by Rob at 6:47 PM

Imagine jcdf: die
Robish27DF: i will
Robish27DF: eventually
Robish27DF: and so will you
Robish27DF: and so will everyone else
Imagine jcdf: die soon
Robish27DF: soon represents an uncertain amount of time... soon can mean a minute... soon can mean 50 years
Robish27DF: u must specify what you mean
Imagine jcdf: soon cant mean 50 years you whore
Robish27DF: sure it can
Robish27DF: like i'm saying
Robish27DF: soon an asteroid will hit
Robish27DF: knowing that the last asteroid hit a billion years ago... soon is used correctly
Imagine jcdf: go jump off a mountain
Robish27DF: lol
Robish27DF: wut if the mountain is 5 feet tall
Robish27DF: a mountain of pretzals that i made myself
Imagine jcdf: impossible
Imagine jcdf: that would be a hill
Robish27DF: it's still considered a mountain
Robish27DF: just because i labeled it "the pretzal mountain"
Imagine jcdf: go jump off the george washington bridge into the water and die
Imagine jcdf: whore
Imagine jcdf: WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT YOU BITCH
Imagine jcdf: NOTHING
Robish27DF: now if i had a helicopter lift a pool in the air only 10 feet below the bridge
Imagine jcdf: SO DIE
Robish27DF: i would be jumping off the bridge into the water
Imagine jcdf: jump into the fucking hudsan river
Imagine jcdf: you asswhipe
Robish27DF: u didn't specify that
Imagine jcdf: well guesss what
Imagine jcdf: now i did
Imagine jcdf: you fuck face
Robish27DF: u sound upset?

joe gets upset because my level of intelligence is so far above his...
posted by Rob at 9:07 PM

Playing cricket was fun... Jeremy won with 5 runs, Me and Matt tied with 3 runs, and Vivenz and Mendez last with 1 run each. Cool catches from Jermz, but the highlight was when i pegged Mendez with the ball from like 50 feet away.... it was amazing! Yes, i live a very pathetic life... but i find little things very amusing. Then basketball was aight, even though Simone wouldn't pay the $10 from us beating him. Then my car broke down on Ridge Road. Then sleeping... goodnight.
posted by Rob at 11:25 PM

Yesterday was the battle of the bands. After listening to some rappers and Ten22... we helped Bio-Feedback set up and watched from the stage as they played their fast-punk music. Alfreddo told us how nervous he was, but overall i think alfreddo, ryan, and george played a pretty good set. Then we were up and prior to our set we realized we had to cut our 8 song set to fit 20 minutes. So we planned on playing a 6 song set. We played Vans Shoes Company, Give Me One Last Chance, Summer Secrets, and The Last Song... then we started playing Starlight, but then we got our power turned off because we were one minute over the limit. We were really pissed and showed our anger by throwing the drums all over the stage. It was all good... we ended up winning the battle of the bands by 12 votes. Thanks to all those 54 people who voted for us... and also great job to 2nd place Aspen it is, 3rd place Soniminos, 4th Bio-Feedback, and 5th Ten22. Even though One Lump Sum didn't rally that high, i still thought they were the best band of the night, so great job to those guys. So we made $100 selling all of our demos... plus $200 for winning the botb... so it was a good night.
posted by Rob at 6:52 PM

Jamming today... started out bad.

Got there and Bio-Feedback were practicing... they sounded pretty decent. They could definately get the crowd going if there's a lot of punk rockers out there. Then we started jamming and the first song Mike got disgustingly out of tune. Then the next song i broke on of my strings. Then the next song, mike broke one of his strings. Not very very good. Well, we left Bio-Feedback to jam some more. We got some Halls cough drops, some Boston market, and then restrung our guitars. We listened to Bio-Feedback's entire set, and then we played our set. Good good shizzle. We're ready for the battle of the bands... except that i broke my pinky. I thought it was hella cool when Ryan and Danae were singing the words to our songs. That was really really neat.
posted by Rob at 9:41 PM

Florida trip kicked ass
posted by Rob at 9:37 PM