Manatree at The Millworks, Harrisburg, PA – 9/21/15. Photo by Expanding the Bookends of Now
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Memories of Work Life.
I volunteered at a hospital when I was 14 and had to transport a classmate who was in a coma to CT scan.
I transported an older gentleman with a brain injury who talked to me thinking I was his son.
I worked with a man who had snew in his blood.
I worked for a man who forced me to clean the yogurt machine.
I worked for a man who called me Gomer Pyle because I wore combat boots.
I worked with a Toy Department Manager who used to be the drummer of KC and the Sunshine Band.
I worked with a truck crew that would call me Lurch and throw hangers at me.
I worked with an Executive Director who screamed at us upon return from Fat Camp and we got the Board of Directors to fire her.
I worked with a guy who built a sweat lodge in his backyard and collected roadkill.
I worked with a woman with cigarette burns on her fingers and lips.
I worked with a schizophrenic who swore to me that her psychiatrist penetrated a slit on his assistant’s belly before her very eyes.
I once worked with a man who, when he saw me eat a dandelion, said “You don’t know whose dogs and cats be peeing on that shit”.
I worked with a CFO who embezzled 300 thousand dollars.
I worked with an autistic man who pushed me over a bush.
I worked with a man who had a henweigh on his neck.
I distributed pizza coupon flyers in Samual Sheinbein’s neighborhood the week that he dismembered and burned Freddy Tello.
I worked with a man who was a doctor in Cuba, but not in the USA.
I worked with a Nigerian man who got me addicted to bitter cola nuts.
I would stand at gas stations giving the middle finger to the sniper when filling the work van with petrol in Montgomery County.
I worked with a man who punched me in the back of the head and it knocked me down.
I worked for a woman who was an ex Black Panther Party Member.
The same woman once asked Sammy Davis Jr. if he knew who he was.
I worked with a woman who taught me it’s “non speech” not “non verbal”.
I worked with a man who’s sole responsibility on a P-Funk tour was to get Sly Stone to the stage.
I worked with a security guard who left his revolver on the back of a toilet and when he went back it was gone.
I worked with a woman who went on to stab another woman in the neck at an ATM in front of NPR.
I worked with a doctor who was obsessed with dwarfism in Ancient Egypt, Ptah and all that.
I worked with a recovering free base user turned continuing sociopath.
I worked with a woman whose sister dated Vince Gray for 20 years.
A short history of the rise and fall of the thumb in twelve stages, aka “You Big Thumby!”
A short history of the rise and fall of the thumb in ten stages,
aka “You Big Thumby!”
1. Thumb-sucking
2. Development and use of tools
3. Control of fire
4. Agriculture
5. Development and use of instruments of war
6. Written Documentation, control of history
7. Act 1 Scene 1 of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet – “Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?”
8. Industrial evolution
9. Mechanical evolution
10. Sissy Hankshaw, Hitchhiking, etc.
11. Development and use of joysticks
12. Texting, “LOL”, “LMAO”,and the “Big Thumbs Up!” blue facebook emoticon symbol
Everytime you click on a like, no matter where it is, an angel loses a thumb.
If you want to save the world, stop global climate warming changes, et cetera, et cetera, then we should agree to ban the thumb or promise to take a solemn vow to use your thumb for good from this point forward.
I haven’t used my thumbs for 19 hours.
Thumbs for Peace!
Brangelina says in response to the fall of this strange finger “I oppose the thumb!”
The Boy and the Lime Wedge
My 19 or so month old nephew who has so far amassed around 50 English words and a handful of ASL signs looked at me seriously with direct eye contact and handed me a lime wedge that he had already chewed on. I looked at the chewed up wedge and then looked back at him. Without using any actual words I am familiar with, particularly since I myself have so far only amassed 35 English words and half a handful of ASL signs, he said half with his eyes/mind and half in gibberish “Eat it. It’s good. Prevents scurvy”. When he was sure I understood, and I had placed it in my mouth, he proceeded to dump his ice water all over the table in joy. He then pointed to a pile of napkins, and when I handed him a couple, he cleaned up his mess and said “I’m gonna need that lime wedge back”.
The Homecoming – Central Pennsylvania US American Hardcore Punk Band 1987-1988
The Homecoming. Live in PA 1987/88.
Photo by Chris & Crystal DiPietro.
The Homecoming was a Central Pennsylvania American hardcore punk band active from 1987 to 1988. The Homecoming formed when Hans Bowers was present in the studio during Sacred Hate’s demo recording. It was mutually agreed that Hans should join Sacred Hate on lead guitar. The band decided to become a five piece and change their name to The Homecoming.
The Homecoming was:
Sean Linwood – Vocals
Hans Bowers – Lead Guitar, backing vocals
Joe McRedmond – Rhythm Guitar, backing vocals
Mike Harbin – Bass Guitar, backing vocals
Craig Montgomery – Drums, backing vocals, and rap on “Spirit”
The Homecoming recorded a 5 song demo cassette with Jeff Meglio & Dave Kampel on a Fostex 80-8A.
The recording was done in September and October 1987.
Track 1: Spoken Language
Track 2: Spirit
Track 3: Restitution
Track 4: Fly Through
Track 5: Comin’ Home
Download the whole Demo:
The Homecoming Demo 1987 Zip File
For reasons unknown, Hans Bowers quit the band in the spring/early summer of 1988. The 4 remaining members who were once Sacred Hate, continued to play under the name Fuse, before eventually becoming Admiral.
The Homecoming Demo tape cover, designed by Mike Harbin
The Homecoming, Live 1987, Craig Montgomery on drums.
Photo by Chris/Crystal DiPietro.
The Homecoming Live. Mike Harbin on bass.
Photo by Chris/Crystal DiPietro.
The Homecoming Live in Lancaster, PA, 1987/88.
Photo by Crystal DiPietro.
Homecoming flyer announcing the change in name from Sacred Hate.
Homecoming flyer
Another Homecoming flyer, 1987
Homecoming flyer quoting Bob Marley
Homecoming, announcement of record release
Homecoming opening up for 76% Uncertain and the Pagan Babies, October 30th, 1987.
Homecoming show flyer, but pretty sure they played as “Assfrag” instead.
Tourist Trap Fanzine #1 with Homecoming interview
Tourist Trap Fanzine #1 with Homecoming interview
Sacred Hate – Central Pennsylvania American Hardcore Punk Band, 1986-1987
Sacred Hate Live at The West Shore Democratic Club, Enola, PA 1986.
Photo by Chris & Crystal DiPietro
Sacred Hate were a Harrisburg, PA based hardcore punk band who formed after members met each other at a Beefeater, Late Teens, 2nd Crisis show at Strawberry Square in downtown Harrisburg in May 1986.
Sacred Hate were active from 1986 to 1987, and played a lot of shows that year opening for GI, SNFU, Dag Nasty, etc, and always tried to borrow the bigger band’s equipment very occasionally successfully. Mean age of the band was 17.
Members were:
Sean Linwood – Vocals
Joe McRedmond – Guitar
Mike Harbin – Bass
Craig Montgomery – Drums
Sacred Hate recorded a 5 song demo tape, “Experience the Insanity” in April 1987 at Sawdust Studio with Jeff Meglio.
Sacred Hate changed their name to The Homecoming when they added Hans Bowers to lead guitar and became a five piece, as Hans was present in the studio when the “Experience the Insanity” demo was recorded, and he asked to join the band. Joe McRedmond used Hans’ Fender Stratocaster on the recording . Members later went on to be in Fuse, Admiral, Lost Summer Days, Soft Complex, Hoover, Navio Forge, The Crownhate Ruin, Black River Mafia, etc, etc., and are still active in bands up to the present. Sadly, Craig Montgomery, rest in peace, passed away in 1997.
The “Experience the Insanity” Demo – 1987:
Track 1, Opinions
Track 2, Decide
Track 3, True Questions
Track 4, XoXo – We Hate You!
Track 5, Society’s Discharge
Download the full demo here: Sacred Hate – Demo 1987
Sacred Hate Demo Tape Cover 1987. Designed by Mike Harbin.
Sacred Hate “Experience the Insanity” Demo 1987 Lyric Sheet.
Sacred Hate Experience the Insanity Demo Release Flyer Advertisement
For the hardcore heads, I am including songs from Sacred Hate’s “Boombox Tape 1986” that were not ever recorded in a studio, but were played at the many shows occurring over the 1986/1987 time period:
Track 1, New Instrumental
Track 2, Campus Life
Track 3, Impression on Route 22
Track 4, Anarchy Girl
Track 5, Pizza Deliveries
Track 6, Trust
Track 7, Our Forces
Track 8, Our War Song
Track 9, Tired Eyes
Track 10, Hall of Fame (GI Cover)
Track 11, For Your Love (Yardbirds Cover)
Track 12, Show Us What You’ve Got
Track 13, Impression on Route 22 (Alternate Version)
Track 14, Keep the Spark Alive
Track 15, Elevator
Track 16, Our War Song (Alternate Version)
Track 17, I Don’t Need You
Download the full boombox tape here: Sacred Hate – Boombox Tape 1986
Even the Boombox Tape had a lyric sheet, albeit handwritten.
Opening for SNFU January 1987
“And so there are gaps, these blanknesses, and they are there because they are in us as well, in the civilization we have made. What, for example, were the conditions of the tribes of the interior in 1600? What was the culture of the Pequots like before King Philip’s War? What of the Cherokee before 1830? We can supply fragmentary answers at best but the worst is that so few Americans still care whether these questions might have answers. They will only see and lament our present-day condition – a divided and deeply troubled nation, streaked with racial, sectional, and class antagonisms, uncertain of its global position, morally enfeebled. The roots of all this lie buried in our past, and despite the disheartening losses of which I speak, it is our first imperative to try to trace what we can.”
– from Frederick W. Turner III’s introduction to The Portable North American Indian Reader, page 7, Penguin Books The Viking Portable Library, New York, New York, 1974.
I am re-reading The Portable North American Indian Reader which I first read in 1990 after a recommendation by a coworker. We both worked at The Outreach Homeless Project, which had a day-room for homeless people where they could take a shower, use our address for mail, get clean clothes, and bags of food. We also had a group home residence for people who were both homeless and diagnosed with mental illness. Tom, my coworker, though a white man like myself, was into all things associated with the North American Indian. He turned me onto The Seven Arrows by Hyemeyohsts Storm, which I also read again this week. I went to Tom’s house once after work, learning that he lived pretty close to where I did. He had built a sweat lodge in his yard. It is my misfortune that we lost track of each other 23 years ago. It is also my misfortune that we lost track of a way of life tens of thousands of years in the making over the course of less then four hundred years. Also mis-fortunately, English is probably not the best way to learn of these stories, but it will have to do for the time being. One day, maybe over a campfire in the middle of nowhere after a long day of hunting, fishing, and gathering, some of us will hear and see these tales in the spirit that they were meant to be passed on.
Related articles
- Famous Wampanoag Indians (famous101.com)
