Current Musical Selection: Izzy Stradlin - "Time Gone By"

yeah, its not quite GnR, but its close. for anyone who doesnt know [another chance to flaunt my GnR knowledge] Izzy was the founding rythm guitarist for GnR, going waaay back to '86. Iz stays on until 91/92 [depends on if you count his summer comeback when Gilby was hurt], when the pressures and futility of stardom came to a head for him. Izzy, in my opinion, was really one of 3 in the driving force that wrote the GnR material... Axl does have alot of credits, noteably the big opus' [Estranged, November Rain], and Slash too has his fair share, but by listening to the music, to me, its clear that Izzy came up with a good chunk of the songs. Axl applied words and voice, and smoothed it out in the end, Slash throws down a heavy riff to play off Izzy's main themes, then the big solo, and Duff and Matt/Steven do their thing; but Izzy comes up with the tunes. It really shows up on his solo cd's post GnR; namely this one: Izzy Stradlin and the Ju Ju Hounds... its out of print now [funny, so is Gilby's "Pawnshop" album, his first solo cd, also excellent!] but its really written in the flow of the softer 'Stones sound, lots of fuzz... Definietly attempt to find them on morpheous or something, but these songs are the kilers: Time Gone By, Somebody Knockin, How Will It Go, Cuttin The Rug, Take A Look. not to say the rest of the cd isnt anygood, just those songs show off the diversity in style, but are all essentially Izzy mainstains; especially listening to the GnR recordings, you can really tell what was Izzys and what was the rest of the bands work.

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well its been several days now since ive written.. appearantly ive fallen back into the pitfall of not paying attention to this. not so; i do remember it, just the days are so short and the other requisite work must be done before blog time. well thank God for one thing, my life never changes.... so, its not like you would have missed out on much excitement. well unless your really rarin to hear about the beard growing contest the floor started. im thinking about dropping out allready tho; its getting itchy in places, and the mustache just isnt growing in well; i think if i let it go much longer, ill really look funny. we'll see what mood im in tomorrow when i get up.. i may just let it go... thoughts anyone? scott-alvarado@uiowa.edu

porque mas.... saturday was interesting. ive decided to help out with the Stepping Up project again this year, by flipping burgers at their non-alcoholic tailgates. its really a great cause. but the idea is sadly lost on kids in iowa city, on football saturday. i wasnt really counting, but multiple kids came up to us to get the free food [knowing this was an alcohol-free event] with cans of Busch Lite in hand. some had the classic "im so drunk i have to wear these sunglasses to walk in broad daylight" sunglasses and look going for them. others just did a poor job disguising a case of beer in a hooded sweat shirt. yes, they pulled the torso of the shirt over it, then placed cans in the hood.. giving it the uniquie appearance of mystery to fellow drunks; but to those of us in attendance that were starkly sober... the only mystery is why no one did anything about it. these kids are obviously, blatanly, breaking the law. we were standing on U of Iowa Residence Hall property, with Residence Hall staff [1-grad student, 1-hi level administrator, 3-hall coordinators, and 2- paid security officers] and nothing happens. kids come streaming out of Slater Res Hall, carrying open containers; while 4 girls are urinating on Slater in the bushes, putting down their beer on the front steps to do so; and NO ONE says anything. frustrated, i asked one about what could be done; lets suffice to say my answer wasnt very good.

i guess what i dont really care for is the disregard of the activity taking place. no where is it more clear, than under-age drinking is not to be tolerated, than on our Residence Hall property. not only is it just not condusive to the environment the university wants to put forth, but its clearly illegal!!! 90% of these kids are 1st years... straight from highschool... some arent even 18 yet when they get here... so not only are the administrators, and hall coordinators present failing to do their assigned duty, but they in fact are breaking the law by allowing it to continue. dont get me wrong. im not pure-anti-alcohol. i, as a legal and consenting adult, over the age of 21, relish in an occasional alcoholic beverage; but in the proper setting, with people of like mind. thats just not the case here in the dorms. the kids that come here arent drinking 1 beer, they are drinking a case; its not double of aged scotch, its 3/4s a bottle of cheap Rum... its not with consenting adults; its with other kids who are all underage... its not in a proper setting, like a bar... its comming from some kid in their psych class, or from their older brothers fraternity friends... and its not in the form of like minded adults... aside from the fact all these kids are looking for the same thing-- to get dangerously plastered. id like to hold the kids here in higher esteem than i do; but they dont let me... at times, id say they dont want me to do that either. last year, when i attended the city council commission on drinking ordinances; i was one of 2 [yes 1 + 1, two] people supporting the ordances forcing Iowa City residents to abide by more consistent and strict regulation dealing with alcohol, in shit-ton massive quantity. not even the people from the Stepping Up project, nor the Department of Res. Services, nor the Addiction Medicine specialists would come. just me. infact, i couldnt even go in the capacity of the student leader that i am, with my position in ARH; i was told strictly not to. i didnt understand why. but once i was at City Hall i did. UISG, the campus government of the student body was there to shoot down the ordnances... all in the name of kids 'right' to drink underage, in dangerous quantities.

i guess it never really goes away tho. its something that this city and its engrained sense of self; will probably never want to let go of... alcohol related injuries, coma's and even deaths have occured here; but the trends continue. the maturity in this place really strives to hit new lows each day. i loose respect for people who speak from one side of their mouth about alcohol policy, and even the rule of law in general; then break those, on a regular basis. people, i guess, dont expect me to say much about it. thats hard for me. maybe not that im not expected to comment, only that they wish i refrain from doing so. if only to preserve their own proverbial asses. people on my own floor regularly drink and break the rules, that I, in my position, help to create. some of these people are my friends, some just happen to live next to me. regardless, thats alot to ask from someone. maybe it wouldnt bother me as much if they were of legal age. and maybe it wouldnt bother me as much if it was only sporadically. but its not. its clear, its blatant, and its obvious. not only is there no respect for me and my position, it erodes the respect we should have for the student body. leading me back to where im at. an ultimate lack of respect.

alcohol is a funny thing. it makes people do funny things. i dont think of these people as bad kids. my neighbor is a frosh. its his first time away from home; away from friends; away from what he knew life to be. hes a good kid. he respects me. at first i wasnt sure how to take it. generally speaking, i dont make it habit to throw out my title to the kids... id rather let them discover it, let them do with it what they will. but this kid, once he found out; was excited. he likes knowing what his neighbor does. [remember that]. originally, i liked that in my neighbor as a quality. then last week, i came home. on my way up the stairs, i could smell the beer. Icehouse. i looked in the trashcan and found atleast a case of empties. coming into the hall way, it was heavy in the air. two of them come out of the room... clearly blasted. one tells me he was doing dishes, he cant look me in the eyes tho, the other comes out swaggering, and mincing german and english; trying to bastardize an appology to me for what he did tonight. he was that respected me. i listened to him try to recount his sorrow; it took a good ten minutes. i dont doubt his sincerity; only that someone that sincere, shouldnt have taken part in the first place. then as i cut him off, and open my door, i see it. more of my 'friends' engaged in drinking with other, 'like minded' underaged residents. what do i say to that? one was clear about his intentions, and i have no annimosity towards him for that. he knows the risks assumed with that action, he was willing to take it, and more or less, i guess thats acceptable. the other. the other one expects respect from me. should he get it from me? 19, with a beer in hand, and in a more precarious state than im going state here. he knows it. so do i. this is one of those times, when my neighbors probably dont like knowing what i do. this is probably one of those times, when i dont like knowing what my neighbors do. no, no probably about it. i see this person, perpetrate an act like this early in the week, then they try to stand next to me on saturday morning, at the Stepping Up tailgate; working side by side with that organization, to combat underaged and irresponsible drinking.. respect is tough to come by in this town. its time i stopped being so free with it. people speak about morality in their life, and abiding by the moral principle... what moral is to follow the law. breaking the law isnt moral. but they do. breaking my respect for them is another act, they do it all by themselves. forget morality. they should start with maturity, and responsibility, lessons they should have learned by now in life.

and in the end, it all comes down to mutual respect to me. blantant disregard for the rules and policy they are supposed to be helping me support and create, and this.... this is how im respected by them, fully in my presence. again, the kids of this city pull at my shirt tail to keep me from taking them to the next step of maturity. i really want to give them the benefit of the doubt. i want to call them equals. i want to call them adults. i want to allow myself to be included with them. but that cant happen. not as long as i know what my neighbors do. that cant happen as long as these kids expect respect from me they arent deserving of. i used to wonder why i feel alone in this world. you always look at who is walking next to you. sometimes, you dont feel alone in where you go, infront of crowds or angry people, when there is someone beside you. they might be the only person next to you. but you can still feel alone even then. but nothing is worse, than when you think back to that one time when there was 1 + 1; and that +1, just walked away. that time, when there was two. now there is only one. is a sickly sweet secret you have to carry with you sometimes. its about keeping up appearances. making that empty stance next to someone; thats the appearance. but the respect... thats hard to keep up.

ain't it fun~
s.