The night before I left I spent in Albany at Valentine's for most of the night. No Fucker played with Fast Death and select others, and needless to say it was great. I partied a little too hard and didn't end up leaving my friend's couch until around noon which meant I didn't have nearly enough time to pack and finish cleaning up before I left. However, around 2 o'clock I was loaded up and ready to go. I stopped at Stewart's to pick up a gallon of ice cream which is probably melting in my car as we speak, but I had to do it to get free 7/11 slushies for a week and to prove to myself that such a feat is possible.
I burned a copy of Herbert West: Re-Animator as read by Jeffery Combs onto CD, along with assorted other short stories, so I started with a couple of those. The drive wasn't too bad but the worst part about it was that it occurred mostly in darkness. To pass time I sang some favorite songs and made stops at some rest areas for bathroom breaks and food and the like.
Shortly before 11PM I arrived in Pittsburgh and made my way to the Rock Room, which is Diana's place of work. It was pretty busy so she said hello and introduced me to some friends that I forgot and her boyfriend Bobby. I got a beer (by the way, Pittsburgh is another city with a lack of beer in gas stations) and relaxed while I tried to get my brain out of total isolation mode
and relearn the art of conversation while simultaneously get a feel for the atmosphere. One thing that sticks out about my whole trip is that the people of Pittsburgh seemed to lack that chip on their shoulder that I've grown accustomed to in New York state. I ended up meeting a guy named Tom that sang for the hardcore punk band FLAK that I vaguely remember hearing before. It seemed as though Pittsburgh was full of punks (of the Havoc Records sort) and their dogs. I'd guess, if I had to, the ratio is probably 1 dog for every 2 people wearing Carhartts. After last call, we finished talking each others ears off and said goodbye. Diana, Bobby, and I walked back to their apartment (everywhere is uphill there) in the charming neighborhood of Polish Hill. A lot of small bars and businesses and cool houses that were fixed up. My favorite of which wasn't in that area, I think it may have been Oakland, but was a coffee shop I didn't get the name of. It was small and clearly run by younger folks as it reflected somewhat of a DIY aesthetic. The coffee was great and the banana bread was fucking awesome.
Usually when Diana went off to school I'd hang out with her friend Sonny that lived up the street a little ways. Sonny had a quick wit and an immense amount of energy. She showed me around a
lot and would feed my brain fun facts about certain things. It seemed both Diana and Sonny had awesome info about Pittsburgh's history or certain areas or what have you. The first two days Diana had class for a few hours so Sonny brought me to various stores and boutiques and it was cool to see some of them. After the first night, Sonny and I met up with Diana again and went to Bobby's work to get some eats. He's a cook at this classy kinda place named Kaya (Jamaican slang for marijuana I've been told) that serves Caribbean/Island style cuisine so he sent us out a lot of entrees for free before we actually ordered. I ended up with pork belly sandwiches and tried several other dishes which were all overwhelmingly delicious. One of Bobby's co-workers asked me if I knew Zack from Acid Reflux which was kind of a surprise, but goes to further the concept that it is indeed a small world after all. The whole stay there actually I was well fed sampling a lot of local cuisine, from a sandwich shop that was featured on the Food channel to some kind of meat on a stick in front of an asian restaurant. I'm glad as I don't think I'm going to eat that well for the rest of the trip.
Going with the whole consuming theme, drinking was rampant as well. Diana showed me some of her favorite bars in the area and usually Bobby was into the idea of drinking more when he got out of work. The second night saw Bobby and I going down to a place called Gooski's, I think, and getting shitty. Luckily it was just a short walk back to the apartment because, of course, it was downhill from it. Wicked downhill.
Record shopping was a blast, I went several times throughout the trip. Everything was insanely cheap! Most of which never broke $10, so I bought to excess. I don't remember specifically what the names of some of the places I went to with Sonny, but earlier today before leaving I went to a place called Jerry's I think with Diana where I found the motherload. Altogether I ended up finding some gems:
I burned a copy of Herbert West: Re-Animator as read by Jeffery Combs onto CD, along with assorted other short stories, so I started with a couple of those. The drive wasn't too bad but the worst part about it was that it occurred mostly in darkness. To pass time I sang some favorite songs and made stops at some rest areas for bathroom breaks and food and the like.
Shortly before 11PM I arrived in Pittsburgh and made my way to the Rock Room, which is Diana's place of work. It was pretty busy so she said hello and introduced me to some friends that I forgot and her boyfriend Bobby. I got a beer (by the way, Pittsburgh is another city with a lack of beer in gas stations) and relaxed while I tried to get my brain out of total isolation mode
and relearn the art of conversation while simultaneously get a feel for the atmosphere. One thing that sticks out about my whole trip is that the people of Pittsburgh seemed to lack that chip on their shoulder that I've grown accustomed to in New York state. I ended up meeting a guy named Tom that sang for the hardcore punk band FLAK that I vaguely remember hearing before. It seemed as though Pittsburgh was full of punks (of the Havoc Records sort) and their dogs. I'd guess, if I had to, the ratio is probably 1 dog for every 2 people wearing Carhartts. After last call, we finished talking each others ears off and said goodbye. Diana, Bobby, and I walked back to their apartment (everywhere is uphill there) in the charming neighborhood of Polish Hill. A lot of small bars and businesses and cool houses that were fixed up. My favorite of which wasn't in that area, I think it may have been Oakland, but was a coffee shop I didn't get the name of. It was small and clearly run by younger folks as it reflected somewhat of a DIY aesthetic. The coffee was great and the banana bread was fucking awesome.Usually when Diana went off to school I'd hang out with her friend Sonny that lived up the street a little ways. Sonny had a quick wit and an immense amount of energy. She showed me around a
lot and would feed my brain fun facts about certain things. It seemed both Diana and Sonny had awesome info about Pittsburgh's history or certain areas or what have you. The first two days Diana had class for a few hours so Sonny brought me to various stores and boutiques and it was cool to see some of them. After the first night, Sonny and I met up with Diana again and went to Bobby's work to get some eats. He's a cook at this classy kinda place named Kaya (Jamaican slang for marijuana I've been told) that serves Caribbean/Island style cuisine so he sent us out a lot of entrees for free before we actually ordered. I ended up with pork belly sandwiches and tried several other dishes which were all overwhelmingly delicious. One of Bobby's co-workers asked me if I knew Zack from Acid Reflux which was kind of a surprise, but goes to further the concept that it is indeed a small world after all. The whole stay there actually I was well fed sampling a lot of local cuisine, from a sandwich shop that was featured on the Food channel to some kind of meat on a stick in front of an asian restaurant. I'm glad as I don't think I'm going to eat that well for the rest of the trip.Going with the whole consuming theme, drinking was rampant as well. Diana showed me some of her favorite bars in the area and usually Bobby was into the idea of drinking more when he got out of work. The second night saw Bobby and I going down to a place called Gooski's, I think, and getting shitty. Luckily it was just a short walk back to the apartment because, of course, it was downhill from it. Wicked downhill.
Record shopping was a blast, I went several times throughout the trip. Everything was insanely cheap! Most of which never broke $10, so I bought to excess. I don't remember specifically what the names of some of the places I went to with Sonny, but earlier today before leaving I went to a place called Jerry's I think with Diana where I found the motherload. Altogether I ended up finding some gems:
- Eddie and the Hot Rods - Life on the Line
- the Marked Men - Ghosts
- Carbonas - S/T
- Melanie - Gather Me
- Against Empire - The Ones Who Strike the Blows Forget... [silk screened cover]
- Phalanx - S/T
- 17th Class - ...In Utter Contempt of the Human Race
- the South - Chomp Chomp Chomp [silk screened cover]
- Girlschool - Screaming Blue Murder
- Assfort - Complete Assforterly 1990-'93 [picture disc]
All of this was for under $50 which may be hard to fathom, but I guess that's how they roll. I had a hard time leaving behind Sunday Morning Einsteins, Kaaos, and several others that were cheap but Jerry's didn't take credit cards. Thankfully, Diana had cash on her that I could borrow until we could get cash outta somewhere. She made mention of another place that I'd probably enjoy that was closed when we stopped in, but a unanimous decision was made that, while exciting, was totally unnecessary. We stopped at an alcohol distributor on the way back to her apartment so I could buy a crate of 40oz. for the Florida kids. Motherfuckers only have 32oz. there which totally blows my mind.
Upon leaving I drove head first into the worst thunderstorm I've seen in years where I was nearly blown off the road many times and the visibility due to the high volume of rain was severely limited. This hit me around the time that all energy drained out of me. I spent another hour or two on the road but every time the storm subsided it seemed as if I'd take another exit heading directly towards it. It was bizarre seeing the sky nearly black in front of me and white soft clouds with sun behind them to my left (or right? somewhere). I guess it can be attributed to the 50-60 degree weather in winter that this area has had for the past few days. No more than 12 hours after I arrived it was nothing but bright and sunny so It had to come at a price I suppose. I ended up stopping at an exit in a place called Grove City, and after getting some food from an easily excited high school girl that asked too many questions regarding why I looked so worn out ("You drove from where?!") I found a Microtel that advertised some ridiculously low rate that I don't remember (roughly $40 with a free continental breakfast in the morning!) so I figured it was a good idea to invest in it. The weather hasn't improved much but my mood has for sure.
Checkout is at 11AM. Next stop, Cincinnati.
Upon leaving I drove head first into the worst thunderstorm I've seen in years where I was nearly blown off the road many times and the visibility due to the high volume of rain was severely limited. This hit me around the time that all energy drained out of me. I spent another hour or two on the road but every time the storm subsided it seemed as if I'd take another exit heading directly towards it. It was bizarre seeing the sky nearly black in front of me and white soft clouds with sun behind them to my left (or right? somewhere). I guess it can be attributed to the 50-60 degree weather in winter that this area has had for the past few days. No more than 12 hours after I arrived it was nothing but bright and sunny so It had to come at a price I suppose. I ended up stopping at an exit in a place called Grove City, and after getting some food from an easily excited high school girl that asked too many questions regarding why I looked so worn out ("You drove from where?!") I found a Microtel that advertised some ridiculously low rate that I don't remember (roughly $40 with a free continental breakfast in the morning!) so I figured it was a good idea to invest in it. The weather hasn't improved much but my mood has for sure.
Checkout is at 11AM. Next stop, Cincinnati.
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