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So long to 2011!  It wasn’t a great year but it wasn’t the worst.  I hope 2012 brings more things in the realm of awesomeness, happiness, companionship, love and laughter.  I hope 2012 takes me on unforgettably awesome journeys with friends and family.  

I hope we all get just a little more radical.

Hello Happiness….My New Friend.

4/24 Dynamite Boy Cruiserweight, originally uploaded by imbinky.

Photos from the 4/24/2010 Dynamite Boy, Manatee and Cruiserweight show at Emo’s

I will remember Saturday, April 24th 2010 for probably as long as I live. It was happy, joyous, fun, remeniscent, old school, old friends, amazing bands and will all of that, it was such a bittersweet night.

Dynamite Boy has been a huge part of my life and one of my favorite bands and favorite groups of people for…well…for as long as I can remember living in Austin. Their music was an instrumental part of my life and some of the biggest decisions I have made in my adult life were inspired by their music. I did artwork for them and designed their logo. I have a Dynamite Boy tattoo. It speaks to me and for me. They broke up a on May 9, 2005.

Cruiserweight, comprised of three incredible Maxwell siblings and the awesome David Hawkins and in recent days Daniel Lancelot on Drums played their first show on June 27th 1999…my birthday, so I’ll always remember that date. Next to Born to Lose, I’ve probably been to more Cruiserweight shows than any other band ever. Urny is one of the best guys and most talented people I know and I love Stella to death. Their music is fun and powerful and meaningful and on point. Everyone I’ve ever introduced their music to has also loved them and thought it was one of the best “girl fronted” bands they’ve ever heard. I did artwork and CD designs for them. Dave is moving to go to school. They broke up on April 24th, 2010.

Cruiserweight was the last of the “Austin Punk Rawk” era pop punk bands.

April 24, 2010 Dynamite boy and Manatee reunited to play the Cruiserweight Farewell show at Emo’s on the inside stage (while Bone Thugs N Harmony took people to the crossroads on the outside stage). The show was sold out weeks in advance and the place was packed. It was awesome. I saw so many old friends and past “show acquaintances” that I haven’t seen in six or seven years. It was great.

Manatee was so good, like they had never stopped playing! They looked exactly the same as they did five years ago and still all looked 14. Made me feel old.

Dynamite Boy was amazing as usual. They played so many great songs and the crown knew very word. I’m sad they didn’t play Knockout, but it’s cool. I still like them.

Cruiserweight was great. They played an awesome set and rocked some old songs they never play anymore like Trophy Girl and they were very humbled and graceful in their goodbye. Daniel played the first half of the set and Yogi got up and rocked the drums on the second half. They do a killer cover of Don’t Stop Believing by Journey and they rocked it. They are a class act. I love them as people and musicians. I will miss Cruiserweight.

It was great to see all the old faces, it was awesome to see these bands live again, it was cool to be able to take someone who had never heard of or seen any of the bands for the first time on such a great night. It was incredibly sad to see it end. Sure, there will be reunion shows, but it’s not the same. It’s also another sign of the fact that I am getting older and things are continuing to change and I am growing further from my adolescence.

Also, Reuneral is a word I just coined! A reunion and a funeral at the same time. It seems that all too often the only time old friends get together is to celebrate the end or Funeral of something we all shared, so it seemed fitting.

4/13/2010 Loafer’s Glory Apostolic Church, originally uploaded by imbinky.

On Tuesday, April 13, 2010 I decided to take another scooter excursion after work. This time I was going to take 183 North to 29 West and see what surprises await out that way. Once I hit 20 I decided to keep going North on 183 for some reason. It spoke to me. The four lane paved highway collapsed into a quaint two lane asphalt road surrounded by trees and old houses, it was nice. About 30 minutes into the trip I saw a sign for “Buck Cemetery” at the intersection with CR207 as I was zooming by, again, I was called to. So I turned the scooter around and headed down CR207 looking for Buck Cemetery.

CR207 was a nice quite country looking road with sprawling farms on either side and old dilapidated buildings out in the far edges of the manicured fields. Up in the distance on the left side of the road I was what I thought was a bird lying dead on the side of the road. As got closer I realized it was a deer carcass that had been there long enough for all the neat and wet stuff to be completely cone and the fur to be hardened to a thick armor-like state. The thing I found odd and fascinating about this deer was that it was almost a complete skeleton. The ribcage and spine were intact and the hind quarters were also whole. It looked as if someone, or something (bigfoot?), had peeled this poor deer like a banana.

As I snapped the first picture I was startled by a thunderous gunshot coming from the wood line across the field. It was a loud booming sound, like that of a shotgun or high powered rifle. The sounds of deliverance one again played in my head. I decided to ignore the shot and get a few more photos and as I took the fourth picture the gunshots returned in a steady, rapid fire succession of at least eight more shots. The sound echoed through the woods and birds flocked to the sky and deer from the field scattered so I decided to hop back on the scooter and…go deeper into the unknown.

I continued onwards and saw a sign for the Buck Cemetery pointing to the left down CR202 so I headed down that road until I came across the turnoff for the cemetery. The road was blocked off by a gate, it wasn’t locked or anything, and there was a sign that read something to the effect of “Please keep gate closed at all times. Private Property, use for legitimate cemetery and funeral use only”. So again I debated whether or not to go check out the cemetery and finally decided not to disturb the resting and turned around and continues heading west down CR202.

I approached the end of the road and the metal guardrails and as I was about to turn around I heard running water. I scooted a little further in to find a picturesque view of the San Gabriel river at an old washed out bridge. I parked and locked up the scooter and walked down the steep-ish old road to the water’s edge. It was beautiful in an “a river runs through it” kind of way. You could see how the old road was constructed rock by rock. It was really cool.

I hung out at the water’s edge for a bit and walked out to the deeper parts to see if I could see any fishes in the water or other unique treasures. Then I heard dripping water. So I walked a little further out (I need to get some waterproof hiking boots) and saw a glimps of a small mossy waterfall. So I headed over to the shore and climbed over some rocks (I need to lose weight) and found a beautiful waterfall (I guess that’s what you call it) that had these long strings of moss of different shades of green. It had a large tree that was growing out of the cliff side where the dirt had eroded away and you could also see the old rocks from the Cliffside that had been weakened and fallen off the cliff from the water runoff. The rock with a giant “keep out” message was a little unsettling, but other than that, it was a very peaceful place. I hung out here for about 15 minutes and then decided to head back before it got too dark.

In the way back I passed maybe a hundred deer, I was a little nervous about one jumping out of the bushes and attacking the scooter! As I was coming back onto CR207 I noticed a Historical Marker so I pulled over to read it (I often stop to read these signs and most of the time my passengers hate that I do). The marker was for the “Loafer’s Glory Apostolic Church”. I love reading these things and finding out about the past. I do notice that most of them are for cemeteries and churches, but every once in a while you’ll find one for a battle or something else pretty awesome.

From here I decided to head on home as it was totally dark now. The ride home was smooth and uneventful aside from the looming storm clouds covering the sky.

You can follow my adventures through Google Maps. I got this really great app or my droid called Google Tracks. It tracks your route and you can add tags and notes and completely track your trips. It is really cool!

Here is the link to this trips Track: 4/13/2010 – Loafer’s Glory Apostolic Church

P.s. – So I HATE doing stuff by myself. I always have and I probably always will. Also, I am a pretty big wuss. I get spooked easily and I always conjure up the worst case scenarios in my head which adds to the freak out. I think I’ve watched one too many horror movies. So, if anyone wants to go explore the Texas hill country with me, let me know!

4/7/2010 South Fork of the San Gabriel River, originally uploaded by imbinky.

South Fork of the San Gabriel River Photos

So there is this place that I went to in my car several times last year, the South Fork of the San Gabriel River. It was a cool place to chill out and walk along the rocky banks and is easily accessible to anyone who wants to check it out.

Then the drought hit and all the water went far far away so I stopped going. But a few weeks ago as I was scooting I noticed the water was flowing at a nice pace, so I decided to take the scoot and follow the river to see if I could find any treasure…or bigfoot.

Well, I took the road running alongside the south bank of river and there was no really good places to park and explore as there are houses all along the road, but I did spot a nice looking outcropping on the north bank side. So I backtracked and made some best guess twists and turns and after about an hour, I found it.

There was a nice place to park the scooter that was out of the way, not that there was a lot of traffic, but you never know. So I hopped a railing and walked along the rocky, Martian terrain tot get to the waters edge. There were some really cool rock formations and and pebbles and the current was nice and swift. I looked like a fun place to go swimming!

You could tell there had been a flood there recently as there was debris and logs and all kinds of stuff piled up on the standing trees up to 10 – 15 feet above the current water line. I bet that was a sight to see.

It was fun and I did end up taking the crazy rock with all the cavities in it (I debated with myself for 15 minutes if it was okay to take the stupid rock…and finally decided it was okay to do).

From there I continued on the road I came in on to find some dead animal parts (deer/raccoon?) and some other cool tributaries along the way.

The last stop on April, 7 2010 was at this awesome house with a cool iron fence and a huge yard full of Longhorn Cattle. They are majestic creatures for sure. I found out a few days later that that is the herd and ranch where they keep the BEVO lineage.

This was another successful ride and another beautiful day in Texas.