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Michael “Mike” Braga 86’d from 2017 Santa Clara Vanguard Alumni Corps ….

*Breaking* LATER ASSHOLE! Space Park Management to violent coward: Thanks but NO THANKS -or- Wife-Beater Takes Beat-Down
Part I.

Around about every five years; the most consistently prgressive, entertaining, competitive and downright bad-ass drum & bugle corps* in the kh2own universe puts together an Alumni Corps….for fun, for old times sake, cuz life starts to suck after age 21, cuz playingin a large group of talented men & women is better than (sex * drugs + rockNroll) ….. to get easily-explainable time off from work/family/friends/poker/kids/your dog/home [all the things that society INSISTS you take part in and enjoy……So we’re all cut out on what-the-world-expects-of-us and why not? If that’s all we did, [musicians especially] it would make for a rough world. (did you know Hitler was a band-geek? yeah-Basson —God I would knock him out just for THAT! AAAAANYHoooooo……)

WHO IS MIKE BRAGA?

I’ll tell the story as it unfolded for this writer in 2007. The timeline is quite jagged; so put on your “Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul/Star Wars/Pulp Fiction/Memento style plot hats cuz the timeline here zigs, zags and jumps…
That year I ran two assembly lines for Metagenics (fmr. makers of professional quality dietary supplements, protein powders & functional foods; my lines always packed that finished-goods, and pills from horse tablets to the barely visible. I digress. I’m running line 4– the phone rings. It’s Joe Rybus, a heavy in Kingsmen Organization and a head-hunter for the hornline. Someone fronted me off to the guy — he knew my name & cell….at least it was a welcome call.

“Am I interrupting” (he is; but…take a guess how many fucks I gave…)
“No….”
“This is Joe Rybus, did you know The Anaheim Kingmen are putting togther an Alumni Corps this year? This is the first time DCI will be held at the Rose Bowl to commerate our innaugural victory at Whitewater in 1971…anyway you wanna join?”
“I never marched Kingsmen”
“Yeah … well see we want to have as big a hornline as possible; so we waved that requirement; in fact; so far most of the members are alums from up north; like yourself!”
“Are you guys gonna play cool shit?”
“Yeah, Mambo, Folk Song Suite, So Very Hard To Go….Firebird...”
“That sounds cool…cant go wrong with Mambo, Williams, ToP or Stravinsky…. how many horns?”
“We have nearly 80; shooting for 120….” (now my crew knows im , not evem trying to work so they take over; a good crew…)
“So you wanna fill the rest with ringers right?”
“Yeah Chris; get it now?”
“….Practice? How do we not get the cops called?”
“One of the members is a principal at school in Anaslime [Joe didnt really say that, but u get the idea] He says we can use the band room and that no one will call for noise if we pack it in by sundown…and its just 30 miles north.”
“Joe I wanna do this, but $ is tight, I can’t tale time off work …..”
“We’re camping at Long Beach State for about 3 weeks before Semis [our last show] all you need is 1 weekend a month till summer, then every weekend, then get most of august.”
–NOTE: Joe’d made this call in 2006 so I had plenty of time to arrange this; plus my work OWED me a decent VAYCAY; I’d never taken even a sick day three years in ….
“$ is tight Joe….I can squeeze the time but I need rides, a uniform, theres no way I can pay fees. I want to help…really is th-
“[cutting me off] “look it’s free; if you need a ride ill get you one….”
“I can drive dude; just one more thing; now that im older? 2nd Barry? Lower Lead? ….my chops are in pro-condition so …”
“Got it; Upper Lead Baritione, comped…the next camp is at….”

The rest is history. Sops like legendary sops like Ralphie, Jim Sobacki, Phil Norris and a few other (not Ray!) along with many Big Bore idols, Carl Allison (Freelancers), Doug “Pooh Bear” Kenyon (BD, Colts), Tony Pon (SCV), Charlie Groh(1st Marines, 2nd Battalion, 5th Regiment, Item Company, WWI/WW2/Korea)…..they really made it all worth it. Ther all could mop the floor with me; talent-wisae especially. *Fun Fact* – It would be Pooh’s last DC performance – he joined to surpise his daughter at DCI who was in the Colts – a rookie CG (coolest dad ever – RIP ol’ buddy!)
There were about 200 people in the Kingsmen that year; we rocked an honor guard with a full Color Presentation so of those 200, lets say 140 were holding an instrument. Here is a rough estimate of how they broke down:

  • Kingsmen Alumni = 22 percent
  • Freelancers Alumni = eight percent
  • VK Alumni = 10 percent
  • Concord Alumni = 25 percent
  • Santa Clara Alumni = 25 percent
  • Other or band-geeks living out their childhood fantasies 10 percent

Note there would be LOTS of crossover here: SCV/BD, VK/BD, Freelancers/BD, Kmen/BD …etc. Only Marty Jo Basset, Bill Varju and Tim Meehan having marched “the cycle” (VK, Freelancers, SCV & BD; with ho iarble mention that Tim SOLOED in ALL FOUR, Marty “The One Man Party” played upper lead sop in all four; and Bill Marched Contra, Barry (@VK in 95), Mello (BD, yr unknown) and Soprano – A DOUBLE CYCLE!!!!! Credit to Scott Steward as well for marching, though in just two that I know of; check out his 1990 semis solo when he’s like….a fucking 13 year old. (will add YT link if it still exists) Credit also to Jack M. for TEACHING VK/SCV/BD/Troopers and possibly Sac.
*sigh* better get to the meat here …. so we’re camping at LBSU and it’s like a biunch of adults with families/jobs/responsibilities are kids again (we were; well we felt like it; my room Anthony; whom partied 1000th as muvh as I did at that time – we got along famously and are still friends; having marched Renegades & Kingsmen Alumni together (links to follow). Each day we hit a practice field about 500 yrds from the dorms. Stretch. chat, plan, apply sunblock and Gold Bond, sectionals, lunch, ensemble, dinner, then either a show or more ensemble….then party, pass out, rinse & repeat. For us age-outs WE ARE ON CLOUD NINE; praying September never comes.
One week before Our final show (sniff…) at DCI I hear a rumbling that the cymbal section wants to quit en masse. Why? Apparently [to paraphrase] – WE CANT TAKE ONE MORE SECOND OF [MIKE’S] ABUSIVE BULLSHIT. CHOOSE. HIM. OR US. Our Fearless leader and DM Gary Kean investoigated, to find that Braga was running the cymbal line as though this were 1987 and THIS was the 1987 SCV Cymbal line. Lets start with some definitions.
A drum corps cymbal line – an extremely physical job from high school level up to division one (World Class) the cymbal line marches, attempts crazy difficult drill, accentuates the visual feel of the program. Musically all sorts of sounds can be made via scrapes, crashes, “shings” and tastefully marching in front of the battery so they have a crash or ride or (???) cymbal to use on the fly. Cyms are part expert dancers, military-precesion-marchers, elegant musicians and marching masters.
The SCV Cymbal Line – These guys are famous for being “so far over the top as to be obscene. Every time I saw them; they did everything together: they sit together on the drum bus. When the direcgtor (or any staff address them) they stand in a perfect rank, side-toe-contact. They rarely if ever make mistakes. Holes in this line are filled by an audition of 1000 competing for one spot. They eat togther – yes, in a rank. At night, they stack their bunks adjacent, in a rank. Every SCV member busts their ass; but NO ONE works as hard as the cyms. Finally; no one in their right mind would mess with them while on tour; they are tougher than any d-line for any college football team and were they soldiers? They’d return from combat HEAVILY decorated …. pardon the expression but you ever met a group of guys so tight they’s “eat each others’ sh!%?” —ok that’s the SCV Cymbal line for the past 30 years at least.
So Braga, even though, this ostensibly laid-back “Senior Corps” that only rehearses weekends (9-5 in stead of 9-sunup the next day, ‘EIGHT days a week’) and will not receive a score (Sr. Corps are usually exhibition at DCI shows) …Braga is not only acting like he is back in an SCV-hardcore-as-fuck-hand-me-that-bowl-of-shit Cymbal line….he is making threats, making some of his fellow Cym CRY. Doing the opposite of why we took off work and pissed off our kids & significant others – to make visually pleasing, aethetically beutiful, sonically sonorous, loud music – for us, for the fans, for everyone. The sxn reported; AND BRAGA (on the field of honor**) says [PARAPHRASED]

NO, FUCK YOU GARY IM NOT GOING ANYWHERE

 

WIP 1/30

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…again WIP this mess is about a quarter done. Sorry to put you blast Mike….no I’m not sorry….You suck….I’m ashamed to call my self any sort of “alumni” list that beats both our names. You are a disgrace to the Silver Star, The Green Shield and the memory of Gail & Myron. Start my NEVER HITTING ANOTHER WOMAN EVER. If you eant to hit someone….the comment section is below. -c

Part II

Braga decided (at some point) that as de facto Cym section leader of Kingmen Alumni; the best way to run the line was to act like a fascist white-power-prison-gang “grand-intimidator – thinking that excellence could be achieved via anger, cursing, threats, yelling and general douchery. If you’ve been incarverated or not; pictire that Napoleonic psychopath you pray never crosses your path. “I just want to do my time & get out with most of my teeth. Then you meet Braga. He wants to know “who you are, where youre from, what your deal is….are you a narc? He makes comments about your manhood to compensate for his lack of. I mean, what kind of man has two violent strikes for beating his wife? Usually the kind to scared to hit a dude.
Braga created an atmosphere of misery for the other Cymbal players in 2007, thinking this was the right thing to do …. One afternoon at Long Beach State; the Cyms had a meeting w/o their fear[full] leader; they decided marching in the Kmen Alumni no longer fell into the “fun” category. It would be fun if not for Braga; so they took the issue to Kean and said “Him or us.”
Simple, lose the douche. That’s where the story should end. With lightning-strike exceptions; an SCV member or alum obeys on0field orders from staff, section leaders, the Horn Sgt., all techs, consultants, caption heads and the director without question, so with my 1991 Kanstul 3v G Baritone at a pistol; I was shocked to hear Braga ARGUING with the fucking Drum Major!!! He was refusing to leave, saying he did nothing wrong. Kean is a smart, shrewd and peaceful man. He was not about to risk a figth with this hulking ,ass clearly looking for a violent outlet for his maniacy. The KAC rented dorms, a parking structire and a practice field; making the field (thank God) corps property. Member or no; the director/DM asks you to leave its not up for discyssion. NEVER on the field of honor. Before Kean could finish rationalizing “leave no you sciopath. Please leave and dont ever come back.” —several members hit 911 on their cells. The LBSU PD and LBPD showed up quickly. Braga was dragged off the field by them snarling and shooting red daggers out of his eyes, blaming the staff, the corps, the Cyms, Kean, the members, using words I woulnt place in a artice ABOUT the field of honor.
Not Familiar? Any field is a sacred place. Treat it that way if you ever want to march on Game (Saturday) Night. Since the 70s (60s?) Guards say a prayer to field before entering it. Batteries & Hornlines dress as nice as weather allows on the Field of Honor, they don’t swear on it, the NEVER sit on it, They use G-rated language on the field, they act professional; because they ARE. Only the teachers, leaders and technicians talk betweenn takes. Rehearsals are done with a purpose, memberws run back to their sets. Breaks only exist to keep memebers hydrated. We keep out ears open and our eyes up. We treat a painted field better than a board room in our chosen professions. To disobey chain of command, to shout vilent threats, to force law enforcement to drag you pff the field and worst of all; to stalk the corps after like a NeckBeard whose My Little Pony collection came to life…is deplorable.
—–next—–part III. Deep Background & Diane Feinstein….

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In all fairness to the #OCSD …..

sandra and company, i added text parodying an ad for old fox cops tv show, saying you can watch them fuk up live every morning on fox..also "eat a dick"

Doung be not gone ….much to this ol’crime reporter’s surprise, he DID hole up in the Little Saigon portion of OC. Due to the heavy coverage (this story has everything that makes an editors mouth water; max-security prison-break, foreign-nationals, forieNERS, illegal aliens, drugs (even though only weed), Kubrick-caliber violence (& sex if you believe the ESL teacher who is a solid 7….was f-ing “the hot one” as Shannon (Gary Hoffman’s hole on KFI) calls him…shining a light on a bureaucracy, society, culture and jail would just assume you fk off. The Orange Curtain is a real thing* anyway due to heavy media coverage, a white van was spotted near the Bay Area….and the concerneed citizen called the po-po. Two of the three were living out of it, were arrested w/o notable incident and since returned to the dungeon we lovingly call CJX.
as for Duong, he smelled the pinch and gave himself up (got more plans up his sleeve? maybe he had time to get blueprint tatted on…like in that show you all watched…) Lit a ciggy, waited for the Cavalry and lie prone; face down as nervous-nelly sheriff’s deputies prayed it wasnt a trap.
This reporter made predictions and was wrong; so let me clear up the scenario I gamed out and what was incorrect.

correction

  1. Doung never left the county, state or country (or continent)
  2. his buddies went NORTH; this writer predicted SOUTH
  3. all three men are in custody                                                                                                                                                                                what did I get right?
  1. distance – I predicted a 1000 mile radius from 500 n. flower. downtown SF is a solid six-hundo from the OC MAIN proper, so I call “closies enoughsies”
  2. NO ONE in OC talked to law enforcement (of their own volition; that i know of)
  3. OCSD reacted in the only way they know how following a hail Mary – arrest Vietnamese unscrupulously
  4. it is alreday unclear if/how/how much the reward $ will be dispersed
  5. coverage was big, but waning and sparse; ocsd lucked out big
  6. *unwanted attn. was drawn to CJX, OCSD, OCDA, OC Media
  7. *the story highlighted all that is wrong where local time = 2/7/1956

I’m way overdue to hash out the social, racial, cultural, financial fucked-up-ed-ness in the place I grew up in and live now….the stuff listed in the OP ..I will get to all that (Vietnam, Vietnamese Refugees, the Vietnamese People [they are commendable in every category]…WHY orange county is polarized from progressive neighbors Los Angeles and San Diego…and other learn-something-new-everyday tidbits I have for you about my sometimes home!
This may be the most poorly researched new/op-ed ever, but piling on this story is overdue…so consider that this post is a WIP and that more posts on-topic are coming down the pike …albeit at a modest speed.
From listening to KFI while awake enough to drive [for all intents & purposes] I gathered that something went wrong somewhere along the way for Duong, the towel-wrapper and “the hot one”….

somewhere along the way they jacked a cab…and the cabbie

problems arose when one of the alleged escapees took issue with “what to do about the cabbie.” -now- dear reader, I’m not a violent guy, you [hopefully] aren’t either, but let’s game out this speedbump, with the goal = “get away clean and don’t get caught”
First, carjacking is a bad idea unless it was hard-wired into the initial escape design.
ASSUME it was. –> that means IF (Cabbie sees any of their faces) THEN (Probability of escape drops to nil)
WHY NIL? THEY were on every channel, news website and paper for a week. It’s reasonable to assume that the cabbie will not only dial 911, he will say “it’s them, the three guys from the jail-break.” that’s game over. not an option…..considering.
THEREFORE we must backup and play this as we would our next chess move….or in comparative probabilistic gaming, whether or not to hit an 11 in blackjack. SAD, cold-hearted, but choice = obvious. as they say in St LOUIS; the only thing left to do with the Cabbie is “La-la” [that’s ebonics for what they call a “double-tap”] “La” kills about 90 percent of it’s victims at close-range… “-la” takes care of the outliers. SO – w/ the above assumptions, the decison to whack the cabbie isn’t really a decision – no more going all-in w/ a flush is a “decision” ..it bums me out and I’d be agreeing w/ the alleged others w/ heavy heart, but this was a no-brainer.
There are worse things than “la-la” – nutsack in mouth + blowtorch x left to die in the 909, for one.
Apparently, the escape fell apart when one of the alleged decided he didn’t want to “La-la” the cabbie. Events subsequent to this disagreement seem to be why the trio became a solo act w/ a duo headlining in The Castro…why Doung eventually turned in his dong peacefully and why the Iranian/Vietnamese duo act wasn’t a hit in SanFran…where the Denver Broncos & The Carolina Panthers are battling it out as I write. (mille pardons, I bet $4 on two punnit squares) other than that idc who wins…Peyton Manning is amazing, but still he will always sound like a cornfed retard to me.

I intend to record a new tapcast soon. We updated to WP 4.???? so ive already torn up and rewrote a great deal of php….once again…design is a wip. the main page’s header and footer(dot-php) are essentuially donesky. -tap

PS – new friend site – The Corpsman Geek, from friend/associate Kevin Gamin. Scope it out. K’ has/had a big hand in DCP, so if you enjoy or enjoyed that site; obviously his new sites subject matter is right up your … uh … alley!

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Vietnam wins again, CJX Jailbreak #ocjailbreak …. some notes ….

sandra and company, i added text parodying an ad for old fox cops tv show, saying you can watch them fuk up live every morning on fox..also "eat a dick"

As of this moment, 100s of dipshit COs, deputies, cops, feds, CHP and misc. law enforcement investigators are still looking for the three men found missing from the Orange County Jail, called “CJX” by locals – One of the escapees is alleged to’ve attacked a Weed dispensary, one victims body was found almost charbroiled, with his junk stuffed in his mouth and his body dumped carelessly slack in the IE, the younger, middle-aged and older men are facing federal charges from kidnapping to Murder 1 to “torture.” (I dont know how to define torture…do you?- hence quotations marks…..by all accounts, each man is looking at life, probably the chair …so… they busted the fuck outta the hoose-cow and are likely off-continent. I gotta confess, this site and writer has longtime held that the OCSD is incompetent, CJX is “cruel & unusual” & never do the accused get a fair trial from OCDA…....so, we are rooting for these men to make a full escape. (with the possible exception of the towel-wrapper) Best would be to a country that doesn’t have extradition with the US. WHY ON EARTH are we rooting for these guys? ok ….a little background. This news item brings up a few major topics:
1. Vietnamese People in Orange County
2. Vietnam
3. The dynamic nature of weed & “the law”
4. The 50s, 60s, 70s …and TODAY! (just like now-defunct FM radio!!)
5. The Vietnam War
6. People from Orange County
7. Strange-overly-conservative-time-machine political views and racial divides.
8. CJX
9. Lighting people on fire
10. A Vietnamese Necktie (I’m coining that one, you get your wang and nuts chopped, shoved in mouth, set on fire and buried then buried off the 91 fwy)
11. Racism in Orange County
12. How Orange County is fundamentally polarized from Los Angeles, though they border each other
13. Gaming it out...Escape from CJX, Revenge of The Men in The Yellow Pajamas.
We’ll address all this crazy shit as it unfolds and as I get this absurd editorial organized, it’s gonna be a long one…..tbc afternoon, Tuesday…
Here at HQ we are not as concerned as all other media and law enforcement outlets, looking into the alleged crime, we’re talking EXTREMELY PERSONAL AND PRE-MEDITATED, NOT random violence. Extremely doubt any SoCal residents are in danger and I DOUBT the three are still Stateside, closest they are to here is Mexico, and the Sheriff is caught with her pants down for running a shitty facility EVERYONE HATES CUZ IT VIOLATES BASIC HUMAMN RIGHTS! Reap what you sow …retards at OCSD and 98 percent of the COs at CJX, you suck, you bring nothing to the table and everyone knows it. Sandra, you can be like Mike Carona and resign in disgrace hehehehehehhehlolzorz. -ed
Come back for more soon! – tap
****Most recent AP dispatch courtesy, LA Times, OC Register not even following major story haha they suck too! gotta love it when it’s OC epic fail everywhere but here and in the minds of three other former residents of North America’s ONLY Medieval Dungeon!…the latest.

****evening****I left some hard truths as comments (questionable whether that level/qty of truth violates their “comment policy”) on the Mother Jones site which I understand to be a legit journalism publication, the writer is from OC and mentions the story as an after -thought…but the comments show this is no puff-piece. This was planned, organized, daring, cunning, timed perfectly, executed with serious cojones…the local media and authorities are already shying away from the story.
They’ve lost & they know it. I saw a lieutenant, he drifts off into “staff-meeting-double-speech” — he’s all flustered, talking in circles, he knows the Vietnamese community ain’t gonna talk – he’s an officer – as bad as OCSD is…the officers aren’t stupid, categorically, they know what’s up….

….The main alleged escapee? The noose-tyer? He’s juiced-in! He’s high power…connected! you guys groovin’ on what im jivin’ here? Go watch a Scorcese movie and get back to me…Jesus!“allright, I’m gonna go have a smoke, what, you don’t smoke?? what are you…one of those fitness freaks? ..just kidding go fuck yourself.” Alec Baldwin, from “The Departed” – tap

***1800 hours, Monday*** the only other media site besides…yes this one…to touch the story was CNN, three hours ago… headline “SoCal Residents on edge” …ok … journalistic-ally we can go hunt for one dummy to say that on record, but it isn’t true. No one who lives here with an IQ above 60 or an education above 3rd grade is “scared.” Let’s give CNN the benefit of the doubt…”Doung” jumps in my window right now, armed. I’d give him a meal and a beer and fucking congratulate him….but…let’s face it…I’m glad I at least jumped on this story while it was lukewarm…cuz im gettin the feelin, this is over. All three men got away clean. Unless the towel-wrapper joins that weired “Arab State”-thing, whatver the fuck that is …. the two slants? They’re looooooooooong gone…even if they went south they are 1000 miles south of me….and I’m nearly 50 miles from 550 North Flower aka County Jail – Mens Central aka CJX – where I can tell you this, the entire facility will remain on 24-hour lockdown indefinately, for those of you who’ve never jaywalked, that means NO SHOWERS, NO HOT FOOD, NO LEAVING ANY CELL FOR ANY REASON…AND THE INSIDE-LIGHTS ARE LIKELY ON AS BRIGHT AS POSSIBLE (you try to sleep w/o darkness for weeks, months…years…at a time (???) good Lord can we start treating those men with some humanity? Many at CJX have not been convicted…of even a single crime…even jaywalking. Major Case trials drag thru the 1st ROUND of trial for years…and the convicted don’t “get” (trust me) to go to prison until they are convicted of a felony by a jury or adjudicator. ok … be back soon dear reader -ed.

****early am 1/27**** – Doung still long gone…no more Duong guys…. The bold list of topics listed at top of this piece are a WIP – I’d like to address some important historical facts about life behind the Orange Curtain you may not be aware of, even if you live here…as always, information, bad jokes and putting the COPS on BLAST (which is the sworn duty of any journalist worth his or her salt) …. we are having fun sticking the truth right up in their dumb faces, that is for sure. I made the absurd graphic semi-meme to replace the other featured image, which I technically stole from The Times, so I wanted to admit that I did that – used it as a place-holder and made something original myself as priority. You can also visit the Los Angeles Times for more on this story – objective and cutting editorial. The Times always has and always will be a pillar of altruistic, ethical journalism and I salute all reporters, editors, photogs, techs and publishers. Your plug is gratis, below is a sponsored link; if you enjoy my brand of crazy, I encourage you to support our little site by visiting their site; I will never ask you buy anything from me, ever. We advertise; that’s how it works. You don’t pay, they do. Plz support them & in so doing …support News, comment, OCD and the Jewish-controlled media, we would like more $ from Google so…ok end of rant – from the Publisher’s desk.


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News in Blue; BB King’s journey ends, Bill is sent on a new one ….

BB King to play The Great Stage in the Sky from here on out

In a coincidental twist of fate in the life of myself and that of the best guitar player I’ve ever heard play live…the same weekend I’m dreadfully disappointed by The Doheny Blues Festival follows just a day after God upgrade ol BB from a Las Vegas Casino Stage to one in heaven.

Knowing BB, AND God – I’d have to say God wanted a better seat. Lucille – his axe, unfortunately, can’t make the trip, but I like to think a soulful, soaring, lamenting, glorious, velvety voice such as his is something you Can take with you.

If there is no music in heaven; then I don’t want to go there. This begs the iconic Metaphor of “The Crossroads,” … to keep from getting OT I’ll discuss this unique in an upcoming post.

So upsetting to me…not his death…King lived a long life, loved his music, his guitar and most of all – performing live. I’d heard him play The Doheny Blues Festival three times over the course of my life and the festival’s tenure.

As good as Los Lobos was (I nearly missed them, three no-name bands followed)…and instead of paying tribute or even mentioning that the most influential blues singer/songwriter, guitarist of all time had recently passed away, they proceeded to play butchered hacky “blues” like “All Right Now,” literally, pop music 101 – a 12 bar blues in Bb. It was amateur night- all night. “You could Tell,” as Ace Rothstein would say. I heard pitch and ensemble problems to go with what amounted to cheesy cover bands that are technically NOT BLUES ENSEMBLES – weak rock/pop cover bands is what they were.

It busted my spirit for the whole affair. I did not return Sunday for Boz Scaggs. who’d been rescheduled due to weather (I think; that statement is not verified; they WERE INITIALLY SCHEDULED TO PERFORM SATURDAY NIGHT – THAT IS A FACT) I wanted to see them but could not drag myself back to the fest.

My bad. Sorry ’bout that.

Poor King’s body is still warm, and the bands standing in for him ON HIS OWN TURF – proceed to “phone in” weaksauce versions of music that was bad the FIRST TIME it was written.

An insult to his memory – I just couldn’t bring myself to come back – even for Boz Scaggs, whom now I’ve STILL never seen live.

Again…mea culpa.

To write an accurate obit for King is difficult; he led a generally private life, secluded from fame ROUGHLY more than half his life.

Steering clear of racist implications, according to his lawyer, King literally began his life a cotton-pickin ….errr…cotton picker! seriously. Though said to be 89 years old, I don’t think King was ever issued a birth-certificate. I could not verify when he was born OR his real name…leading me to believe he was born into indentured servitude on the Mississippi River Delta in the mid to late 20s.

His parents were most likely slaves in all but name.

“BB King” does not appear to be a stage name, but… born a “cotton-picker” in the Antebellum South; he may have chose his own name, or it was perhaps conferred by friends, family or fellow musicians in his youth.

BB King, according to medical sources, said he’d been in and out of a Vegas hospital for “mini-strokes.”

Thus the circumstances of his birth and death are foggy at best…but for a life well-lived and a towering musical legacy rivaling Louis Armstrong or John Lennon, with longevity and performance talent to rival “Mick n Keef” COMBINED…who cares how King was born? Who cares how he died?

In that vein, does it matter at all? To any of us? How we enter and exit these little lives of ours. Methinks it May NOT SO dear reader.

You never saw me come in, you won’t see me leave—-it is what I do at The Party that counts, #amirite?

For all the gloomy laments in the lyrical aspects of the Blues…there is no sadness to report in this here Obit. Just the love of his music:

Here’s to you, BB ….thanks for all the tunes, for going out to the Crossroads 50 years before me…for never “phoning in” a performance. I saw you enough times to know you were legit. Straight up. Legit. I’ll miss you. So will millions of other musicians and fans you entertained and inspired.

John Q. Public, I implore you see that Lucille makes her way either to The Smithsonian or at WORST, The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Somewhere where she will be safe and publicly viewable, though she should never be played again; in THIS writer’s humble opinion….unless he bequeathed his axe to another player. What musicians want to do with their weapons after they can’t swing ’em any longer is for them and them alone to decide.

No one will miss you more than her, old friend.

According to whomever posted the above vid to YouTube, “It was one of his all-time favorite performances.” That’s as hard verify as his DOB, but it fits the narrative. Another poster, uploaded the same video saying “he performed in New York City – at a jail” THIS DOES NOT QUITE FIT THE NARRATIVE.

a) The background, foreground, set & setting look nothing like a city jail or state prison…it looks like a regular ol’ stage
b) There are lots of women in the audience
c) Very few Law Enforcement visible, no one appears to be armed
d) Had King ever been allowed to donate his time and perform at a New York State Penitentiary …. it would not be in The City Proper, but Upstate. Again, one look at the audience tells you this was filmed in New York City; far from The hills and forests of Syracuse, Albany and Buffalo.
e) It is likely a copycat urban legend. Live music performances are OUTRAGEOUSLY rare for all state correctional facilities. The Man in Black was allowed to perform at Fulsom State Prison one of the oldest prisons in the nation – a crown jewel of The California Department of Corrections (an historic site-legendary and infamous), Cash did a bit there himself before making his come up. The show had to’ve been one for the ages. There are a million stories about Fulsom for every prisoner and CO who ever did time there. Cash’s live performance was part marketing stunt and part reward for long-term good behavior on behalf of the employees and inmates of Fulsom. Riots broke out immediately following the show, Fulsom went back on lockdown.

Bust.

Today, music is a strikingly precious thing inside the CDC. Some institutions do not allow inmates to buy or listen to radios. There are no musical instruments because they can be used as weapons. Visit a prison cell-block on any Friday Night where music is banned; and you will here them take-turns singing to their block, in groups or solo. It is lovingly called “American Idol Night” at CJX in Orange County and is the highlight of the week for many of the inmates.
f) the vid is a re-upload of a re-upload…reducing the credibility of the “creator” geometrically. (The oldest upload is embedded above for your listening pleasure – Pure, elegant, sonorous tones from King’s pipes and Lucy’s strings. Transcendent talent)

To the CDC – to all institutions – Take my money, my freedom, starve me, freeze me out, deprive me of sleep, force me to drink awful tap water. Violate my rights, railroad me in court, hit me with antisemitic, homophobic, racist and sexist comments on my way to the Chapel, Put me in constant danger….but please, please please oh please…don’t ever take away my music again. Air, water, food + music and I’m all good. You can keep your bogus “rights” if I can tap a drum pad in my cell and listen to awful top 40 radio…it beats NOTHING. Anything trumps nothing. QED.

Getting “The Blues” is usually misinterpreted as “being sad” or “depressed” or “whining about being underpriviledged or lonely” – through song. INCORRECT. That’s called “Mainstream Country Music.” Blues can express a wide range of emotion; particularly love.

As Rancid reminds us “When I got The Music, I got a place to go.” Nothing sad about that.

RIP B.B. King 1925 (est.) – 2015.

Side note: a work of historical fiction that takes place in the US during WWII starring Bill Feynman will publish soon. I’ve completed the first six chapters. It is my first attempt at such a form of writing; I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I’m enjoying writing it.

Much Love – Tapper

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Yarrr….Impossible it be….

oo draw design by tapperNotes: The prisoner was arrested for serving stale shellfish, upon executing a search warrant, LAPD officers found him in his “office” (a broom closet) attempting to convert a MIDI file he found online into an arrangement for something he called a “Drum and bugle corps” (????) the prisoner’s identitiy is unknown but he bears a striking resemblance to actor Rip Torn, who passed away a few yrs ago. His voice also seemed to resemble that of Harry Shearer. The prisoner kept shouting that he “hated” the “Pirates of the Carribean” but the “the music was really cool” (???????). Submitted to LACDA pending positive ID. Booked into LAC Twin Towers facility – 1/27/15.

Here is a PDF of the an arrangement draft: He-s-a-Pirate
Check out the psycho who inspired a worse psycho to create this post.
The California Health & Safety Code.

damn…I totally realized how much I miss Rip Torn while writing this…. “Yar……I’m ….unattractive.” lulz.

Now get back to work ….Tap.

 

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“They’re payin’ for it… YOU EAT IT!!!” Another war story from the front lines @DCI

a gif showing a famous scene from "Full Metal Jacket" Leonard eats his doughnut while the MC recruits shup.

Subtitle: The guy from 89 BD who f—— up the solo on Finals Night. An update.
“When are you gonna post the link about the 89-guy?” OK OK OK … on behalf of the publisher, the editor would like to apologize for the writer who keeps giving the readers what they want…Drum Corps News, Reviews and “Tales of Yore!”
Let the West Coast Legacy live for all time…even it’s …….regretable moments. All I’m sayin’ is…I’M NOT THE ONE WHO INSISTS THAT WE WATCH the chum-fest during “If We Were In Love” which is my favorite ballad of all time, at EVERY FUCKING GET-TOGETHER, #amirite? heheh…  the fuckup is NOT posted on this site and you maniacs that don’t have the 1,000 DVD set or a mountain of old VHS tapes and/or bootlegs…use your noodle and search Youtube….the search terms should be obvious…find it there.
(Confession: the troll who tacked “keyboard-cat” on as a stinger – you are unoriginal and an asshole, but you made me laugh so +1 …dick).
Let me also credit the rest of the corps, Including John and Tim Meehan, Rich Skare and scores of others who were SPOT ON Saturday Night…just like every other night.
Click on the truncated pages to read them as PDFs, you may need to use the lil magnifying glass to make it readable.
My apologies, but Office 365 and WP don’t talk to each other all that well. I blame Microsoft.

"I chum them" Nerrr....
chummin it live in 89.pg2
What happens now that’s he’s prob. out? Well Halpern is on PAROLE – jail w/o the bars…one tiny f—up and it’s automatic 90 days in County Jail (SC County? hopefully he moved away…) It’s 45 days, Felons call it a “Flash.” It is compared to “Three-to-Five”
In short – as if he hadn’t fucked over the people and music that made up one of my all-time fav. shows and my all-time fav. ballad…he clipped $800 LARGE that a couple about to divorce entrusted him to keep safe while they hammered out the details of who got what.
Did Halpern keep that $800G’s safe? Nope…he spent it.
The Merc was kind enough to say he put $ “into his failing practice…” ask me and what I know? Most of that mtn. of cash went to a casino. And that’s that.

Fuck you Dan Halpern.
Fuck you for getting high b4 Finals.
Fuck you for chumming your big solo that Wayne, Jack and others trusted you to nail.
Fuck you for jamming their wisdom and guidance in their faces with weak-sauce and irresponsibility.
Fuck you for being the reason BDs “Through the yrs” recordings use 89 as the ONE YEAR they play Semis instead of Game Night cuz you are such an embarrassment.
And now…fuck you for jacking 800 boxes of ziti from a couple w/ a divorce in-process.
JUST….FUCK YOU DUDE.

Mr Halpern, you’ve qualified for the official Tapper7.com shit-list and it’s accompanied to-do list: ($1 to Greg Hughes and Jim Norton)
-STEP ONE: Get AIDs
-STEP TWO: Die.
-STEP THREE: There is no step 3, rpt 1 until you get it then move on to step 2.

In fairness to BD; let us not act like the Red Team is w/o it’s regrettable alumni-list.
Semi’s night-ballad is posted below in all fairness to the staff and members who are NOT Daniel Halpern, Attorney-at-Law (ret.) Don’t count his bs alongside the eloquent beauty of arrangements by Wayne Downey and Tom Float, nor against striking performances by the Meehan Bros., and the Left-Coast Drum Corps Family as a whole…we have bad eggs, but our good eggs BURY the four I KNOW turned rotten. So Halpern is on blast….(Tapper muses to himself) Do I out the SCV alum who almost beat his wife to death or the kid-toucher? OR the alleged (*sigh*…also SCV alum) rapist? maybe after the holidays.
“IF WE WERE IN LOVE” FRIDAY, August…1989: enjoy and forget the bs… just crank it.