DES ROAR: Last night of the West Coast tour

The first thing I'd like to say here is THANK YOU to the band for putting on a bunch of great shows while they were out here on the west coast. The second thing I'd like to say will be directed toward the Roxy up on the Sunset Strip...

Sleazy like Sunday morning #4 - More paperback smut.

It was a long hard year for the two. With their careers taking up most of their time, they'd both been in need of some sort of stimulus. Although they hadn't spoken in a while, their lives were running parallel to each others and on the night their paths crossed, it was obvious that they had found their stimuli in one another.

Beth, the younger of the pair, was burning the candle at both ends it seemed. She'd been putting in a minimum of twelve hour days at the theatre, six days a week in a blurred mixture of rehearsals and evening performances. She was a dancer mainly, but in this production she was to play a sizable part that demanded she learn enough lines to fill half a bible. Since her childhood she'd dreamt of running her own company and she was now closer than ever to achieving her dream, but the constant grind was starting to take its toll. Earlier in the day she had jokingly confessed to another member of the company that she'd only slept a total of six hours in the last forty eight. Her body, sore and throbbing. Her mind, scattered and foggy. With her relentless approach to achieving her dreams she knew she'd burn out, but fought it every night as she faced the crowded theatre. As she'd say her lines she'd peer into the faces of them all. The critics sat there with their note pads while the theatre buffs stared toward the stage. Some were smiling, but others warmed their seats wearing such serious expressions that one could confuse them with high court judges. Come to think of it... judges they were. All of them and every night was a trial that she'd have to fight her way through. Even with all the pressure that came along with it, she wouldn't have it any other way. She was following her heart.

Rick on the other hand didn't have half the trappings. His life, although seriously structured, afforded him far more time to dream and lay about than most of his peers. As the branch manager of an airport area car rental business, his level of activity depended on the number of people that needed a vehicle. Some days it was through the roof, but there were others where he didn't see another living, breathing being at all. Of course, this did little to change the fact that he was there everyday. Ten years ago he told himself that he'd only work there for a year or two,  just to raise enough money to start his own business. A diner. He wasn't necessarily into cooking at all, but the idea of having something that would be open twenty four hours where folks could come in and take a load off was the most appealing thing he could think of to do with his future. There was something appetizing about the cranky, senior citizen waitress and the just making it to decent coffee that grabbed him. It was an idea that he had gotten when he was in his twenties and spent his time reading books in the rearmost booth of a Waffle House at 3:00 AM. He liked the vibe. Naturally, like most achievable dreams, things tend to get in the way and money ends up needing to be shifted from one credit card to another. Then, before you know it... you're still the branch manager of the Rocket Rent a Car Agency which sits exactly one half mile from the airport and you realize that you'll never compete with the Denny's down the lane.

Drunk guys

Here is a photo taken a few weeks ago. I believe we're all trashed. I also believe that there are far too many button down shirts pictured here. Either way, these guys rock.

* If you had to assign a particular band to each person pictured above, could you?

Here are your choices:

R.E.M.

Slayer

Mastodon

Thee Headcoates

The breakdancer is too obvious for this game.

Listed from l to r: A cartoonist, A drunk fuck, The Lord of turtle sex, Archie Bunker Jr, A breakdancing cook.

And now... here are The Strange Boys performing "Be brave."