Thursday, October 11, 2007

dear diary: what a difference a few years makes

click to enlarge

Top photo: Me, Golden Gate Park

Second photo: nephews, Shanebo, Troybo
and my son Ian & I quite a few years
later, near a coffee shop on Irving St.,
in San Francisco, Ca. sometime in the '80s.

This is a random post and will lay low
once again. After hearing about yet another
kid in school with an arsenal of guns etc,
it made me realize the damage done, by the acceptance
and spreading of violence these past 5 yrs. Of course, it's
no excuse, but then again, if it's accepted, it's no wonder kids
on the fringe decide to act it out! ; (

What follows is a song from a group of guys who
played in our coffeehouse 5 times. At first, I
wasn't too keen on the idea as they labeled themselves
a Christian group. But, after meeting them and getting to
know them, and liking all types of music, they were
always fun to have around, and they really enjoyed the
acoustics of the coffeehouse, not to mention our
coffee, which helped more than anything.

A little background: Greg Hough (guitar) and
Bill Glover (drums) were original members
of the Christian group Petra. According to Greg,
after the accumulation of pressure and drugs
he left the group. Can't remember Bills story.
The lead singer,Jeff Andrews sang with
Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard
and a few others. Together and live they had
lots of energy and truly love their music and people.
Since we've closed, we haven't kept in contact and
last I heard, they were not together,
except
for Greg & Bill.

12 comments:

Spadoman said...

Too sad. It is true that violence is so acceptable to everyone. Many don't realize that name calling is an attack. Last years commercials for the hit TV show "24" showed noless than 16 gun poses in a 30 second spot.

My favorite coffee shop in San Francisco, (so far), is the Chestny Street Coffee Roastery, on Chestnut, of course, one block North of lombard and about 8 blocks West of Van Ness. Been going there for years now.

You going to Chicago on the 27th? Let me know. Maybe we can hook up.

Peace to All

Anonymous said...

The violence in schools now is very sad. I am very happy I only have two years left of highschool to worry about all of it. Last year for a "gag" some kids vandalized Troybo's school with racial slurs in the Gym and left what looked like a bomb. Troybo's school was closed all day.
Was too close to home for comfort for me.

Pics, Bro..Those were some fun times. All those kids are taller than you now well and me too : )
Love You lots!

LET'S TALK said...

I just don't know what is going on with our kids today. They are lost and there seems to be no help for them.

We can't continue to fill them with the drugs of their parents and exspect that to be the answer. No kid left behind seems so crazy now.

Great song by the way!

Daniel said...

Blame Hollywood, Coffee. It's been churning out violence for decades, turning it into entertainment.

Blame the gun culture as well. America has never got out of the Wild West it seems.

Blame religion because it divides people, sets them against each other.

Blame.....

Anonymous said...

It's dog eat dog Coffee.

Survival of the most Ignorant.

"Welcome to 1984. Are you ready for the third world war. You too will meet the secret police. They'll draft you and they'll jail your niece.

You'll go quietly to bootcamp. They'll shoot you dead make you a man. Don't you worry it's for a cause. Feeding global corporation's claws.

Die on our brand new poison gas in the deserts of Afghanistan.

Making money for President Reagan
Making money for President Reagan, and all the friends of President Reagan." (Jello Biafra)

Cheers

Anne said...

nice jello quote!
he called it.

raffi said...

petra's singer sounds sorta like elvis with a bit of johnny cash. these school shootings make me nervous about our country. this kinda stuff doesn't really happen anywhere else in the world. i've heard theories on why they do it... but the need to figure out what can be done to stop it. here in nyc, i've been at high schools where there was a metal detector as you entered the grounds and police on staff all day (and night) long. crazy!!!!

raffi said...

nice jello, fairlane

Anonymous said...

America has the market cornered on school shootings, serial killers, and other types of mass murder.

It's something to do with the way we live. Our society is cold.

Hell, I've lived in the same apartment for almost three years, and I still don't know two of the three people who live in my building.

They never fucking come outside.

My neighbor beneath me has lived here longer than me, and only one time, in almost 3 years, have I ever seen him with another human being.

That can't be good for the old melon.

Anon-Paranoid said...

Yes schools have certainly changed since I went. Back than you only had to worry about fights with books and chairs as weapons.

Of course the park fights had tire irons, chains and even knives and sometimes someone would bring a gun.

However, guns were usually never used. Now guns are the first thing that is used. What a difference a generation makes huh?

By the way I liked the song. Sounded sort of bluesy to me.

God Bless.

enigma4ever said...

all of it is too sad and it makes my heart hurt and ache...and that it should not have happened..and I wish that this was not happening..sigh...so sad..

coffee houses are where souls heal and connect..

I blame alot of things...for the violence..from gun laws to every child left behind to teh media...on and on....

thank you for caring CM..

Coffee Messiah said...

spado: Yep, and so it goes. I'm hoping to make it to Chicago, unless snow or something else stops me!

sis: Yep, I miss our getting together and seeing the boyz!

lets talk:Somethings amiss and it ain't good! ; (

daniel: Blame is easy, but personal responsibility has a little something to do with it!

fairlane: Nice quote and along the same lines Trudell uses to express his concern also!

annie: )

raffi:The school cops have been out here since we moved here from the west coast. Strange to see isn't it, and very sad! BTW, the singer was the one who sang with Conway Twitty etc, the Petra guys was the guitarist and drummer.

anon: Thanks for stopping by and wow, I totally forgot about chains etc, that's how long it's been for sure! ; (

enigma: The media, acceptance of violence by our fearless leader and personal responsibility has a whole lot to do with it also!