> Me and Jim Collins man. Those were some good times too.

I always liked Jim! A couple of years ago I was at the Norwood 4th of July parade (with Mary Shillue) and on one of the army trucks there was black and white picture of him in a military uniform. So I take that to mean that either he was serving in Iraq or had been killed there! Oh no! I put a pretty big effort into finding out but couldn’t find anything either way. Or maybe it wasn’t a picture of Jim :/

> I didn’t follow up on any of those guys,
> but yeah, there’s some percentage of drug users that
> just go down the tubes.

Well those guys were all kids – we were kids – so hopefully things worked out for them eventually In retrospect it was kind of short-sighted to be calling people burn-outs at age 15!

> I’m still going to vote “Yes” on Question 7th in Nevada this November…
> legalize and regulate marijuana similar to alcohol. To my mind, folks seem
> to be able to get the drugs illegally anyways, and getting arrested and
> thrown in prison just makes things worse for them.

I’d never heard of Question 7… cool. Yeah, arresting people for possession for personal use is ridiculous (I actually think they don’t do that in NYC for under a certain amount).

I’ve always been curious about how to enforce legalization though. I mean, with alcohol you can easily do a blood alcohol test. Is there something equivalent to check marijuana consumption? If you get pulled over for driving too slow will they have to take a blood test or give a urine sample? I’m just curious about the technial implementation, and there is a civil liberties too about being compelled to give up blood (which will have a LOT more info in it than just THC levels).

Apart from legalizing pot, there’s a much bigger issue which is that america desperately needs prison sentencing reform. California’s “3 strikes” law is inhuman. I’m glad they modified it somewhat for drugs, but its still a disgrace.

And you know… i’ve also wondered why they don’t do more to try to stop anal rape in prison. Just wondering.

I think I was sort of naive and oblivious to that at the Hospital, it wasn’t until just before I left that I started realizing some of what was going on. Loads of drug taking and dealing, and I think there was a lot of random hooking up too. What would one expect in a place with tons of private rooms and beds and teenagers? But that was when we were worked in the kitchen, then I went back a couple years later and worked for your Dad in housekeeping. Me and Jim Collins man. Those were some good times too.

I didn’t follow up on any of those guys, but yeah, there’s some percentage of drug users that just go down the tubes. I’m still going to vote “Yes” on Question 7th in Nevada this November… legalize and regulate marijuana similar to alcohol. To my mind, folks seem to be able to get the drugs illegally anyways, and getting arrested and thrown in prison just makes things worse for them.

The friggin’ SCORPIONS!

I distinctly remember the guys from Scorpions looking nervous as the lightning rolled in. But they’re still manly. they’re SCORPIONS!

There was so much marijuana every single thing reeked of it. I remember the t-shirt I bought smelled like pot. The water smelled like pot. It’s a smell I will forever link with concerts. I wouldn’t be surprised if we were all high from just sitting in the smoke for so long. Every single guy holding in all of New England must have depleted their stash for that concert.

Remember how Mr. Carter fell asleep driving us home and got pulled over by the cops? We all could have died a fiery death that night. That’s so metal.

Speaking of drugs… now that I think about it… we both worked in the kitchen at Norwood Hospital (now THAT’S brutal) is your recollection that most of the adults there were stoned 100% of the time? There was a lot of coke and a surprising amount of LSD. And my childhood friend Dwayne and a couple of other guys were running distribution of some hard stuff from housekeeping. Didn’t seem to work out great for them.

The sad thing was – and I’m not sure if you agree – most of these guys weren’t happy recreational drug users. They were wrecks. This makes me sad. I need a drink.

Dude, I’ll never forget that concert. It was my first rock concert ever you realize, and I did not understand fully at the time but I couldn’t have planned a better first concert experience. I saw so much shit that day I’d never seen before… moshing, crowd surfing, people smoking weed, drunken brawls, people getting crushed, chicks climbing on top of guys to flash the stage, random strangers making out. It was amazing. Add to that the worst, literally life threatening weather, and the fact that the bands played on for a full set? That just put it right the fuck over the top. I hadn’t considered it, but now that you bring it up, last night’s show just makes me apprecaite Monsters all the more.

No matter what happens bro, we’ll always have Monsters.

I hope the rain reminded you of our life-altering experience at the first Monsters of Rock. It was 20 years ago THIS VERY NIGHT, In the middle of some god-forsaken speedway in Maine, a giant metal stage the tallest thing in at least a couple of square miles… thunderclouds and lightning booming in the distance. A storm was a’brewin. But you know who it couldn’t stop? That guy. Klaus Meine. The Scorpions.

Scorpions must be more lethal than .38 specials, because they kept playing as the lightning crept closer and closer. Perhaps they secretly wanted to be struck by lightning during Rock You Like a Hurricane?

True Van Halen also played with the stage soaking wet and fear of electrocution, but it don’t count as much sine they were all drunk.

ps. I highly recommend http://www.the-scorpions.com/ for a good dose of cheese. Turn the volume WAY up.