Do You Know Where Your Punk Is?

March 10, 2016
by Carlos
4 min read

punk red suitThankfully (from a parent’s point of view), Brandon didn’t wear his pants halfway down his backside, spike his hair, or dress as punk as some of his friends. I think because he packed groceries at the local supermarket he chose to reign it in a bit. You wouldn’t normally find him doing the lavish party bus Dayton Ohio thing or overstepping his boundaries. He didn’t need to care, but for whatever his reasons, he did.

Off duty, he often ran into people he knew from being at the market, and occasionally his employer or members of his employer’s family. Brandon was a smart guy, and because we are a small community within a larger metropolitan area, he knew his inner punk needed to be expressed differently – especially since his part-time job helped to make his car payment. “I don’t need to advertise my punkness. A real punk doesn’t need to show off…Its like a Karate man… the Karate man bleed on the inside. A real punk is punk on the inside.” –Mark Hoppus (Blink 182) Continue reading

Bringing It With Music

March 3, 2016
by Carlos
4 min read

Ramones

It has that innate quality to bring people together. Mutual resonance – it is undeniable. Music, the great universal Unitetor. The heart of a Punk and the soul of a Rasta are brought under the same bodily roof when music enters the scene. Neither culture could be whole without its music. They hit off of each other like a certified arborist Fayetteville NC would do when they’re working with trees or a professional plumber would do when working with water pipes.

The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, the Dead Kennedys, all date back to the 70’s. The punk scene is in it’s fifth decade. It plays scores, so to speak, that they have endured the test of time and still hold a place on the top 10 list of all time greats.

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4 Things You May Not Have Known About Rastafari

February 25, 2016
by Carlos
4 min read

haile-selassie

My son said he had the soul of a Rasta. I’ve wondered in his sixteen year old mind what that really meant to him. We never really discussed his core relationship with being a Rastafari and to be truthful, I wrote the whole thing off to a phase. But in Brandon’s honor, since his death, I have chosen to learn as much about the Rastafari movement as I can.

The religion of Rastafari was inspired around a modern day “Savior” in the physical form of Haile Selassie I. The initial inception of the religion was at the turn of the twentieth century, when a prophesy by Marcus Garvey announced that a new black king would reign in an African country.

In the 1930s, the Ethiopian Emperor was seen by many as the second coming of Christ. And even if Emperor Selassie was not recognized as the universal second coming, he was a savior in the eyes of the people of his country. Selassie knew that Ethiopia was richly endowed with an abundance of natural mineral springs. Using deep well drilling and water filtration to exploit the natural riches and drive them back into the welfare of the country was one of the Emperor’s greatest endeavors. He understood that water was the life-blood of his country.

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Punk Lives On

February 18, 2016
by Carlos
4 min read

punks not dead

Having the heart of a punk isn’t always easy. Brandon liked the idea that he could be his own man, even if it went against the norm – especially if it went against the norm. He experimented, like all teenagers with different personas, and I’m not sure he would have settled on the punk mentality if he had had a chance to grow into a man. Who’s to say? As a parent I simply wanted him to know he had the space to be whatever expression he needed to be.

Brandon was a good worker. He was inspired by his uncle to open his own business since he helped him with his Kansas City plumbing company over the summer months. Surprisingly they had a common taste in music and when they worked together they would play Punk rock all day long. Music is the great uniter, right? Here are a few of Brandon’s favorite artists and their latest releases:

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