obsessed

sometimes i just can't get thoughts outta my head.  I woke myself up this morning worrying about things that are beyond my control.  Once you've done everything possible, you don't have to give up, but you've gotta "stop thinking about it".  that's where joey comes in.

I don't like that owl that lives on the fridge.

ok, so here are some things that i've been doing/thinking.  I don't like the owl that lives on our fridge.  I don't trust owls, and I think they are a symbol for an ancient organization of assholes.  Every time i'm over there getting some cheese or orange juice, he's just sitting there, looking at me.  Moving on- I made some banana bread from this recipe.  It was called "Banana Banana Bread" because you use a lot of bananas in it.  I'm here to report that it was delicious.  Part III- I took a picture of a deer in the backyard today.  Can you see him?  They're really scared to come hang out with us.  Click on the picture to get a better look.  And lemme think, oh yeah,  I drew this girl's picture.  Plus I watched The Wrestler, Alien, and Oldboy.  If you haven't watched Oldboy, its worth renting just for the fight scene alone.  Good Christ, I thought he was never gonna pull that knife outta his back.  Alright.  PS...Part 5, we are gonna be playing in Brooklyn on February 6th w/ Golden Error, Tournament, and Acid Tiger.  Its @ this place called the Shank.  See flyer for address.  $6, total party time.  I'm getting older.

The Kickass blaze Raleigh

This video is from the other night in Raleigh @ the Dive Bar.  maybe turn the sound down just a tad?  Its not bad, just recorded close, so its loud.
Wanna see another? Go here.

Video of how We Rocked Hawaii "Melekalikimaka style"

Here's a little video diary of Valient Thorr's Xmas Hawaiian Adventure.  Including rocking the Volcom House on the North Shore of Oa'hu and Valient Himself and Nitewolf learning to surf the legendary pipeline at one of its more mellower moments.

What's scarier than getting your head chopped off? 71,400 Jobs lost yesterday

holy shit!  71, 400 jobs lost in one day.  That makes over 200,000 jobs lost since new years so far.

2.6 Million were lost last year.  That's the most in a year comparatively speaking since 1945.  Maybe that's why everyone is cutting heads off, and dissolving people in acid.  They're the competition.

Dude dissolves 300 people in acid: A lesson in hyperfocusing & a reflection on the state of gruesome in North America

Man, the hits just keep on coming.  Talk about news that everyone likes to forget.  This guy, "The Stewmaker", just admitted to dissolving over 300 people in FUCKING ACID MAN!!!  He claims he did it for this new mysterious bigtime drug trafficker down in mehico named- El Teo.  I'm telling you, you just can't get better fodder for novels and movies than the real thing anymore.  But, they'll still be talking about the little Caylee girl for months and months, and I'm sorry, that's a heartbreaking tale.  Really it is.  But, we all know what happened there... Let the police collect the evidence and figure it out and move on to something else for a while.  I don't need Nancy Grace yelling in my face all night long about every nook and cranny of this case.  She's talked to the grandfather, the housesitter, she asked the fucking dog his opinion.  God, how does this woman have a television show?  Sorry.  What about the real shit?  Why do they hyperfocus on one story?  There have been hundreds of poor little baby girls and boys snatched up since this one...  How come no one is talking about the Chinese guy who decapitated and stabbed the chick at Virginia Tech last week?

And why the hell are so many exchange students killing people at Virginia Tech?

And has everyone forgotten about the guy who chopped off the dudes head on the Greyhound Bus in Canada last fall?

I just feel like our gruesomeness is picked and chosen for us, and i'm sick and tired of it.  All these stories have importance, but I will no longer let Nancy Grace decide what terrible heinous crime i need to know about night after night.  I never need to hear her voice again.

I guess the point here is, there are dudes out there that will stab you, chop your head off, and drown you in a vat of acid like we were in some kind of Vincent Price art house horror movie.  So watch your back, and try not to hyperfocus on any particular thing... its just not healthy.

Here's a bonus for ya:  Who ever thought that Iceland may be the first country in line to erupt into total chaos b/c of all this financial horsewash?

FDA FINALLY approves stem cell research

Funny how less than a week after the worst president in US history is out of office, the world starts progressing again. This couldve happened like five years ago... but once again, Bush used some backwards "politricks" to try to f everything up.  He said, sure you can go ahead and spend bread on researching this "stem cell" stuff, but then they quickly found out that only about 2 dozen lines would work.   You see, Bush said they could only research "already existing" lines.  So they appealed him, but he vetoed it their requests- TWICE.  So these dudes are going forward now, in an effort to learn more and quite possibly HELP people w/ spinal injuries, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's & diabetes.  I'll never get over people who want to stand in the way of "real magic".  I believe in science.

"A pill that gives worms to ex-girlfriends"

you know how bad it gets sometimes. We've all been there. Sometimes it gets SO bad that you wish you could just
"Eternal Sunshine" all that bad shit away. No matter what side the hurt falls on, yours or theirs, sometimes it feels like if none of it ever happened, things would be better. But you know that that is bullshit. If it didn't happen, then you wouldn't be who you are. But, would it be easier if you had amnesia to all that particular hurt? I still say no, b/c if you erased all the facets of said hurt, well it would undoubtedly touch and render who you are as a person. And we've already stated that thats a no go. So, after much research, I think that the kids in the hall came up with the best solution.

So is OJ in jail now, or what?

inauguration ceremony *UPDATE* Worst Clusterfuck Ever...EVER.

wow.  i cannot explain to you in words how hectic shit got.  I was there ready to go @ 5:30.  No gates were opening til 7, which ended up being more like 8.  Around 9, i was deep in a line (crowd) of thousands storming one of the many gates.  See I was supposed to go in @ 1st street, but you couldn't go there, and furthermore all roads were closed w/ huge iron gates past the E crossstreet.  So, they kept sending everyone to 3rd and 7th, but neither were budging.  I didnt quite feel so bad when I saw none other than Chris Matthews from "Hardball" get denied rigth beside of me.  (See pic...)  The FBI/secret service guy said, "hey man, i love msnbc, but you've gotta go to 3rd or 7th just like everybody else."  I thought Matthews was gonna drop his fucking bagel.  He looked about as defeated as everyone else.  Then they said try to go around 14th (nope), then try heading around 1st, around the back of the capitol building (nope).  I mean dudes were paying 600 bucks a pop for these tix on ebay and craigs list.  And i just kept seeing people clutching theirs between their claws, and sweating and cursing their own stupidity.  When i finally DID get thru the iron bars, it was another hour wait to get checked by security, only to find out that when i emerged, i was stuck in the 9th circle of hell.  They had everything past pennsylvania ave blocked off for the parade route til after 11.  And between every street there were more huge iron gates.   After being sandwiched for some time, i truly wanted the fuck out of there.  I didnt care who i was supposed to meet, I just wanted out, but there were NO exits.  And the natives were getting restless.  Thousands started beating on the gates and screaming "let us in , let us in".  It was like something out of a zombie/holocaust movie.  The Zombies wanted in, and those who just waited almost 3 hours to get in there, suddenly wanted out.  But never the twain should meet.  I guess if i could sum up the morning in three words, they would be cold, blisters, and bootleggers.

Inauguration Ceremony

"i got a purple ticket!"  sung to the tune of- "i got a golden ticket!"  only i'm not winning a chocolate factory.  parliament would say i'm partying in chocolate city.

playin rekkids/ Happy MLK day!!

Happy MLK day everybody!

my friend up in dc, paul goodman is a great photographer.  He took these pics the other night of me jammin some jams at his house.  Check him out.  Plus, i scored a ticket to the Inauguration.  Gonna get up close and personal.  Ill post some pics on here tomorrow after the show is concluded.  Steers,  Valient.

Inauguration Time

yolla,
im out, headed to DC for the 44th inauguration. This is significant on many levels. Particularly in that its the first one that many people even give a shit about. Ill be playing some records, imbibing some spirits, and generally just partying as much as one can whilst in a city with over 2 million visitors/tourists/people looking to do the same as you/me. Cheers America.

RIP KHAN

Ricardo Montalban died a few days back. He was mostly known as Khan, and the head cat on Fantasy Island, but he was also the main dude Armando on the last 2 Planet of the Apes flicks (Escape & Conquest).

"Can you fly Bobby?"

Valient Thorr to play NYC w/ ANTHRAX

alahoyus

just confirmed.  Valient Thorr will participate in the 2009 RED BULL SNOWSCRAPERS event.  featuring Shaun White and a bunch of snowboarders, and also ANTHRAX, and Black Gold.  Its in the east river park in manhattan, and best of all, im 99.99% sure its FREE.  so come on out and help me celebrate my 30th earf berf ritual celebration.  plusss- extra top secret secret party on feb 6th.  more about that soon.  keep yer ears on.

*UPDATE* police capture fugitive pilot guy

so, the story continues with our mysterious finance smooth talker dude who tried to split town, jumps out of his plane, pretty much tells the police who he is, then splits from a hotel, and goes to a storage unit where he stashed a dirt-bike all rambo style, then drove to florida (for some reason)  i mean, i would've went north.  why go toward where you crashed the plane?  This guy is a character!  anyway, he ends up slashing his wrists, but he didnt do a good enough job, so they caught him anyway.

BB Guns/Jam Session

something about living on the road for so long, and then trying to reinvent yourself into civilization, but instead moving waaaaay out into the sticks- in the end, somehow makes you wanna get weird in the woods.

The dudes made a firepit.

Sent from my handheld space communicator device

Quincy Jones asks Obama for a Secretary of the Arts.

you can sign the petition here.  You can join the facebook group and learn more info about this here.  

vicious panda mauls third victim (you thought they were cute)

ha-HAH! but you were wrong.  my advice, never fall or jump into a panda pit.

shady finance dude crashes plane, then hightails it

my pick for the best news story that i've heard in over a year.  This has TV Movie written all over it.  Read the article and tell me you don't wanna hear about what happens next.  I've only known about this for five minutes, but the dude is two things.  Super smart (putting plane on auto pilot so it crashed 220 miles away from where he bailed!) and Super fucking stupid.  They never would have known where he was if he hadn't went up to the cops!  what a complete moron!

"Zebrah"

Sent from my handheld space communicator device

let's make it official/ book recommendations.

just bought a 1973 oldmobile cutlass supreme.  so psyched.  lowest miles of any car ive ever had.  driving to charlotte today to put it in my name.  anyway, here's a list of things i've just finished reading and i recommend to you.

-reread Watchmen (alan moore) in anticipation for the new flick.  here's hoping it still comes out.

-Fables (bill willingham)- read the first 2 graphic novels.  great book to pick up if you've exhausted all the issues of Preacher and Y: the Last Man that ever came out.

-Swamp Thing (alan moore) thanx to tamara for suggesting this.  now ill be spending even more money on ebay.

-just picked up Punisher hardcover "welcome back frank" (ennis/dillon).  If you were a fan of Preacher, well here's the same dudes giving ol Frank Castle their treatment.

-Getting Even (woody allen)

alright.  have a great day true believers!

jam session

sometimes a little break is all you need to revitalize and get the juices flowing again.  Today was our first rehearsal (some people call it "practice") since Hawaii.  And don't get me wrong, after so many years on the road, its nice to chill back for a minute or two.  But, after a minute or two, i'm ready to rocknroll again.  Otherwise its just heaviness and getting roped into other people's drama, or actually realizing and having to deal with your own drama.  And i don't like that.  I don't like drama, and i don't like depression, and i don't like feeling lonely.  So, i was really excited to start jamming on some jams today for the Cover/charity show we are doing in Raleigh on Jan. 30th.  I can't tell you who we are playing as, b/c it'll spoil the whole deal, but I can tell you that jamming those jams was some of the most fun we've had in a loooong time.  Get ready for freddie, goddamn.

Pussy Doodles

greenville visit

went back to gvegas (ehck.. i always hated when people called it that.) yesterday for a little reunionesque action.  Eidan Thorr's other band The Kickass played.  They played with another old gville band, Future Islands.  They reside in Baltimore these days.  Both bands were really killer.  And it was great to see SO many dudes that we haven't seen in a looooong time.  Kudos to Backdoor Skatepark and all the bros for coming outta the woodwork.  See yall again soon.

Also went up to the Art Building to find out about one of my old professor's who i heard had lung cancer.  So many memories crammed into such a short amount of time.  I caught up with a few old professors and stopped by the art supply store before splitting town and bought a giant piece of lineoleum.  Now, i have everything i need to do some lineo prints, some intaglio prints and all kinds of new good shit.  just you wait.

How I spent my New Years Eve

on New Year's Eve, my buddy's in the Avett Brothers asked me to come up and sing a couple jams with them at the Belk Theater in Charlotte. This is one of my favorites.  Thanx to those dudes, and Paleface, and Joe.  We've had a lot of fun over the years.

Navy creates Anti-pirate task force

great.  talk about Johnny Come Lately.  today the navy unveiled plans for their new anti-pirate task force.  That's about 4 months too late for some of the crew of the Ukrainian tanker hijacked in September.  I guess they heard the news about India or China's new anti-pirate taskforces that made headlines last month.  i love how in the cnn article, the US navy say they expect other countries to come around and join the effort soon.

paintings for sale

yo

here's a link to some old paintings that i'm selling.  interested in any of them... hit me up.

1st Post. New Year. Getting Shit Together

yo, so here we go.

i don't really care who or what or when or where, i just needed a place besides all the social sites to get things together.  art, tunes, vids, thoughts, you know the score.

itll probably take a bit to get it together.  but we'll see.

more soon as i figure it out.

yrs

valient himself