Posted by: Dave Berry | Jan 7, 10

I did a little thinking while I was in the shower today and I realized that this blog has grown a little stagnant. All I've been cranking out are sordid tales of drunken snowboarding at Mary Jane as of late so I'm going to try something a bit different today; a sociology lesson! Yeah college! I paid for this brain so I should flex it once in a while, right?

For those of you who haven't yet or didn't get into the liberal arts for whatever reason, sociology is the study of how people interact with each other. As far as I can tell this is the bastard child of proper Greek philosophy and English Imperialism and if you major in it you'll most likely find yourself in some soul-crushing human services career where you help people who either don't speak English or won't get a job leach off of government programs. I have a few friends in this career role and this is what they report back to me. I only completed Intro to Sociology and I got a B in it so I'm not going to be writing a book on it but I've got enough of a foundation coupled with my philosophy degree to blast off a half-assed blog about it. How does this relate to you? You have a flake in your crew and you know it.

A flake is somebody who always talks like they're totally down to go and rip with you and the rest of the possee but when it comes time to strap in they aren't there. I'm not saying that they miss a sesh here and there due to life getting in the way, we're all guilty of that from time to time; it's a constant with these people. Oh sure, they threw down and got a pass this season but because they didn't bother calling, texting, emailing, facebooking, or whatever, the rest of the crew when it was time to buy a pass they got one to a different set of mountains to go ride with a whole different set of people who may or may not exist. Yeah, they may already have 20+ days in this season but who was there to see them? They totally ripped a switch 270 on to boardslide to 270 off in the park but it was on a Tuesday and everybody else was at work. They found the most epic powder stash YESTERDAY. You know that you know one. Everybody does.

The flake is an interesting person because for some reason everybody tries to take them seriously in hopes that the flake will break their flakey ways. The flake knows what people want to hear and sometimes comes up with great plans. The funny thing is when the flake flakes out on their own plan but the rest of the possee carries said plan out it ends up being a great time for all involved. That's irony if you didn't realize it.

Alright, I'm done with that. Onto music news!

First of all, D.R.I. is playing at the Bluebird Friday (tomorrow) night and Lyin' Bitch and the Restraining Orders are opening for them! This is HUGE because LBRO has been banned from the Bluebird for a few years now and this is their first show back there before going on a six month break. If you don't go to this one then it's official; you suck and haven't earned a mohawk, piercing, or tattoo. Those are still property of the punk rawk universe despite Ed Hardy's best efforts to say otherwise. Next up, and just as important, my good friend who I haven't talked to in a long time, Extra Kool, just released a new full-legnth album titled Even's Dead: The Chronicles of an American Waster. I don't know how but he managed to do a song with Kool Keith for this one and it's dope. Check out EK on the old myspace here: http://www.myspace.com/extrakool or on the official label site: http://www.dirtylaboratory.com. Tell him Proletariat X sent you. It won't get you a free CD but it'll be funny. On 1/14 we have The Reverend Horton Heat playing at the Ogden and then on 1/25 is the big one; Slayer, Megadeth, and Testament play at DU! I've got tix to all three shows. Do you? One last music shot, Les Claypool is returning to Denver on 2/14, or for those with girlfriends "gotta buy that bitch candy and some stupid card and take her out to some expensive-ass dinner that I can't afford just to prove that I care" day. I'm seeing Mr. Claypool that day. Tell that rag that seeing Les Claypool will be much more memorable than a $50 plate of overdone chicken.

Shred Hard.

Dave Berry.