drinkdrankdrunk: "FREAK SHOW" by The Midnight Rider

ok, ya ready for me to get back to real time and talk about my school?......um.....where do i begin?....my new school certainly has the potential to be the biggest freakshow that i've ever experienced (and you know that's saying something)--like the iowa catholic contingent reminds me a bit of that private school in virginia that fired me back in 1998, but i've never really experienced anything like the kalifornia connection here.....are they on crystal meth or jesus?--i don't know.....are they new age or mormon?--your guess as good as mine (and i pride myself on being able to read people).....the ceo of the company (that is my school) looks like he just stepped out of an infomercial....."ric" is young, handsome, thirtysomething with curly, brown hair and perfect teeth.....he favors $3000 suits and rolex watches and likes to walk up and down the hall talking on his headset.....he is usually accompanied by 2 yes-men/bodyguards in (what i would imagine to be) $1500 suits and faux-rolex watches.....everything ric says is positive/proactive--our school is gonna be "#1 in the midwest" and then "#1 in the united states" and finally "#1 in the world".....if you're curious: ric doesn't know my name yet and i can't say that i mind.....all the rest of them do though--like i think they get punished if they don't know every single employee's name by the end of the first week.....did i mention that ric graduated from the university of phoenix?.....did i mention that they all graduated from the university of phoenix?--actually, i take that back, some of them did their undergraduate work at cal state fullerton before going on to earn their ph.d. from the university of phoenix......you know what that is, right?--like sometimes there are pop ups on my computer that promise a "college degree in 6 months"--well, that's the university of phoenix--basically, it's like taking your classes online instead of having to drive down to the local national business college.....who knows, maybe you'll be seeing my college advertised on a matchbook sometime in the near future.....dude, my school makes kent state look like harvard.....like when i tell people here that i went to kent state, they're like:  "mannnnn, that's a good school, isn't it?"--yeah dude, if you're a drug dealer.....obviously i'm not a financial analyst, but i think the little catholic school that was here 2 years ago was about to go bankrupt--and shady state pounced on the opportunity to buy a school with real athletic teams and a real dorm--if you're curious, the girls’ soccer team only has 9 players and is destined to lose every game by playing 9-on-11.....for that matter, i get the feeling that every team here loses every game they play…..what else?.....you want the attendance figures?--well, enrollment for 2006 is sitting at roughly 30,000 (400 kids who actually live and go to school here and 26,600 online students).....what does an "online student" look like?--well, every motivational speaker that i've heard for the last 3 weeks talks about the day when "online students and their families fly in from across the country to walk across that stage to receive their diplomas," but i'm thinking they'll celebrate by buying a bag of weed......i might be wrong, but i'm thinking these "urban professionals" are really sitting at home in their sweatpants, eating ding dongs and trolling for internet porn in between "classes"......the motivational speakers also claim that "the merging of traditional colleges with online institutions is only a matter of time," but i'm hoping to be dead before that day comes.....did i mention that i signed a form that authorizes company officials to listen in on my phone calls ostensibly for "training purposes".....the company gave me a new laptop too, but i get the feeling that i'll be using it about as much as i use my office phone.....52gs is a lot of money for an idiot-savant like me though.....crowns aint cheap and their dental plan pays 80% of major procedures.....i have a 401k retirement plan as well.....and some of you cynics out there might wonder if it's all about the money.....maybe some of you are even mumbling about me selling out.....well, you just read the introduction--do you see any change?.....for that matter, i'm still looking up 18-year-old girls' skirts although i may have to trade ohio quantity for iowa quality......to tell ya the truth, i like it better than kent state.....the people are cleaner/nicer and the babyjesus has seen fit to finally give me another chance......i hadn't been happy in kent for a long time---like i'd save up the party stories for you, but most days, i'd just be sitting in my hotel room rubbing one out to internet porn as the world passed me by......my new school is most definitely a freakshow, but sometimes circus folk need to count their blessings too

The Midnight Rider prefers to remain mysterious.  You could visit his website, but he won't say where it is.  You could read his books, but he won't say what they are.  You could email him, but I'm pretty sure spam@gofuckyourself.gov is not a real email address.  In a world where everyone is repping their Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, sex tapes, line of clothing, new microbrew, virtue signals, and overall brand, I find that refreshing.  I am happy to have The Rider ride on drinkdrankdrunk.

Music Video: Having Fun In The Former USA

 

I chose this song for the music video from the Fallout Shelter Ran Out Of Beer album.  I suppose that makes it the single from the album, though "All Roads Lead To Death" seems to be the most popular track, at least based on what Spotify reports.  I like a number of the other tracks as well.  In fact, since I wrote them, I like them all, but favorites do emerge, and this is one of them.  It seemed the most videogenic since I had a location in mind.  I had a job once where I had to travel to various industrial areas around Cleveland, Ohio USA.  There were a lot of rough areas, but one in particular looked like a wasteland.  I returned to that area for this video, and it actually looked better than it did a few years earlier (it appears the city knocked some of the worst buildings down), but it still looked apocalyptic enough that it worked for the video.  I've always found ruins interesting, and here are some industrial variety ones.  The video I suppose counts as a remix of the song as well since I left the train noise in this video version.  So at least now there is a music video from each album.  The next one will be from the next album.

For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!

New Recording!: Orange Marmalade

wredfright · Orange Marmalade

This is an older song I started playing again, so I did a new recording of it.  It's the usual guitar, vocals, and drums.  My kid had an Avengers tambourine he was getting rid of, so I made good use of it as part of the drums.  I always liked this song, so it was nice to flesh out a recording of it.

For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!

Winter 2026 Hoof & Antler!

  

The new Hoof & Antler is out!  For the Winter 2026 issue, I wrote an article about Annie Oakley, who actually grew up in Ohio.  The newspaper, which is an endangered species--I just heard about the imminent closure of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette--, is free at any Mickey Mart.  This issue, as usual, has a lot of other fun stuff in it as well, so pick one up if you're lucky enough to live in a part of Ohio where Mickey The Moose roams!

If you want to read something else by me, then get my new novel, The Front Yard War!

Frighty #4

The new Frighty is out.  Before I post the link, remember this zine is designed to be printed.  Reading online or otherwise electronically is not recommended.  The Internet is just being used as a distribution method because we're too cheap to pay for postage and printing.  When you print it, print it doublesided, mark it "flip on short edge"--let's repeat that so no one prints half the pages upside down; once again, flip on short edge--, fold it, staple it if you feel ambitious (to anyone who doesn't have a long stapler, you can do this with any stapler you flip open, you just have to staple the zine into a phone book or something, then pull it out and use a pencil or something to roll over and flatten the raised staple edges down--if that makes no sense, then somebody on YouTube probably has a video showing how to do it or just ask me and I'll show you how; just don't get a boo-boo doing it and use a rubber band or some other binding instead if you're worried you will), and you're good to go.  You can make copies if you want others to read it; we don't care.  Just don't sell them unless you're sending the money beyond printing it to us.

The issue was fun as usual, but it's the last one planned.  For something that was intended as a one-off, four ain't too bad.  Maybe some day we'll do a fifth issue, but even if we never do, how about you do a zine using this method and let me know when you publish it so I can check it out?  Thanks again to everyone who helped with this one!  Here's the link for printing/downloading:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y-sXxwkcc9TPr4Xyn57YsVKIwNeBrQtp/view?usp=sharing 

For more Wred Fright writing, then read the latest novel, The Front Yard War.

Music Video: Another Year Without A Valentine

 

I chose this song for the video from the Gang Of Foreigner album.  It was a tough choice because I like some of the other songs such as "Smart Set" and "Cheekbones And Legs" a lot as well.  The video's not the greatest because I'm getting kind of burned out on music videos, but it expresses the idea of the song visually well-enough, and I wanted to have at least one music video for each album.  I do love that Marcel Duchamp heart image.  It was also nice to display one of my beloved Bill And Opus mugs.  Those stickers actually are scratch and sniff, and they smell pretty good.

Next up is a video for "Having Fun In The Former USA".  I shot that footage before but waited because I wanted to release the videos in the proper album order and had to wait for the stores to bust out the valentine displays, which I didn't actually end up using much of, but that was the initial plan anyway.  By the way, it didn't take long.  I was able to get footage right after New Year's, and I probably could have gotten some right after Christmas if I went to the right store.

For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!   

Cool Yule 2025!

  

I wish you a cool Yule for 2025! See you in 2026! 

New Single!: Republican Cereal

wredfright · Republican Cereal

This song is about people who become so obsessed by politics that everything, even the morning cereal bowl, becomes political.  I suppose one can make the argument that everything is ultimately political, but when it's this explicitly political, and there are Republican facts and Democratic facts and Third Party facts instead of just facts that everyone agrees on and maybe has different opinions on, life tends to get worse.  We're seeing this in the larger culture currently, and you may even know people like this in everyday life.  Musically, I had fun with some of my son's old toys that he was getting rid of.  Otherwise, it's the usual guitar and drums, though I worked a new drum machine also into the mix.  The track has that old school Severe Platter Damage hiss to it because the mastering tool I use to remove the hiss from my cheap Radio Shack mic couldn't handle it this time.  Some people like the hiss as it has a bit of what people describe as warmth when speaking of analog media such as vinyl, but my recordings tend to be noisy enough that I don't want a snake hissing underneath everything as well.  However, not unlike the obsession with politics by too many people currently, more hiss may be in our future if I don't figure out another way to remove the noise without harming any of the sounds I want to keep.  Lyrics are below:  

I liked it better when Election Day was just once or twice a year.
Now every single day, you're yammering politics in my ear.

She won't eat Republican cereal.
He won't drink Democratic milk.

As you set the cereal bowl on the counter next to the kitchen sink,
you tell me you just don't talk with people who don't think the way that you think.
Well, with an attitude like that, you're going to find yourself all alone.
Maybe you should stop doomscrolling so much in that echobox you call your phone.

When you look at people, you just see the sectarian divide,
everything color-coded and primed to collide.
You've got your partisan spoon, and your friends all spoon it up the same way.
You don't like getting your ideas challenged, so there's no breakfast today. 

For more Wred Fright music, give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!