Spit-Fire 101

SHOUT OUT TO:

The Rife family (bestEST contacts ever!)

B.A.D. A.S.S. "Must Stash"

J. Mavster

This is just the beginning... The High-Stakes, Frosted Flakes, Take the Cake, NO Mistakes, Greatest of Lakes Roadie team has MUCH more to come!

NEVER TALK TO THE POLICE!

in light of blaise's recent encounter. i've decided to deliver the following advice...
outside of telling them about invisible children, NEVER TALK TO THE POLICE!

here are a few good reasons why (these videos are long, but worth it. ask any lawyer!):


BUSTED: The Citizen's Guide to Surviving Police Encounters


Don't Talk to Cops, Part 1


Don't Talk to Cops, Part 2


love you guys.
come home soon.
-mrp

Beast coast pulled over in DC!?! OH NO!!!

Yes its true. I, Blaise Ronald Vincz, was pulled over seconds after the question "have you ever been pulled over in the IC van?" was asked. Call it what you want but I call it complete sh-crap. 

Story time with cousin Blaise. 

Gulu Walk was held on a rainy windy day here in Washington DC (home of the Redskins, who knew?) After a few laughs with Michael Poffenberger from Resolve Uganda, burritos at Chipolte, and a ridiculous text conversation between Justin Wheeler and Lisa Dougan, the beast coasters decided to venture over to Justin's project The Option/LiNK to see the DC office. It turns out that the streets of DC can be very confusing, especially in the rain. On most streets it is illegal to turn left Monday thru Friday. Let me say that last half again - MONDAY THRU FRIDAY. Today its Saturday. Legally, I shouldn't be pulled over while turning left on a Saturday... So I did it. I turned left. 

Halfway through the intersection I hear a little chirp and a blue and red glare flashes across my mirror. 

Not one.

Not two.

But THREE cop cars line up behind our terrified little van. 

You know things aren't going to go well when the first thing out of the officer's mouth is "Did you not see the three big NO LEFT TURNS signs?!? NOW YOU GOT ME OUT HERE IN THE POURING RAIN!" After staring at me he then shouted, "HOW ABOUT THE 3 POLICE CARS BEHIND YOU?!? YOU DIDN'T SEE THOSE?!?"

I tried to explain that I was under the impression that I could turn left since it was Saturday but before I get that out I was pierced by the following question-

"HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DRIVING!?!"

How do you answer that? What does that even mean? I gave the best answer I could but I'd be a liar if I didn't want to punch this power tripping punk right in his eye. 

"Five years, Sir."

"Long enough to know what a NO LEFT TURNS sign means?"

"Sir, the sign says NO LEFT TURNS Monday Thur Friday." 

By this time there is a cop standing in front of our van scoping out the Cali plates, the first cop heads back to his car unsatisfied with my answers. The cop from in front of our van leans in to the window and smiles. "You guys aren't in here smoking anything illegal are you?" He giggles. I would assume he said this because of the mound of snacks in the space between the front seats. Maybe it was the peace sign on the side of the van, I'm not sure. He then sniffed my shoulder and said I smelled nice... 

I was confused.

Cynthia saves the day by giving the best 10 second rundown of IC ever told... even under pressure, that girl is M O N E Y. 

The nice cop seemed to be content, he patted me on the shoulder and told me to have a good day. 

That's it? No ticket? No apology? 

The nice cop decides he should check with the other jerk wad of a cop to see if we are free to go.

We are all clear. 

No ticket.

No need for an apology at this point. 

Off we go. 

...until next time.

-Beastly Blazzor of the Beast Coast. 

So yeah...

I had no idea about the gorilla. NONE.

Lily

in the last 24 hours lots happened. I reconsidered another tour in the spring (you should all too. Right? I mean...live together again in the Villa? DUH) , i blew out and shredded a front tire, we flooded the back of the van in a flash flood, we did 3 screenings, ate vegetarian pizza and hung out with some pretty incredible people tonight.
We had a screening....a house party actually with some people from Love bags. They bag up supplies for the homeless and 2 nights a week they go all over the city and talk with their friends. We showed some IC films, ate pizza, laughed and cried, and then went out in the city to show this love we keep talking so much about.

I met a Shawn, a Sean and a Lily....and here's the clincher: Lily is 2, lives with her family on the streets of Ft. Lauderdale, and reminds me SO MUCH of another preciously Lily I know all the way in Newberg Oregon. I told her I had another special friend named Lily and she said, "Really? Did you know I'm really strong?"

I wish she knew how strong she really was. It wasn't that she could unscrew the cap on her bottle of water on her own, or that she could show me her rippling 2-year-old biceps....it was that she could here her baby brother crying from across the park, and that she could walk up to strangers and sit in their laps, knowing they were probably safer than where she lives.

It was a good and hard moment for me: thinking that I am on a tour to end a war in a country 10,000 miles away. Every day I talk about kids I have never met, who need love, families, help. But tonight...right in front of me, was a little girl with pink sparkling shoes who needed some love, a "family" and some help. It came in the form of splashing in puddles, giggling together in the park and holding hands.

Love and help doesn't need to just be sent to Africa...there are places to give it away all around us.
I can only hope that tonight, Lily has a place to lay her head down.
And I hope you are all seeing the faces who need love all around you too. That's why we're on tour right?

If Lily had fit in our van, I would have taken her with me. :-)
Love to you all from Miami!

Love, Bethany

So-Cal's short tip on the best use for the merch shelf.

Yours Truly,

- Cal Vegas and Cal Pacific

If you're wondering if we had a marching band marching through the halls of Downingtown West... you'd be correct.

Ah Downingtown West! Finally we have arrived! 

The administration decided to cancel the pep-rally for the Downingtown East vs West game so that we could have assemblies for GO. I mean, I understand that this is the biggest game of the year and the students need to be hyped but I am glad that they see things with a "Global Perspective." With that said, let me remind you that this is the BIGGEST game of the year (and a great game it was: D'west 21- D'east 14)  and the was still need for a pep-rally. What would you have done?

D'west decided to have a pep-rally. 

Let me set the scene. 

(Sarah and Josh are at D'east.)

Blaise is a the merch table with a few club members outside of the auditorium where Cynthia is wrecking these students lives with facts of the war. In the distance we hear some chatter, maybe a snare drum being pounded upon or locker room doors being slammed. A few football players file into the lobby ...a second later the entire space is full of football players. Like magic they split and 2 rows marching band members begin marching through. All of the action pauses as the students wait for the que. (Cynthia later tells me this is all during the scene of GO where Tye and Papito are in the hut.) 

One. Two. Ah one, two, three, four!!!

The sound of snares, bass drums, trumpets, trombones, tubas, piccolos, xylophones, cymbals, flutes, and anything else you may find in a marching band crash down the previously deserted hallways that are now packed full of rowdy students.

The football players are chanting "Beat East! Beat East!" 

Their peers join them, "Beat East! BEAT EAST!!!" 

Let me remind you that Gloria is suffering. 

The sounds come and go as they mob flows up and down hallways. 10 minutes later they are back in the lobby where me and 15 customers are shouting:

"What size do you need?"

"Small."

"We are out of small, would a medium work?"

"I said small!"

"Sorry we're out. How about this shirt?"

"I said I need a small!!!"

("ARGH!!! I'M SO MAD RIGHT NOW!" is what Danny Lorigo would have said.) 

$3,200 dollars later I'm smiling at the "Roadie Party" where I stuffed my face full of humus, doritos, cucumbers, swiss cakes, and oreos. 

I liked D'west. It was a good day. 

By the way, Downingtown West is not spelled "Downington West" like it was in GO. Try explaining that to the administration. haha. Its all good.