Thursday
May152014
East Idaho Has A Music Festival
Thursday, May 15, 2014 at 12:01AM Who knew? Idaho has a Glam music festival?! Queensryche will headline plus KIX, Lynam and more!
A GA ticket is just $49. There are VIP packages too. Get tickets and more information on the festival website. I'll go ahead and do a roll call on this one, but I don't think any of the regular posters here are from the Idaho area. Still, this was a new one on me so I wanted to pass along for sure.
The show is set for June 21.
Reader Comments (12)
The Thunder Rock festival in Vernal, closer to Colorado than SLC, was mentioned on an earlier post. It also looks interesting.
At least there are some--repeat, some--options out West.
However, (just one story among many) when my adoptive son was (mis)diagnosed with mental retardation, languished in a neglectful and abusive foster home for years, being railroaded into a dysfunctional educational program, and basically written off by multifaceted systems, someone had to advocate for him to stop their nonsense. I mean, to me anyway, that is what rock and roll is about...going against the system, against the powers that be, those who are in charge because of many things and not necessarily specific knowledge.
When my son was placed in my home (2008), simply, he was a mess: Expelled from kindergarten, cast off to a partial hospitalization program, evaluated for psychotropic medication and long term residential treatment. The superintendent of his home school told me that he shouldn't be in foster care and that I was biting off more than I could chew. The superintendent of my school district told me he was a "troubled little boy with a lot of behavior problems" and that he will not be allowed in my/our school district (meanwhile, she never even met him and refused when I asked her to). She was relying on "professional reports" and I didn't have the credentials to challenge them. (To quote MB: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!)
Call after call, meeting after meeting, I fought for a new evaluation and begged (and finally insisted) that they give him a chance. Begrudgingly, they finally allowed him into school with a very strict IEP. He was re-diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome and has a "average" IQ. Fast Forward: He eventually was mainstreamed in every class, every teachers has written on reports that he is "a pleasure to have in class", last report card, he received first honor roll, he plays guitar, wrestled for 2 years, played soccer for 6 years and is well liked by teachers, admin, parents and peers.
Again, this is just one story. I fought this way for former mentees, former clients, former co-workers, even for a few supervisors, and many other people with whom I've encountered throughout the years.
In 2008, I was beat down. I had (almost) no fight left in me. I was "this close" to giving up, giving him another failed adoption (yes, he already had one that was horrendous on him), and was resigning myself to live in my own private Idaho. A few of you fuckers out there no why.
I kept saying to myself, "You already gave all of yourself to others, you have nothing left to give and more importantly, nothing left to prove." "Fuck 'em all. Be selfish. Let the system fail him, too; as his trajectory was clearly heading in that direction." "You owe nothing to anyone. You already gave enough back to society. Close your door and give up this rock-n-roll fantasy bullshit. Look what it has done to you (and not done) for you."
Somehow (and I have no idea how), I found the strength, once again, to throw the middle finger at the powers that be and say, "No. This is wrong. Trust me and my wife. Trust our son. We can do this." AND WE FUCKING DID! That, to me, is ROCK AND ROLL. Side note: recently, I had a phone meeting with the superidendent about another issue and again, she was argumentative and non-wavering in her position. When I reminded her how well our one son is doing in school, she took full credit by saying, "That just shows you how good of a school we are." Um, no! Your original position was to cast him aside because your staff couldn't handle him, much like his former school district. His parents spent hours and hours with him each day and night working on academics, behavior modification, limited cognitive processing and many other interventions.
So, MB, live in your own private Idaho if that is what you choose. I don't believe that you do, so I don't know why you write it, but I do believe that you are blind to some people who really do; perhaps not. But for some reason, I seem to have been your whipping boy over the years and there's no doubt, I've certainly fought back. And, it's fighting back, that I've (unfortunately) had to do for so many in my charge over the years. Some authorities I win over, many I piss off, but I find comfort in the substantial (albeit individual-specific) accomplishments that I've helped other attain. To me, that is the embodiment, of rock and roll-my music, your music, the music that each one of us, individually and collectively, finds peace and comfort in.
One quick last story: The "kid" I'm taking to Rocklahoma...I recently asked him, "How did I help you?" He looked at me cross-eyed and said, "you don't know?" I replied, "I have no idea. No fuckin' clue. What did I do?" He thought about it for a second and answered, "You were the only one who believed in me. You made it your mission to help me. No one ever did that for me before- Not my parents, not my teachers, not my guidance counselor, not my probation officer, not my caseworker, no one. You were always there for me...and still are." He then told me a story that honestly, I barely remembered. He had gotten into some pretty serious trouble and he said, "This is how "they" handled it and he went down the list: parents, school officials, etc...But, this is how you handled it...and, he ended by saying, 'and I never forgot that'.
As his mentor, I was supposed to work with him for 6-9 months. I worked with him for 3 years as the County kept authorizing my service. One of the top administrators pulled me aside one day and said, "If you keep doing what you're doing with him, I'll keep authorizing paying for your mentoring."
Idaho is looking better and better these days.
Enjoy ROK. Wish I could be there.
I have no idea--I really don't--who all of you are. I don't know any of you. But I enjoy posting here and reading the replies (and the other posts).
Fletch? I can't tell if this is a composite or a person. I really don't care. I don't trust that all that is Fletch is Fletch, but I suppose that some is residual leakage. And, if this latest slippage is as true as the one that threw aspersions at me weeks ago, fine. I take this one. Brian has it right: accentuate the positive.
Perhaps this is a place where all the rest of the world just dissipates. We can slag the twisted, praise the blessed, and make our lives feel better.
I sometimes marvel at the power and the weakness of this medium. Metalboy! makes a reference to the Shakespeare play(s)(or the Van Sant movie that ruined them) and thus we see the beast unleashed. But what beast? I really don't know.
So I just keep on keeping on, enjoying this site. I hope that the Metalboy! and Fletch (and Ace and others) I know keep doing the same.
This site is amazing to me. I hope it really provides the outlet to others that it provides to me.
As far as a composite or leftover leakage? Nah. What I wrote is true. Documentation to show my son's history and adoption workers to verify the uphill battle I had to endure. They were a part of the meetings, too.
As dave roth quips, "I can work with anyone, the problem is a lot of people can't work with me."
Idaho can't get here fast enough.
Bkallday: come on, massive walls of text? That is a sign of the times I guess. How is this? OMG LOL LMFAO? Does that work for you? Primal scream, indeed. And if we wrote a book, would you even read it? That was rhetorical.