Beyond The Sun
Well-known member
Stars sparsly spotted the illuminated New York City skyline as we sat together on a rooftop somewhere in Brooklyn. Nick looked over to me as he put down his 40 of Balentine's. "This is perfect." He said. I couldn't have agreed more. However, this moment in time was in no way an indication of what was to come.
The next morning I woke up on Mike's floor with a hangover and dust bunnies and strands of hair stuck to my cheek. Everyone else was still asleep so I did my best to do the same. It was a slow morning, everyone waking up one by one then lighting cigarettes. Jesse, Nick, and Mike went into the bathroom to smoke some weed. I sat on Mike’s bed waiting with anticipation the day to come.
We finally got everything together and made our way down to Mike’s car. “I know a great place to get some food, but it’s a ways away, we might as well drive there," Mike said. We all piled into his car still not quite awake. It was a typical summer day in the city: people and traffic. After driving around for 10 minutes we began looking for a place to park I had to piss and everyone else was hungry. We had been sitting in the same spot for about 5 minutes or so, traffic moving extremely slow when I noticed flashing lights just up ahead. “I wonder what the hell’s going on up there,” I thought to myself. Unfortunately it didn’t take too much longer for me to figure out.
We moved with the traffic closer to the commotion ahead. Looking out the window I saw a large flatbed truck stopped, halfway through taking a right turn. “No fucking way.” I said as we came up to it. “Is that what I think it is?” We moved closer and I could see a mangled bicycle underneath the truck. My heart skipped a beat. As we drove by, to my horror I saw a body trapped underneath one of the gigantic truck wheels, massive amounts of blood soaking into the cement. I felt sick to my stomach. Perhaps most disturbing of all was the fact that the police were doing nothing to hide the body. People were lining the sidewalks pointing and staring at the corpse lying cold and stiff in the hot sun. I felt enraged at the disrespect that I felt was being shown to the unfortunate biker. For the rest of the day I couldn’t get the image out of my head, and I certainly couldn’t stop thinking about it. 2 hours ago that guy had plans for the day. Maybe he was going to meet up with some friends, or make one last delivery before going home. Maybe he was riding his bike today because he decided he needed to get in better shape, or maybe he was late for class or just trying to get home. Either way none of it mattered now. Such is life.
I was glad to see NYC become a bunch of buildings on the horizon. We were finally headed to Philly after what seemed like an eternity of waiting and doing nothing. Nick, Jesse, and Mike blazed a few bowls as we drove down the highway, and I cracked the window a bit to let some fresh air in. I quickly realized though that we were in New Jersey.
With New York and New Jersey finally behind us, we found ourselves in the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia. The sun was just setting as we found a parking spot a good ¾ of a mile away from the church where Pointless Fest (or whatever the hell they were calling it this year) was being held. The four of us walked briskly towards the show ready for the next few days of music and partying.
Nick quickly found some friends of his from New York and we all began talking. I suddenly noticed the pangs of hunger in my stomach and looking around and realized they were serving big cups of vegan chili for about $2.
I spent the rest of the night hanging around outside the venue talking with people, eating chili and drinking a few brews in the alley. After everything was over at the church we made our way to Clark Park where Lynched ( http://www.myspace.com/lynched4life) was playing. They ended up putting on an awesome show. That night we decided to sleep in the park and we fell asleep listening to people playing GG Allin songs on acoustic guitars.
We woke up the next morning to the whirring sound of loud engines. Apparently the grass needed to be cut and so there were people driving around in riding mowers cutting the grass everywhere except where we were lying down. We all stretched, some lighting up cigarettes as we packed up our gear. We said bye to a couple of the NY kids we had camped out with, sure we would be seeing them that evening. We made our way back to downtown Philly where we spent the majority of the day in Love Park, dipping our feet in the water and soaking up the warm sun. Some car company was having a free giveaway, so we all got free ice cream and were able to use computers and the internet. Later in the afternoon we went to another park near the railroad tracks. We all rolled cigarettes and watched the dogs playing together in the dog park.
While there we ended up meeting up with a bunch of friends from back in RI. All together there were about 8 or 9 of us. We spent the early evening drinking and smoking in the park waiting for the show to start.
We finally made our way back to the church, just as things began to start up again. I got myself another cup of chili and stood outside the venue talking with different people. I ended up meeting some guy who was offered me a bunch of his wine. We sat in the alley together talking and drinking. The wine getting to my head I began to feel pretty generous and quickly ran to the nearest convenience store with my friend from back home, Tracy. I bought my first pack of cigarettes—Marlboro 100’s and ran back to where everyone else was. I gave away half the pack as I was still feeling quite benevolent. I settled myself back down again and drank a bit more wine only to be interrupted by a cop car driving up the alley. Since everyone had alcohol on them we all got up and dispersed. After about five minutes Jesse, Dylan, Tracy and I went back to where we had been previously sitting. As we were sitting there we saw two FSU security guards run past rather excited. They ran up to some bike cops and got them to follow. At this point most people who were outside knew something was up.
Screams of “Everyone get your cameras!” could be heard as a crowd gathered in a parking lot just outside the alley.
“Everyone get the fuck back.” the cops yelled at the crowd as people gathered to see what was happening. Someone was lying unconscious on the ground. I looked around to make sure my friends were nearby.
“Yo Mike, stay close” I yelled as he pushed his way closer to the front of the crowd. I heard more shouting from behind us. “Fucking shit,” I said under my breath. About ten cops were running around the corner, billy clubs drawn. “Everyone get the fuck outta here, I’m about to crack some skulls.”
I grabbed Dylan and Tracy. “Alright, let’s go and find everyone else.” As we were walking away a cop shoved Tracy and two different cops pushed me up against the wall, all the while verbally threatening to incapacitate us in a number of different ways. We walked out into the street where more cops were uttering more threats and hitting and arresting kids. We looked up and saw some helicopters with spotlights shining down on everything. We decided it would be best to get out of all the action and try and locate everyone. As we were crossing the street some guy came up to us looking around desperately.
“Any of you guys seen a puppy?” the guy asked.
“No, sorry man but we’ll keep a lookout," I replied. "What happened?”
“I was standing in the crowd and everyone got maced, they got my pup in the face. When they got me I accidentally let go of her leash and she took off.”
“Shit, well, we’ll see if we can find her. Good luck man.”
We rounded another corner and some girl was asking us what the hell was going on. “We have no idea, just lots of cops and chaos.”
“Well I just saw a puppy run out into the street and get hit by a car," said the girl.
We wandered around for a little bit longer, looking for everyone else. We found Jesse who said he was going to some fountain with the kids from NY. “Alright, well we’re heading back to the park we were at earlier today cause that’s probably where everyone else went.”
We walked back to the park and found everyone else there. I was glad to see everyone was in one piece. We wanted to get the hell out of sight so we walked around and eventually found what we thought would be a good hiding spot near the railroad tracks. As we walked through thick brush we heard voices. We called out to them and they called back to us. Apparently we had accidentally stumbled on a few freight riders camping out. They let us sit down with them and said they had seen the helicopters from a distance and were wondering if it was for Pointless. We told them the story, then brought out a few brews. I dozed on and off as people were talking. A few of us decided to spend the rest of the night there as it was pretty secluded. I ended up waking up around 4:30 in the morning shivering. I didn’t have my sweatshirt with me and so I did my best to keep warm by bringing my arms inside my t-shirt.
The next day, after finding out the festival was canceled we decided to head back home. In retrospect we made the decision a bit too early, as we later found out most of the bands played for the rest of the weekend. As we were driving away with the buildings of Philadelphia growing smaller on the skyline Nick turned to Jesse and I and said, “That was fucked up.” I couldn’t have agreed more. Such is life.
The next morning I woke up on Mike's floor with a hangover and dust bunnies and strands of hair stuck to my cheek. Everyone else was still asleep so I did my best to do the same. It was a slow morning, everyone waking up one by one then lighting cigarettes. Jesse, Nick, and Mike went into the bathroom to smoke some weed. I sat on Mike’s bed waiting with anticipation the day to come.
We finally got everything together and made our way down to Mike’s car. “I know a great place to get some food, but it’s a ways away, we might as well drive there," Mike said. We all piled into his car still not quite awake. It was a typical summer day in the city: people and traffic. After driving around for 10 minutes we began looking for a place to park I had to piss and everyone else was hungry. We had been sitting in the same spot for about 5 minutes or so, traffic moving extremely slow when I noticed flashing lights just up ahead. “I wonder what the hell’s going on up there,” I thought to myself. Unfortunately it didn’t take too much longer for me to figure out.
We moved with the traffic closer to the commotion ahead. Looking out the window I saw a large flatbed truck stopped, halfway through taking a right turn. “No fucking way.” I said as we came up to it. “Is that what I think it is?” We moved closer and I could see a mangled bicycle underneath the truck. My heart skipped a beat. As we drove by, to my horror I saw a body trapped underneath one of the gigantic truck wheels, massive amounts of blood soaking into the cement. I felt sick to my stomach. Perhaps most disturbing of all was the fact that the police were doing nothing to hide the body. People were lining the sidewalks pointing and staring at the corpse lying cold and stiff in the hot sun. I felt enraged at the disrespect that I felt was being shown to the unfortunate biker. For the rest of the day I couldn’t get the image out of my head, and I certainly couldn’t stop thinking about it. 2 hours ago that guy had plans for the day. Maybe he was going to meet up with some friends, or make one last delivery before going home. Maybe he was riding his bike today because he decided he needed to get in better shape, or maybe he was late for class or just trying to get home. Either way none of it mattered now. Such is life.
I was glad to see NYC become a bunch of buildings on the horizon. We were finally headed to Philly after what seemed like an eternity of waiting and doing nothing. Nick, Jesse, and Mike blazed a few bowls as we drove down the highway, and I cracked the window a bit to let some fresh air in. I quickly realized though that we were in New Jersey.
With New York and New Jersey finally behind us, we found ourselves in the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia. The sun was just setting as we found a parking spot a good ¾ of a mile away from the church where Pointless Fest (or whatever the hell they were calling it this year) was being held. The four of us walked briskly towards the show ready for the next few days of music and partying.
Nick quickly found some friends of his from New York and we all began talking. I suddenly noticed the pangs of hunger in my stomach and looking around and realized they were serving big cups of vegan chili for about $2.
I spent the rest of the night hanging around outside the venue talking with people, eating chili and drinking a few brews in the alley. After everything was over at the church we made our way to Clark Park where Lynched ( http://www.myspace.com/lynched4life) was playing. They ended up putting on an awesome show. That night we decided to sleep in the park and we fell asleep listening to people playing GG Allin songs on acoustic guitars.
We woke up the next morning to the whirring sound of loud engines. Apparently the grass needed to be cut and so there were people driving around in riding mowers cutting the grass everywhere except where we were lying down. We all stretched, some lighting up cigarettes as we packed up our gear. We said bye to a couple of the NY kids we had camped out with, sure we would be seeing them that evening. We made our way back to downtown Philly where we spent the majority of the day in Love Park, dipping our feet in the water and soaking up the warm sun. Some car company was having a free giveaway, so we all got free ice cream and were able to use computers and the internet. Later in the afternoon we went to another park near the railroad tracks. We all rolled cigarettes and watched the dogs playing together in the dog park.
While there we ended up meeting up with a bunch of friends from back in RI. All together there were about 8 or 9 of us. We spent the early evening drinking and smoking in the park waiting for the show to start.
We finally made our way back to the church, just as things began to start up again. I got myself another cup of chili and stood outside the venue talking with different people. I ended up meeting some guy who was offered me a bunch of his wine. We sat in the alley together talking and drinking. The wine getting to my head I began to feel pretty generous and quickly ran to the nearest convenience store with my friend from back home, Tracy. I bought my first pack of cigarettes—Marlboro 100’s and ran back to where everyone else was. I gave away half the pack as I was still feeling quite benevolent. I settled myself back down again and drank a bit more wine only to be interrupted by a cop car driving up the alley. Since everyone had alcohol on them we all got up and dispersed. After about five minutes Jesse, Dylan, Tracy and I went back to where we had been previously sitting. As we were sitting there we saw two FSU security guards run past rather excited. They ran up to some bike cops and got them to follow. At this point most people who were outside knew something was up.
Screams of “Everyone get your cameras!” could be heard as a crowd gathered in a parking lot just outside the alley.
“Everyone get the fuck back.” the cops yelled at the crowd as people gathered to see what was happening. Someone was lying unconscious on the ground. I looked around to make sure my friends were nearby.
“Yo Mike, stay close” I yelled as he pushed his way closer to the front of the crowd. I heard more shouting from behind us. “Fucking shit,” I said under my breath. About ten cops were running around the corner, billy clubs drawn. “Everyone get the fuck outta here, I’m about to crack some skulls.”
I grabbed Dylan and Tracy. “Alright, let’s go and find everyone else.” As we were walking away a cop shoved Tracy and two different cops pushed me up against the wall, all the while verbally threatening to incapacitate us in a number of different ways. We walked out into the street where more cops were uttering more threats and hitting and arresting kids. We looked up and saw some helicopters with spotlights shining down on everything. We decided it would be best to get out of all the action and try and locate everyone. As we were crossing the street some guy came up to us looking around desperately.
“Any of you guys seen a puppy?” the guy asked.
“No, sorry man but we’ll keep a lookout," I replied. "What happened?”
“I was standing in the crowd and everyone got maced, they got my pup in the face. When they got me I accidentally let go of her leash and she took off.”
“Shit, well, we’ll see if we can find her. Good luck man.”
We rounded another corner and some girl was asking us what the hell was going on. “We have no idea, just lots of cops and chaos.”
“Well I just saw a puppy run out into the street and get hit by a car," said the girl.
We wandered around for a little bit longer, looking for everyone else. We found Jesse who said he was going to some fountain with the kids from NY. “Alright, well we’re heading back to the park we were at earlier today cause that’s probably where everyone else went.”
We walked back to the park and found everyone else there. I was glad to see everyone was in one piece. We wanted to get the hell out of sight so we walked around and eventually found what we thought would be a good hiding spot near the railroad tracks. As we walked through thick brush we heard voices. We called out to them and they called back to us. Apparently we had accidentally stumbled on a few freight riders camping out. They let us sit down with them and said they had seen the helicopters from a distance and were wondering if it was for Pointless. We told them the story, then brought out a few brews. I dozed on and off as people were talking. A few of us decided to spend the rest of the night there as it was pretty secluded. I ended up waking up around 4:30 in the morning shivering. I didn’t have my sweatshirt with me and so I did my best to keep warm by bringing my arms inside my t-shirt.
The next day, after finding out the festival was canceled we decided to head back home. In retrospect we made the decision a bit too early, as we later found out most of the bands played for the rest of the weekend. As we were driving away with the buildings of Philadelphia growing smaller on the skyline Nick turned to Jesse and I and said, “That was fucked up.” I couldn’t have agreed more. Such is life.
