Vans Warped Tour

Before going overseas to gead school, I went to the very last Vans Warped Tour to ever exist. in 2018, Kevin Lyman stated that he wanted to move on to bigger and brighter things, but that there would be a large celebration in 2019, which would have been the 25th anniversary of the tour. 

The festival started small in 1995, as an Eclectic alternative rock festival that would eventually include punk rock and other genres of music. skateboard shoe manufacturer Vans would become the first large sponsor of the store, and because of the sponsorship, they were able to take the tour all around the United States and so few stops in Canada. over the next two and a half decades, many different types of bands will perform at this Festival.

Just a few of the bands from the day I went.

Rumor has it that the festival came to an untimely end because of a few bands being packed with sexual allegations. Members of brand new and Pierce the Veil Scott flags for fire do to their relations with underage patrons, and to try and keep the image pure, Vans Warped Tour took its bow and left the scene.

However, in spite of all of the criticisms and allegations surrounding the tour, it's continued 2 be an outlet for teenagers to go and see all of their favorite bands perform 35-minute sets all in one day, and continue to be an award-winning tour for over 20 years. in fact, that's why I became so popular, that just a few years after its Inception, they decided to go Global, starting the 1998 tour in New Zealand. the crowds were enormous, drawing in nearly a million people in North America alone every single year.

And so, and the tail end of July, I went to one of their final destinations in Columbia Maryland. Merriweather Post Pavillion, a venue to which I've been several times before, posted several big name bands that day. I took a friend, and we have the time of our lives. I saw I saw several great bands that day, and also crowd-surfed for the first time in my entire life. Needless to say, there must be a repeat occurrence of these events.

Less Than Jake at a meet and greet. I missed out, as the line was at least 45 minutes.

The day that I went, there were over 50 bands, and five of which I had listened to frequently prior. besides crowd-surfing to August Burns Red, I broke up a fight during Chelsea Grin, met the members of Nekrogoblikon, sat in the bleachers for We the Kings and Simple Plan, nearly broke my neck to Sharptooth and Motionless In White, and enjoyed the positive atmosphere of Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish, and Mayday Parade. 3OH!3 Also made appearance, although I had all but forgotten about their existence up until this point of time.

I didn't miss out on signing the petition for Goblin Rights, though!

It was a great show filled with great people, and they were many Shenanigans to be had from the audience members. if there is ever another occurrence of a festival as awesome as this one, be sure to go.

Zoos and Aquariums

In my life, I have been to several zoos and Aquariums. I've been to the ones in Baltimore, Washington DCf and Cleveland Ohio. 

There's always a lesson to be learned from seeing creatures and someone natural habitats outside of their natural habitat. We can learn so much about ourselves just from watching others.

most zoos and Aquariums are generally fairly expensive. The Baltimore aquarium is no exception, but aside from parking, the zoo in Washington DC is free. the zoo in DC is one of four in the United States to have pandas. I really enjoy pandas and other exotic creatures, so aside from going out into the wild and checking through the brush, this is about as close as I will get to them for a while.

When I was a kid, I went to the aquarium at the age of 7 and fell in love with marine life. In fact, up until I was 12 years old, I wanted to pursue an advanced education in marine biology and study sea creatures and marine wildlife.

The only thing that really changed this was the fact that I didn't want to get swallowed by animals in the ocean. I studied everything that I could about these creatures when I was younger, and I'm so glad I did. I had a wealth of information to offer others around me at the aquarium, from a young age onward.

And then, I found pandas.

Although I am no longer as strong and biology as I once was, it is still a fascination of mine. Admittedly, I wish that the animals kept in zoos and Aquariums had better lives there that were more naturalistic, but at the same time, then I wouldn't be able to know the beauty that is their life. What is most important to remember regardless of circumstance every time we go to, is that these creatures are not pets or toys, but that they are living and sentient creatures who are trying to make their ends meet just as well as our own. Their environment has become as accommodating as possible, but it will still never replicate home. We must always respect the creatures that we see, and enjoy them and appreciate them for what and where they are.

And so I ask you, what will you do to make life better for all living creatures?

Tour De Deutschland

We awoke very early our second day in Germany, as we had places to go, people to see, and things to do. On our second day, we would be getting a tour of the area and the local city. And, who should be giving us the tour, but a couple of 11 and 12 year old children who are required to do this tour as part of their Elementary School graduation?

One we got to the gymnasium (their word for high school), I was blown away by the modernity of it in the middle of the city. We got there, and the teacher himself actually prepared a full buffet for all of us. I don't know why we were getting so many buffets in Europe and ‘all you can eat’ type deals, but as hungry high schoolers, we were very thankful every step of the way. Not to mention the fact that all their food is fresh, usually organic, and doesn't contain all of the nasty preservatives and chemicals that food in the states does.

The different varieties of juice, the different breakfast foods… all of it, fantastic.

And so, we met our tour guides, Anna and Lena, told ourselves a bit about ourselves and vice versa for them, and then we loaded onto a bus for the hillside just outside the city of Freiburg. When our tour guides were confused about something, they would ask somebody in German or talk German amongst themselves, which I found absolutely adorable. But the rest of the time, we noted that they had actually put together an extremely thought out walking tour of the area that comprised of a good 3 km. We climbed a tower of rust and saw the surrounding area of the city, went to a couple thrift shops, got some food at the Open Air Market, and saw the Munster, the biggest church in town, and the Heart of the Lutheran Reformation.

After spending a day gallivanting around and learning about the culture, it was time to go into the heart of the Black Forest itself and perform. At this point in time, word was getting around Europe about us and our travel route. So, a reporter from you June German newspaper actually caught a picture of the Drumline and myself playing our bucket solo called "recycled", and put us in the newspaper. I still have a copy of the article saved on my computer to this day. We got severely discounted (and sometimes free) food as a result of our performance, as the lady running the stands was so impressed with us that she wanted to keep us well fed.

Here we are. (I am second from the right.)

The hospitality I experienced in Germany was like none other in the world, and we still had another day to go. We've already seen and done so much, but yet, I have no idea what lied in store for me in the depths of the black forest.