Beer. Beach. Bike. Blogging?

It's summer (fucking) vacation!!! For the last five years I have opted to teach the toughest age group of all: 8th graders (that's 13 and 14 year-olds in case your country has a different grade system). Every summer break is more of a necessary period of recuperation than a vacation. It's a time to undo the knots and smooth out the psychological kinks that twist up inside us from six hours a day (and 180 days) dealing with hormonally charged wrecks (who can be downright mean at times!). I'm gonna miss them. But that doesn't mean I'm not REALLY glad it's over!

So with all this time on my hands, that means more frequent posts, right? Not necessarily. With the lack of comments and the sun blaring bright outside, I don't think my motivation will increase too much. Who knows... it may vary from week to week...

But the first post of this season of fun is from a band that I associate with fun too: Operation Ivy. I used to consider them a "guilty pleasure," but after so many years of OPIV listening and skanking joy, I can fully admit that I love this band! The " '69 Newport" EP is an early sampling of Operation Ivy's uniquely great brand of ska-punk that has won over thousands of punks of many persuasions over the years (their battle cry of "unity" seems to have worked!). These two tracks ("Hedgecore" and "Left Behind") have been compiled on some OPIV collections in the past, but in case you haven't heard them, here are some rips from one of the original Very Small Records pressings.

Link has been removed. I believe Epitaph has just released a CD with these tracks included.

Back Cover