Where The Streets Have No Name

This beach town bares a curse more than a paradise for this inhabitant

The friends flake like snow, nice at the sight yet somehow gone at the first inkling of heat

The ocean is elusive and teases me by giving dreams of being carried out to the city lights

Winking at me in the night sky

This beach town casts a curse in the limelight of the summer sun

This island of rebels without a voice, rebels without rebelliousness

This prison of lost souls, where the unjust triumphs and the just have their faith shattered

But I plot my great escape

This beach town imprisoned me since birth with it’s curse

This prison has held me captive for 20 years as I stare through the lively bars

The lights of Manhattan, a beacon of hope in times of utter despair and nothingness

The midnight train calls my name. Reminding me. “One day you’ll have your great escape.”

Have you seen my love? I heard she’s locked away in the depths of her mind. Guarded by dragons. But this night is still so young so I throw my heart of stone and hope it cracks her window up. She can climb down and we’ll take a ride to the city to dance among the stars.

I was told to play the hand I was dealt but my hands unlike the rest. I don’t have any hearts or spades, I ain’t got no clubs or diamonds either. All I have is misfits and casanovas. Damsels and the lonely. I’m the jack of misfits watching as the queen of damsels plays with the joker. I’d give anything to be the king of casanovas, if only for just this lonely night.

Have you seen my heart? I heard it was hanging in the gallows. Waiting for a friend to come and tear it down. Never should’ve thrown my heart of stone. I remember the night she squeezed the life out of it. Darlin I just want to shake and twist with the Earth beneath our feet when our worlds come crashing down. I can’t buy you diamonds and pearls but I can give you my heart of the finest jewels. You said that wasn’t enough.

I was told to play the hand I was dealt but my hands unlike the rest. I don’t have any hearts or spades, I ain’t got no clubs or diamonds either. All I have is misfits and casanovas. Damsels and the lonely. I’m the jack of misfits watching as the queen of damsels plays with the joker. I’d give anything to be the king of casanovas, if only for just this lonely night.

When will I get a good hand?

When will I get a hand worth playing?

I just want an ace of hearts to complete my deck.

Should be filming two scenes that I really love this weekend. Two different characters. Two opportunities to really show off my full talents of acting, writing, and directing. It’s weird that I can already see it in my head. I’m incredibly excited for this weekend. And thankfully all my finals will have been completed so I don’t have anything to worry about except these two short films.

1. New York Rangers vs 7. Washington Capitals

Another team the Rangers have had bad history against. They barely escaped a round in which they played a team that had pretty much owned them in the regular season. Now they play a team that has destroyed them in the playoffs the past few years. It doesn’t help that they have a new coach that preaches playoff-style hockey. So what do the Rangers need to do to take this series? They need Chris Kreider to play just as well as he did in Game 7 for the entire series. They need Marian Gaborik to find out how to score in the playoffs. They need Brian Boyle to return. They need to put Hagelin and/or Kreider on the powerplay. They need Henrik Lundqvist to play phenomenal hockey as he’s done this entire year. It also wouldn’t hurt if Alex Ovechkin’s ego disrupted the flow of this team seeing as how he is seeing less minutes. That’s a big possibility with the success that Girardi and Staal have had with shutting him down in the playoffs. If you can get inside Ovechkin’s head right now it would be huge. Most importantly, they need to play with the desperation they played with in the last two games for an entire series. If the Rangers can do at least 75% of that they will take this series in 5, if they get half then they take it in 6. If they don’t play with that desperation and Ovechkin finds his game, the Capitals win in 7

Prediction: Rangers in 6 (W-W-L-W-L-W)

5. Philadelphia Flyers vs 6. New Jersey Devils

This is interesting. Everyone and their mother is probably going to pick Philly due to the fact that they started to play defense, they found some goaltending, and they have the emotional high of knocking out Cup-favorite and hated rival Pittsburgh Penguins. But there’s a few variables that go into the Devils favor. Intensity is still there, goaltending experience, and health. The key to this series will be the first two games. If the Devils can steal one of them it’ll change this series. If they steal the first game, I’m going with the Devils. I don’t like the defense of Philadelphia or the goaltending to stand up and dominate this series like it’s going to have to do.

Prediction: Devils in 7 (W-L-W-W-L-L-W)

2. St. Louis Blues vs 8. Los Angeles Kings

This is going to be one of the most competitive series’ of the post-season. This matchup calls for at least one double-OT finish. But the big factor is the experience of the Los Angeles Kings paired with the goaltending. Jeff Carter and Mike Richards are going to be extremely valuable to the Kings in this round. St. Louis is just too young and inexperienced and they don’t score enough. So when you go up against a Vezina contender and favorite, your chances don’t look all that great. The Blues are a tremendous team with a very bright future. But if they want to be considered a Cup-favorite in my book, they need either a top 4 goalie or a player like Zach Parise and another 25-30 goal scorer. But as of right now that’s what Los Angeles has.

Prediction: Los Angeles in 6 (L-W-W-L-W-W)

3. Phoenix Coyotes vs. 4. Nashville Predators

Nashville has a dominant point-shot in Shea Weber, a good pair offensively in the Kostitsyn brothers, and world class goaltending in Pekka Rinne. The Coyotes have solid depth, experience, determination to give their fans some post-season success. But the Predators have the same thing. When it’s all said and done I see no seed-related upsets.

Prediction: Predators in 5

Eastern Conference Finals: New York Rangers vs. New Jersey Devils

Western Conference Finals: Nashville Predators vs. Los Angeles Kings

Say that fighting needs to be banned in hockey, I will ignore them. Caught you there didn’t I? You’re not even worth the fucking time so I’ll set the record straight. Hockey is the most poetic sport there is. There is nothing more amazing than seeing a player dig down deep and take the puck end to end to score a clutch goal. There is nothing more amazing than watching a goalie give up his ligaments to stop a puck for the benefit of his team and a win. Fighting in hockey is one of the most important aspects. There is so much poetry in it. It’s not brutal. Ironically, fighting in hockey is the most gentlemanly thing there is in sports. Guys understand there roles. Some rookies go up to known “enforcers” and ask them to fight for a few minutes but take it is simply because it helps them keep their roster spot. Guys make careers out of it simply because without those guys, hockey isn’t the same. When Brandon Prust fights, the Rangers play better and the fans are more involved. But he’ll be the first to tell you that he loves his role. People say that football is the ultimate team sport. Hockey is, without question. Because you tell me the last time you saw the smallest guy on a football go after the biggest guy on the other team to step up for another teammate. It happens all the time in hockey. Every hockey team is a family no matter how good or bad they are. You never hear about ego’s getting in the way of team chemistry, it’s just whether or not the personalities gel. Fighting in hockey is one of the best sites to see not because of the brutality but because of the sacrifice. Guys aren’t fighting because they hate each other all the time, sure that’s sometimes the case. But more often than not it’s “my team needs a boost, you wanna go a round?” And the best part about that is, when one enforcer asks another one to fight, if the guy says no…for WHATEVER reason, the guy asking to fight obliges and says okay. People need to stop being pussies and stop being soft. People need to stop being so sensitive all the time. Just don’t give a fuck. Find the beauty in things instead of being an objective prick. Hockey is without a doubt the ultimate man’s sport. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the highest, here’s how the top 4 sports rank in manliness and toughness

1. Hockey 10

2. Football 9

3. Basketball 7

4. Baseball 4

I hate how people look down on hockey. I’m dumbfounded by people that say they like soccer but not hockey. IT’S THE SAME THING but hockey is 10x more physical and faster. A saying in hockey to describe a pussy is “he plays hockey like an Italian soccer player”. Baseball players stand in front of 100mph pitches (me making fun of an idiot). They do that maybe once or twice a game every two or three weeks. Hockey players put their bodies and faces in front of 100mph slapshots from 15-30 feet away almost every single game. I honestly can’t believe that people can’t comprehend the beauty of hockey. It’s got more passion than any other sport on the planet. It’s got more heart than any other sport on the planet. It’s got more guts than anything on the planet. One of the best things about hockey is the playoffs. Two guys can fight 10 times in 5 games and talk massive shit about each other during a best of 7 series. But when the series is over, they line up to shake hands and every so often you get that guy that refuses to shake hands. But 9.9 times out of 10, they will stop, congratulate each other, and bury their problems. Night in and night out players leave all they have on the ice. Why? Because of the fans and the love of the game. You show me any other sport where 95% of the team does that. Putting their careers on the line every night. If you don’t understand hockey but want to experience something purely amazing. Go and find the HBO 24/7 Documentaries of the Winter Classic. You’ll see why hockey is better than any other sport. After that, go watch not one, not two, but at least three playoff hockey games. Hockey rant…done! LET’S GO RANGERS!!!!!

You’re never going to stop it. You could have Bono sing for it, you could have a massive music festival to promote stopping it, you can do practically everything in the world to prevent it but it won’t happen. It’s not just this country that does it, it’s every country. It’s like underage drinking. The term bullying and binge drinking are incredibly similar. Binge drinking is defined as having 4 or 5 drinks in one night. But if you’re out for 6 hours, you’re completely fine unless you’re a pathetic lightweight in which case you shouldn’t be drinking at all. Bullying is defined as any time you are picking on someone else, but define picking on. And this is coming from a kid who was “bullied” enough and lonely enough to contemplate suicide as early as 9 or 10. But I’ve come to learn that the important thing to combating bullying, is for our generation to step up and teach our kids how to handle it the right way. Teach them to stand up, teach them to take their lumps and come home to a good support system. You’re never going to get every kid in the world or even half the kids in the world to stop teasing people. It’s a psychological thing and I for one believe we need it. What is our life without hardships? Our personalities and our morales come from our experiences and our parents. If I was never bullied, I wouldn’t care about people I’ve never met. I would never have the fight in me to stand up for people. You can’t stop these things, and again I believe we need these things. But more importantly, we need kids to know that when they get home, they’ll have a good support system. And also, if you get a call from a parent or principal that says your kid was being a bully, teach him why that’s wrong. Show him some of the videos we’ve seen. Make him understand WHY it’s wrong. You can’t just stop something with a newspaper article or anything like that. A world issue is solved by one generation teaching the generation that they raise, what’s right and wrong and more importantly WHY it’s right and wrong. I for one am blessed for having been bullied because all that time alone and being forced to look at life deeply at a young age has helped me form stories and poems and lyrics. Stop trying to stop bullying because it’s not going to happen. Start thinking how to start combatting it. If you honestly think that in any lifetime, we can completely put an end to bullying, you’re dreaming. It’s a righteous dream but one that will leave you unfulfilled.

I poured my heart into an already filled glass. It spilled out onto the floor and made me slip. Lying in shit and 6 feet under, I shook the hand of God. I carried the weight of a crucifix, from all my so called friends. But I came out stronger on the other side of the light at the end of the tunnel.

Momma I’m coming home. The prison doors have opened I’ve been paroled. I remember I once was told, it’s better to burn out than to fade away. I just want both.

What have I become? Where are all my friends? I need them in my time of blindness. I spend my time talking to myself. But my prayers still fall on deaf ears. You can have it all, every brick of my prison cell. The blood stains and the empty whiskey bottles. My fight is over.

Momma I’m coming home. The prison doors have opened I’ve been paroled. I remember I once was told, to keep friends close and enemies closer. I’d settle for a friend or enemy.

I sit at the diner where I had my last meal. As the steam from the coffee and smoke from the cigarettes flare. My mind wanders to the murder committed here. It was you, it was you who took it all. You shot me with your gun, you were the one with the smoking gun. Driving off with the Italian Lightning in his ‘49 Mercury. Leaving me to die alone. And to this day, that loneliness won’t leave me alone.

Momma I’m coming home. The prison doors have opened I’ve been paroled. But I will make you cry, as I’ve been known to do. For I once was told, home is where the heart is. There’s a damsel who’s got my heart. And my story has one final part. For I met two friends in prison. They go by Smith & Weston and they’re always by my side. It’s time to take this frontier. Tell any man who wants it, I’ve got my guns at the ready. Momma I’m coming home.