“New Brunswick, New Jersey, Goodbye…” book by RK

[scottheisel]

It's an alright book, although I feel like too many of the stories end up as "Oh man, this ALMOST happened" or "Oh man, we ALMOST got in a fight," or "Oh man, I saw a girl get a gun pulled on her and ALMOST tried to help but went inside my dorm room instead and she was beaten badly" (that last one is an actual story from the book).

Anyone can write a book about things in their life they ALMOST did.

Scott, it's quite clear that you missed the point of the book all together. And things he ALMOST did? Like spending a weekend with Lifetime? LIke going on tour with his own band? Like putting out a fanzine and doing shows? Sounds to me like ROnan did plenty. What do you do, other than sit back and talk about music?

Additionally, if it SO easy to write a book (of any kind), then where is yours?

Second - I read the book. Are we to believe that you, when faced with the prospect of being shot in the head, would take that risk to help someone? Amazing how you're so brave, especially in retrospect hypotheticals.

Ahh, another frustrated rock critic. Go listen to another Aiden record.

Please don't criticize who I am or what I do unless you decide to reveal who you are and what you do, considering you just registered today, have your email address hidden and this was your first post. That's all I'm going to say regarding your post.

[bystand]

i like my privacy and am entitled to an opinion - and lucky for me, being anonymous doesn't have anything to do with making accurate observations. Seriously, anyone who read that book and has the slightest depth to their personality will get a lot more out of it than "some stories" etc. Just because you have a shallow or simple understanding of something, doesn't mean the rest of us don't get it too.

I will remain anonymous, I will continue to call you out. The proof is in the pudding, name tag or not.

[Guest Admin]

hey everyone, I just wanted to add that this book is not for everyone and I can understand certain people having criticisms of Ronen's book. I will be the first to say that the book isn't the greatest book written on the subject, but it really connected with me and reminded me of my own experiences getting into punk rock and independent music. I don't expect the book to connect with everyone.

[skumbucket]

i like my privacy and am entitled to an opinion - and lucky for me, being anonymous doesn't have anything to do with making accurate observations. Seriously, anyone who read that book and has the slightest depth to their personality will get a lot more out of it than "some stories" etc. Just because you have a shallow or simple understanding of something, doesn't mean the rest of us don't get it too.

I will remain anonymous, I will continue to call you out. The proof is in the pudding, name tag or not.

ah, fuck. i knew there would be a downside to vinyl collective getting attention on punknews.org. hopefully we don't get too many people with senseless grudges against scott coming over from there.

[bystand]

i dont think anyone is debating that everyone will get something different out of this book or any other release for that matter. it's just that mr. heisel's comment was a misrepresentation ofwhat that book is really about. not only that, it reveals just how well he does (or in my opinion, does not) 'get' it. music is more than a product! it can affect the direction of someone's life, it did for me and aparrently for Ronan and other people here too.

[mclz]

new jersey rules

i should pick this up since i was born in new brunswick

[matt]

i apologize ahead of time for my lack of knowledge so if this all nonsense then disregard it. ive been to new york countless times but only made my first trip to jersey for the ill fated hellfest in 05. ended up going to the lifetime show in asbury park. basically some of the sketchiest stuff ive ever done. dude from the b9 board offered to give me a ride and i just needed to get on a train to hoboken and he would pick me up. i ended up sitting in the backseat of a two door toyota tercel while this dude smoked out of a can of PBR. went to a matinee show at bloomfield ave. seemed like a decent area from what i remember. then the drive to asbury park on the other hand, that shit was pretty wretched. had to stop by his place in camden after the show and that was even crazier. listen to your parents and dont get into cars with strangers...

oh man! that hellfest was the worst! yeah, i definitely should add asbury park to the list of no-no cities. that place went down the pipes a looong time ago. bloomfield ave. cafe, however, is in montclair, which is a pretty decent town. and camden, like i said, is the most dangerous town in jersey.

that whole situation and time is just so surreal to me now. once i heard lifetime was on the bill i bought my plane ticket and the pass for the show. i ended up going by myself and i was just going to take the train from manhattan to trenton each day. i was about to go to sleep the night before hellfest was scheduled to start and thought it be a good idea to check my email since it had been a few days. everywhere i see hellfest is cancelled. i was so close to getting on a train the next day by myself to trenton to show up at the arena going "WTF is going on?!" all of it just seemed like a terrible prank someone was pulling on me.

[skumbucket]

i dont think anyone is debating that everyone will get something different out of this book or any other release for that matter. it's just that mr. heisel's comment was a misrepresentation ofwhat that book is really about. not only that, it reveals just how well he does (or in my opinion, does not) 'get' it. music is more than a product! it can affect the direction of someone's life, it did for me and aparrently for Ronan and other people here too.

that's fine. but you don't have to be all dickish about it. i'm willing to bet that every single person on this board has had their life changed by music in some way or another; i seriously doubt scott would be going down his chosen career path if he hadn't. if music has had such a profound impact on your life you should know and be willing to accept the fact that art affects people in different ways. books, music, paintings, whatever -- people don't always glean the exact same thing from it. if the two of you interpreted the message of it differently, that's fine. it happens. that doesn't mean one is wrong or right. you can both throw your opinion out there and people will decide for themselves once they've read it.

personally, i haven't and have virtually no knowledge about the players in the new brunswick scene -- so i can't say that i would give a rat's ass about this book either. until i read it.

[bystand]

didn't mean to sound dickish at all. still i have to dispute what you're saying... its not that we have incompatible opinions. matter of fact, this was never about opinion. it's about fact. you will never be right if you say "this is an apple" as you point at a soccer ball. that's what i think the dude did. he said "this is a collection of stories like that are like THIS" - and I dispute that observation on a technical basis.

[skumbucket]

zoinks.

[bystand]

but i give you credit for trying to broker the peace deal. for this i will let you see my Silver Jews The Natural Bridge on flexi-disc.

[scottheisel]

didn't mean to sound dickish at all. still i have to dispute what you're saying... its not that we have incompatible opinions. matter of fact, this was never about opinion. it's about fact. you will never be right if you say "this is an apple" as you point at a soccer ball. that's what i think the dude did. he said "this is a collection of stories like that are like THIS" - and I dispute that observation on a technical basis.

Actually, that's not at all what I said. Go read my post again. I wrote " I feel like too many of the stories end up as..."

Explain to me how saying "I feel" is the same as saying "THIS IS AN UNDISPUTABLE TRUTH". Because I don't see how expressing a personal opinion is the same as stating a fact.

So, basically, you're someone who knows me and doesn't like me, and is trying to pick a fight with me because... well, who knows why. Regardless, please go away. This board is pretty much the most positive community I've been a part of in years (and I don't think I'm alone in saying that), and I'd like for you to not ruin it.

[bystand]

""Oh man, I saw a girl get a gun pulled on her and ALMOST tried to help but went inside my dorm room instead and she was beaten badly" (that last one is an actual story from the book)."

"IS an actual story"

ill save you the embarassment of re-typing the passage you refer to , which would show just how off-base your characterization of what it "is" about. just like Stand By Me is about kids who find a dead body, and not at all about growing up, finding adventure, etc.

[magalvsr13]

dude, take your personal shit elsewhere

[scottheisel]

""Oh man, I saw a girl get a gun pulled on her and ALMOST tried to help but went inside my dorm room instead and she was beaten badly" (that last one is an actual story from the book)."

"IS an actual story"

ill save you the embarassment of re-typing the passage you refer to , which would show just how off-base your characterization of what it "is" about. just like Stand By Me is about kids who find a dead body, and not at all about growing up, finding adventure, etc.

You read the book, right? Out of the many, many stories inside the book, one of them was about Ronen seeing a dude pull a gun on a girl and instead of trying to help, he decided to go back into his dorm room and not get involved. I don't understand what's unclear about this. But please, keep nitpicking.

Or on second thought, please leave this forum.