Alternative attitude

By R.S. Hakes, On-Line Forty-Niner

Monday, September 21, 1998

Rookies are constantly being taken advantage of by others. Whether it is a young athlete negotiating a contract, a naive international traveler exchanging dollars for pesos or even a new columnist for a collegiate paper.

I am a rookie. I will be the first to admit it. I have to learn the rules of my trade just like the rest.

Last Monday, I read the jagged results of The Hole. I read what few words did remain after its blind date with a few vicious editors.

I was stifled, shut down, bound and gagged, and left speechless, all by a higher power.

Today's column will be short and sweet. It will be filled with beautiful images of pretty flowers, kaleidoscopic rainbows and breathtaking sunsets in a smogless sky.

These things do occur in Long Beach. They are hard to find and so is the current local music scene. If you open your eyes and clean the wax out of your ears, you may find what you have been missing.

There is a buzz swarming around the Long Beach music scene. Jesus Wore Dickies just released an interesting electronic pop CD entitled "Terminal Island."

Disco Stranger has been around for a few years and is still playing live shows periodically.

The band is a remarkable brass induced funk act and is worth seeing at local bars. The band is currently working on a new album.

Meija, whose members do not act like rock stars and absolutely do not use heroin, is a rough sounding garage band fighting its way out of the garage. If you happen to catch Meija on a sober night, please know where the safety exits are because it might get crazy.

The local artists I have mentioned and countless others like Total Chaos, Mention, Laudanum, Wink Musselman, Ultrathin, Punchbowl and the Slippers are all supporting Long Beach's underground music scene. This scene does exist. All you have to do is get off the couch and find it.

Stay tuned for the return to the vivid depths of The Hole next week, barring any vocal castration unwillingly performed on me. Now let us pray.