Then and now - A higher calling

I am under the assumption that people who grew up with the internet from day one often take things for granted when it comes to accessibility to just about anything.

I savor the fact that I come from a generation where we still had to seek out new things via any means necessary without the help of Google. In the world of punk and hardcore music pre-internet there were a few good ways to learn about bands.

For the recluse, it could be buying magazines off the shelf and ordering records direct from the record companies after seeing their ads in Maximum Rock'n Roll or Flipside. Another source was finding pen pals in the classifieds that were willing to swap letters and mixed tapes for the same.

For the more courageous soul one could jump on a bus and head downtown to the local record store and browse alphabetically through the offerings of punk and hardcore on 7" and 12" vinyl.

For the bold it was seeking out that rare individual walking down the street, strolling through the mall or in the hanging out in the halls of your own school. You would know you've found this individual by a hair cut, a patch, a pin, a band shirt or maybe a band logo on a binder or pencil case. You couldn't add them as a facebook friend...you actually had to walk up to them and start a conversation. Those conversations often led to sitting in your basement or theirs listening to records and being introduced to new bands. No wall posts, no links just "have you heard this?" in conversation.

I can't remember which band shirt that may have been worn the day I noticed a guy name “Nik” that I went to school with was in to the same music I was, but I do remember being in his basement and being introduced to Social Unrest, The Fartz, Wasted Youth and my first ever dose of D.R.I. (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles). Skip forward a few months later and we were writing music together.

Here's “Nik” when one of my first bands "Peak of Outrage" (P.O.O.) was in it's infancy.

Skip forward a couple of decades and we're in the world of facebook and social networking on the internet catching up with old friends. I get a friend request from “Fr. Nik”. Not the punk rock “Nik” that I remember from high school, but Fr. Nik of the Greek Orthodox Church!

It doesn't take me long to realize as much as time has passed and some core values have grown stronger that were obviously always there, that Fr. Nik may hold down the Holy Gospel on Sundays, but he still posts Wasted Youth, Stretch Armstrong and more on his facebook wall from time to time. That's why I call him the punk rock priest. He doesn't live in Winnipeg anymore, but we did make the time to meet up a few weeks ago. The visit was great...thank you!