The Alta Days
Dreamt of the Alta house last night - a place I lived at from 1997 to 1999 in Rohnert Park, California. I lived there in a little room in the back. That same room was occupied by many a cheap renter prior to my arrival. A cold little room it was, and when winter hit, the walls would become damp and anything placed near them would turn green and covered with a fuzzy mold. Ahhh, I loved that place - its faults and all. But my story is only half of a much bigger story, for this place could tell tales, yes sireee, this rotting little house located in the "A" section of RP (hence the street, Alta) had many a tale to tell. Some of my fondest memories of this place are listed below, in no specific order.
Martin's (Marteen), Jufel's, and Ernie's Saturday night porno fests: This was the funniest thing. These three guys, very nice guys, I must add, are in no way perverts, well...maybe a litte. But these guys would do the funniest things. Before I lived in the house, on Saturday nights, these guys would rent about half a dozen porno flicks and watch them after a long evening of drinking cheap beer and smoking strong weed. Schuyler and I would usually come back to the house after being at a local party and find these guys sitting in the living room watching the rented pornos. They would be sitting there, on opposite sides of the room, with small couch pillows on their laps. Inevitably, in the early morning hours, one of the guys would sneak back out to the living room, when nobody was out there, and watch the porns again. Funny.
Schuyler's "all access" room: Schuyler's room was in the back of the house, and it was the only room that had a bathroom and functioning shower attached to it. Everybody who lived at the house had to go through Schuyler's room to get to the shower. I recall tip-toeing through his room in the early and cold morning hours while Schuyler slumbered with his mouth agape and one leg dangling off the side of his bed. It always smelled weird in there. But Schuyler never complained about anybody passing through, and sometimes you might even hear little rumbling sounds coming from the big guy.
Yoni's rotting room and infamous 'poop photo': Yoni is a great friend who now lives in Chicago, but he used to live in the Alta house. Yoni has a new website at www.drawingsbylight.com here you can read stories and see images of everyones favorite man-child. Yoni and Todd, another Alta resident, would be considered second generation Alta dwellers. Schuyler was there since Alta's inception, so I guess that kind of makes him the 'Godfather' of Alta. I moved in around the beginning of the third generation, after a failed attempt at post-college existence with my parents in Sothern California's desert wasteland . Yoni, Todd, Schuyler and I would become the heart of third generation Alta. During this time Yoni worked at the Outback Steakhouse - a gruesome and overly indulgent chain restaurant existing on the outskirts of Home Depo and Wal Mart. Yoni was a line cook there and would come home late at night covered in greasy, stinky, and slimy Outback grime. His soiled clothes would utlimately end up in a small pile somewhere in his room. The smell emanating from there was horrible, like rotting meat mixed with molding bread. I would pop my head in his room from time-to-time and almost pass out from the smell. One time Todd took a horrible photo of Yoni crapping in the bathroom. Todd would often talk about the reaction of the Costco photo dept. employees when he came to pick up the developed prints. I'm sure they were traumatized a bit, and that always brought a smile to my face. That photo ended up behind the refrigerator when the last of the Alta boys moved out. A gift for future generations.
Echobase shows for touring bands and resident band 'Eucalyptus': After about a year or so at Alta house, we started having these little parties called 'Echobase'. They were not actually parties, per se, but rather shows for friends bands. It started out very small, actually, they were always pretty small, but there were times when it seemed as if all of Sonoma County's indie-rock community were present in the small confines of the Alta house. Eucalyptus, the Alta house band, would normally play these shows as well. Eucalyptus was comprised of Todd, Adam, Schuyler, and myself. We called it 'ambient living room rock' or as Adam called it, 'mellifluous ribbon rock from rural northern california'. The band was a starting point for all of us, I think it gave us confidence and assurance that even under-skilled musicians, such as ourselves, could still create pretty and interesting soundscapes. There were sloppy shows, too drunk shows, and flawless shows that caused big grins to come across our faces when we finished playing. Eucalyptus might still exist, and you can find out more about the band through Adams Hervey's eclectic record label www.pehrlabel.com. The other bands that passed through Alta house ran the gamut. Some local, and some touring and moving onto bigger and better venues. Bands like Two Boy Army, Nova Scotia, Port Radium, Labath, Juniper Loop, Droplet, The Cananes, Mismatched Socks, and Timonium graced the stale and stained living room of Alta.
The days these were, and it seemed as if they would last forever.
Additional, glassy-eyed recollections of a time that once was:
Arguments with Yoni (always ending positively, no grudges were held); fights with everyone over why we can't turn on the heater; dishes piled in the sink; Todd studying in his room wearing his trusty gray beanie; Scooter the rabbit humping everyones arm - Todd used to let him finish because he thought he'd get 'blue balls' if he didn't; banning the lumbering and disgusting TC from Alta; the dummy I made disguised as TC (one night Yoni climbed into the dummie's clothing and scared the shit out of me); me puncturing my eardrum with a Q-tip and almost passing out; Yoni putting Icy Hot balm all over his testicles; feeding the incessantly barking dog next door a 'hot sauce sandwich' just to shut him up; the garage lined with Pabst beer cans; the air; the smoke; the drink; the heat; the cold; the smells; and above all, the friendships that were forged there and will last a lifetime.
RIP
520 Alta Ave. 1995-1999
Martin's (Marteen), Jufel's, and Ernie's Saturday night porno fests: This was the funniest thing. These three guys, very nice guys, I must add, are in no way perverts, well...maybe a litte. But these guys would do the funniest things. Before I lived in the house, on Saturday nights, these guys would rent about half a dozen porno flicks and watch them after a long evening of drinking cheap beer and smoking strong weed. Schuyler and I would usually come back to the house after being at a local party and find these guys sitting in the living room watching the rented pornos. They would be sitting there, on opposite sides of the room, with small couch pillows on their laps. Inevitably, in the early morning hours, one of the guys would sneak back out to the living room, when nobody was out there, and watch the porns again. Funny.
Schuyler's "all access" room: Schuyler's room was in the back of the house, and it was the only room that had a bathroom and functioning shower attached to it. Everybody who lived at the house had to go through Schuyler's room to get to the shower. I recall tip-toeing through his room in the early and cold morning hours while Schuyler slumbered with his mouth agape and one leg dangling off the side of his bed. It always smelled weird in there. But Schuyler never complained about anybody passing through, and sometimes you might even hear little rumbling sounds coming from the big guy.
Yoni's rotting room and infamous 'poop photo': Yoni is a great friend who now lives in Chicago, but he used to live in the Alta house. Yoni has a new website at www.drawingsbylight.com here you can read stories and see images of everyones favorite man-child. Yoni and Todd, another Alta resident, would be considered second generation Alta dwellers. Schuyler was there since Alta's inception, so I guess that kind of makes him the 'Godfather' of Alta. I moved in around the beginning of the third generation, after a failed attempt at post-college existence with my parents in Sothern California's desert wasteland . Yoni, Todd, Schuyler and I would become the heart of third generation Alta. During this time Yoni worked at the Outback Steakhouse - a gruesome and overly indulgent chain restaurant existing on the outskirts of Home Depo and Wal Mart. Yoni was a line cook there and would come home late at night covered in greasy, stinky, and slimy Outback grime. His soiled clothes would utlimately end up in a small pile somewhere in his room. The smell emanating from there was horrible, like rotting meat mixed with molding bread. I would pop my head in his room from time-to-time and almost pass out from the smell. One time Todd took a horrible photo of Yoni crapping in the bathroom. Todd would often talk about the reaction of the Costco photo dept. employees when he came to pick up the developed prints. I'm sure they were traumatized a bit, and that always brought a smile to my face. That photo ended up behind the refrigerator when the last of the Alta boys moved out. A gift for future generations.
Echobase shows for touring bands and resident band 'Eucalyptus': After about a year or so at Alta house, we started having these little parties called 'Echobase'. They were not actually parties, per se, but rather shows for friends bands. It started out very small, actually, they were always pretty small, but there were times when it seemed as if all of Sonoma County's indie-rock community were present in the small confines of the Alta house. Eucalyptus, the Alta house band, would normally play these shows as well. Eucalyptus was comprised of Todd, Adam, Schuyler, and myself. We called it 'ambient living room rock' or as Adam called it, 'mellifluous ribbon rock from rural northern california'. The band was a starting point for all of us, I think it gave us confidence and assurance that even under-skilled musicians, such as ourselves, could still create pretty and interesting soundscapes. There were sloppy shows, too drunk shows, and flawless shows that caused big grins to come across our faces when we finished playing. Eucalyptus might still exist, and you can find out more about the band through Adams Hervey's eclectic record label www.pehrlabel.com. The other bands that passed through Alta house ran the gamut. Some local, and some touring and moving onto bigger and better venues. Bands like Two Boy Army, Nova Scotia, Port Radium, Labath, Juniper Loop, Droplet, The Cananes, Mismatched Socks, and Timonium graced the stale and stained living room of Alta.
The days these were, and it seemed as if they would last forever.
Additional, glassy-eyed recollections of a time that once was:
Arguments with Yoni (always ending positively, no grudges were held); fights with everyone over why we can't turn on the heater; dishes piled in the sink; Todd studying in his room wearing his trusty gray beanie; Scooter the rabbit humping everyones arm - Todd used to let him finish because he thought he'd get 'blue balls' if he didn't; banning the lumbering and disgusting TC from Alta; the dummy I made disguised as TC (one night Yoni climbed into the dummie's clothing and scared the shit out of me); me puncturing my eardrum with a Q-tip and almost passing out; Yoni putting Icy Hot balm all over his testicles; feeding the incessantly barking dog next door a 'hot sauce sandwich' just to shut him up; the garage lined with Pabst beer cans; the air; the smoke; the drink; the heat; the cold; the smells; and above all, the friendships that were forged there and will last a lifetime.
RIP
520 Alta Ave. 1995-1999
posted by Joe @ 2:42 PM
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