Where Are They Now?

The internet is a funny thing. On the “local” message board or internet community that I often post, I made a post regarding the Carmen Blog so people who knew him could check out what I wrote. It’s the only way I tell people I wrote something new up here unless of course I am sure the person in particular has an interest worth alerting them to the stuff up here.
From an exchange of comments, funny stories of Carmen and those times came an infamous picture which seems so far away and so from a distant planet that viewing it again after the post and the release of all that from the writing I was shocked to see it.

Its 4 30 in the morning, I am currently sitting here with ice on my balls from getting the long overdue vasectomy and a light bulb went off in my head once I saw the pic.
Maybe it’s the percocet that is helping to take the sting out of the healing process or I may actually have found a fun way to tell a story on here.

Where I go with the first installment (maybe only??) of
WHERE THEY ARE NOW...

Thanks to Chris, who is still a dear friend after all these years for posting the pic.

I am looking at this picture and I am seeing a few faces that are no longer with us. Two dear friends that actually are at the top of the seating arrangement in this particular shot. Could it be that they are foreshadowing their current status as dear friends, hopefully sitting above watching our lives and having a beer and a laugh at our misdeeds and hijinx?

To the Left is a man I just spoke highly about
Carmen Diamico. He may be gone but he is always kept in high honor and regard.


Top Right is my dear fallen brother Stoney. Dan Stone was loved by many and is remembered each year with a charity soccer tournament held by Casey Huckel followed by a beef and beer. The proceeds go towards the budding Stoney United and the Franklin Towne Charter Soccer Team. Stoney United is the brainstorm of Casey Huckel as the name of our indoor team in the men’s league we were in, which now plays outdoor and does a damn fine job (even without me :P ). Franklin Towne Charter is the school in which Casey works as a math teacher and high school soccer coach. Stoney in his last years was the assistant coach and he is now honored with an annual award given to a member of the Boys Soccer Team. It’s a blessing that someone who works as diligently as Casey does is out there keeping Stoney’s name alive as far as he can spread his Frankford Arsenal shirts and such. A true whole blog will have to written about Stoney, needless to say, he embodied the free spirit that we all wish we still had and he died tragically way too young. I still miss him every day.

2nd down on the Left is Mark Purnell from Chicago. Mark came out to visit Philadelphia on Easter Week in 98. This picture is from that time. I met the Chicago guys in the summer of 97 as they were sitting on South Street trying to sell cds. I later wrote (a physical letter) to them in regards to their band Catburglar. We had them come out that thanksgiving. It was an awesome time, with a football game the Friday after thanksgiving followed by two shows and I am thankful for that time as I’ve made a lifetime friend out of Luke who traveled with them, as well as Remis and had a few adventures in California 2 summers later with VJ. Mark’s brother Tommy and Shawn were in the band Catburglar and he had such a good time he wanted to come back out. 7 days or so and each night was filled with a lot of fun and chaos ranging from seeing Skarhead with Vanilla Ice to a weird post movies hangout with some random girls that had a girl drinking a glass of piss after she had sexual relations with none other then Stoney. Mark is doing well from what I’ve heard but it has been over 5 years since I’ve seen him.

Sitting down on the Couch to the left is Mike Holzer. Mike Holzer was the guy who Carmen hung out with a lot towards the end of his life. He was Carmen’s other best friend. He grew up next door to Bushy’s house on Hunting Park ave. He was an excellent zany mechanic who I could fill two blogs worth of funny Holzer stories with. Needless to say, he had some bad times and is now rebounding. I saw him this summer randomly as Jay and I were coming home from work. He is still himself only now he has a potbelly. I hope he stays on the good path he seemed to be on.

Center of the Couch is Chris Palmer sang for Victory Strike who would later reform without him as HorrorShow. As many guys from the neighborhood came into hardcore and left quickly Palmer is still an avid fan, though because he works in the downtown bars, he has to pick and choose what shows he can go to. He is still a great friend and even though he may get a lil emotional when he is drunk, I am glad he is still the same person he ever was. There is nothing like hearing him and Mikey argue. I wish I could tape it and later sell it for a fortune. They are possibly the greatest comedy duo of this generation. Last time I seen Palmer was at Paddy’s Well last month. He got very drunk and bit the top of my head. Despite his constant professing of his undying love for me, I love him very much and I am glad he is doing what he always does.

Sitting on the right of the couch is ME. This picture features me with a 40 of St. Ides. Back when I still drank and I was not even 18 in this picture. Nothing like partying at whatever time at night it was in my house. God I’ve changed so much since then.

Sitting down on the floor to the left is Chris X- This picture could have been taken 2 days ago. He is still about the same size and hasn’t changed much in how he dresses at all. We can add some tattoos on his hands and we have modern day Chris. I met Chris many years ago and to this day I can see him after not seeing him in months and it’s like we were just hanging the other day. It’s safe to say he is the diametric opposite of Chris Palmer, although they probably love a lot of the gay 80s music that Chris X spins for a living. Chris is still the man and I hope we can hang out and shoot the shit soon.


Sitting on Chris X’s lap is Kayla Devon
My dear Kayla who is now a few months from being 12 years old, back when she was not a few months passed her 1st birthday. You can see from the toys everywhere that Kayla had full carte blanche to play as she needed and yet she still managed to find time to jump into a pic with Dad and the fellas. She is my oldest and she is so bright it makes me so proud. It’s uncanny how close my wee girl Keira (who is 2 now) resembles Kayla at nearly the same age. I guess I have some serious genes huh? Kayla is currently kicking ass in the 6th grade, playing the cello and involved in a few Christian girl’s groups. She would like to be an actor one day and Fall Out Boy is her favorite band. I am a very lucky father indeed.


Sitting down in the center is Brian Tobin
This is at the stage in Brian’s life when he was all consumed with graffiti and just started getting tattooed. It’s interesting to think of this pic in terms of people that have changed a lot and people who haven’t. Out of all them Brian has changed the most. He was never a settled kid who soon after this phase began dressing more in Polo and fine duds of the time. After some jeering from others he got swept up in the MakeOutClub early '00 's scene that left some scandalous stories about him making out with dudes and such. He looked more like a mod at the time and could been seen with Spock hair and tight dress pants. Today he is a skinhead who has some small ties to the rockabilly world via his very hot girlfriend. I believe he is doing well and I hope he finds something that he is comfortable with so he can reach true happiness. Until then I am sure he will at least have a string of very hot girls from his past to make up for being unsettled in his music and clothes.

I find this picture to be a great freeze frame on an end of a night of a week that will always standout in my mind. You could really have interchanged all of these guys in the pic and somehow it made sense how they were tied into each other. It was a wide variety and margin to which we all filled in and found each other but we can all be accounted for and it’s awesome to see this online nearly 12 years after it was taken. I have tons of pics like these and the thoughts that rush out of my head and stories that flash before me seem to never end. I will have to take some time and dig through and see if I can put some more of these up.