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I DJed at a party in Tennessee coinciding with Bonnaroo starting the day afterward or something. Radiohead was headlining, and I was psyched to be going. The promoter of the party I'd played dropped me off and said that he had friends that would be there and said I could stay with them. My days of making my way through crowds came in handy, and I got pretty close to the stage. Someone who I found quite annoying at first proposed to his girlfriend and swayed my opinions. Radiohead was great as usual and afterward, I turned my attention to where I was going to spend the night. My phone was near death as well but after reaching someone and waiting for them by a landmark, someone met me and I went back to their tent. There were lots of people hanging out there. A girl had a guitar, and I sang and played mostly Radiohead songs. It was one of the first times I sang in front of people. With nothing but the clothes on my back and a bag that was filled with records, everything wound up working out. The experience was amazing and changed my life in so many ways. On the plane trip home, before I turned my phone off, I got a call from someone asking if I'd be interested in joining a Radiohead tribute band.

It'd be so easy for me to not do anything but watch movies and think that my life is over. That's what I did for years. F that. I do hand strength exercises, voice exercises, balance exercises, lift weights, core exercises, other random exercises, and yoga. I changed my diet drastically to the point where I'm eating fruit, nuts, and hummus because it's meant to be good for stroke survivors. I play games that help stimulate my brain and I'm always looking for ways to inspire thought and help heal my mind. I do all this every day, no matter what. I've noticed a little bit of improvement, so I'm trying to go all in. Cue Eye of the Tiger.

There was a party called Kool Rave in Philadelphia in the early 90s. It was in a warehouse in Philly somewhere and was shut down by the authorities hours into the event. Hundreds of ravers including myself flooded the streets outside, many of whom were without question on some sort of drug. A van opened its back door and someone popped out shouting something, and a wave of people rushed to get in. I was one of them, and multiple people I met wound up being good friends of mine. We went to some dude's house that was meant to be an "after-party", but I don't remember it being much of a party. The van became the party anyway. It's rare, but I guess sometimes it's good to get in a van with strangers.

There was a magazine called Slurp that I loved. I'm sure other people remember it fondly as well. It was a newspaper-sized rave publication that Applejack and Under contributed to. Speaking of, I wonder what those two are up to these days... Under scanned and uploaded a few issues. It's really a throwback to read them now. Just browsing a little, and Applejack's column in issue 5 pg. 12 is awesome. Click here for a link

When I was younger, I used to write graffiti. I loved it and still do. It was closely connected to the lifestyle I was living. Phaser or phase was my tag. I wasn't very good, but I had friends that were amazing. There was an abandoned theme park or something in New Jersey, covered in graffiti, that my friend did a piece at. While I was skating an old log flume or something good for snake runs, a security guard came and my friend gave him some excuse for why we were there. I don't remember what he told him or how it happened, but he left us alone. My friend's piece was dope.

The Khyber was awesome. I've DJed there, played there with my band, went there for a wedding reception, and drank there countless times. For a small place, it sure had a big impact on my life. I'm sure it did for a lot of people.

When I was younger, my Grandfather took me to Disneyland. Before going in, I slipped off and took some acid. Riding the rollercoaster at Space Mountain was crazy, but the Its A Small World exhibit was really warped. A boat that was meant to take us around the display, was stuck due to some mishap. Other than that it was amazing. My Grandfather didn't know I was tripping my face off, he just thought I was having a really good time. Which I was.

When I was a little kid I used to make calls to London all the time. My Grandmother would be furious when she'd see the bills. I'd call phone numbers on promo records and try to have someone send me records, and they did. One time someone asked me who I was and if I was just "some punter". I didn't know what that was, and I just said yes. I don't remember if I ever got anything from him but I doubt it. Among the many calls was to a place called Lucky Spin Records, and I spoke to Duncan Hutchison, aka DJ Trace. I went to see him play at The Freight Yard in Allentown, PA when he first came to the US. Since then we've had tons of crazy adventures and logged hours on Battle Arena Toshinden. It's crazy to think that we're friends to this day.

I used to live in a kinda sketchy part of North Philly. Some friends used to live in the same building as well, and my friend and I decided to go to the beer distributor 4 or 5 blocks away. I was probably playing hockey because I was wearing rollerblades. About a block away from the distributor as I was leading the way home carrying a case of beer, someone had run up and attacked my friend. They were both wrestling face down and the guy was on my friend's back. When another guy started to walk up on the scene, I put down the case of beer and pulled out these collapsible nunchucks that I used to carry in my pocket. After seeing some kid produce nunchucks and skate toward him doing intimidating moves while wearing rollerblades, he said "I don't even know that guy" and ran off. The other guy had a gun, and the guy I was with was holding it. My friend told me later that his military training kicked in. When he felt a gun to his back he grabbed it with his opposite hand and pulled it across his chest with the guy's arm, while falling to the ground. I didn't know what to do... I thought about beating the dude, but I was worried I'd hit my friend. After what seemed like a long time, but was probably only seconds, my friend let go and the dude ran off. I don't remember, but I probably really enjoyed that beer.

Insects and such really freak me out nowadays. They're so unpredictable and because of my condition and such intense OCD, I feel the need to control every element of certain situations. Plus, I don't move very fast and they just freak me out. It wasn't always that bad, though. Once I found a Wolf Spider around a couple of inches in diameter in the middle of my kitchen floor. No idea how it got there, my house was always generally tidy. I caught it in a Tupperware container and let it loose outside a few blocks away. If I saw one now I'd probably try to burn it or just get away.

TV show theme songs were awesome growing up. I used to watch shows just for them. Cheers, Magnum, PI, Welcome Back, Kotter, Miami Vice, Airwolf, Different Strokes, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Night Court, Knight Rider, Fame, Sanford And Son, What’s Happening, The Big Bang Theory, and even The Fall Guy had great theme songs. Mash, Taxi, Hill Street Blues, and The Odd Couple are great, although they’re a little older. But I’d watch reruns anyway. The Greatest American Hero intro is one of the funniest of all time. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is one of the best. A-Team was good but I used to watch it because I liked how they would MacGyver things up. In one they used a lawn chair, some hair dryers, and trash bags to fly out of prison or someplace similar. Also dope: Simon & Simon, Barney Miller, Dallas, Happy Days, All In The Family, The Addams Family, Three's Company, The X Files, Gilligan's Island, Golden Girls, The Sopranos, The Love Boat, The Office (U.S., although the U.K. one isn't bad), Curb Your Enthusiasm, Stranger Things, Hawaii Five-0, and The Simpsons.

Love Park was a skate Mecca for so many skaters in the 90s, And I used to skate there all the time. I was in a crowd of people gathered tightly in a semicircle when Vinnie Ponti first ollied down the fountain gap. I ran from the cops there. I watched the locals as they told some random they would film him and while he was preparing for a trick they mashed him in the head with a skateboard and stole his stuff. I dunno why they left me alone. Maybe because I started hanging out there more often, and was so one of the younger kids going there. Then this kid named Bam Margera, who was about my age, started doing huge burly tricks and landed a half-cab down the fountain. Nowadays neither of us can skate, but he's definitely still better than me.