Entry
ONE HUNDRED!
Friday, 2009.08.28, 6:53 PM CST.
Requiem
for the Death Tank.
Current Mood: Nostalgic.
WOW!
It's hard to believe that I've actually posted one hundred Journal
Entries on my site. With this Journal Entry, I'm adding another
status item (current mood) and another one is forthcoming. Although
it has taken over seven years to go through the first one hundred
Entries, I have a feeling that the next hundred will be published much
more quickly.
I
wanted Journal Entry 100 to be something really special, and I've been
planning on posting this set of pictures for quite some time, so I figured
it would be nice for those two things to intersect.
Twenty
years ago this summer, my parents and I worked together to assemble
the mobile sound and light system that became EKG Mobile Music and Light
Show. To transport the equipment, we bought an old GMC Vandura
(a 1981 or 1982 model). It might not have been the most attractive
machine on the road, but it did the job. As I got more and more
equipment, my crew and I learned to pack it into the van in an almost
"Tetris"-like fashion, to the point that we often amazed customers
with how much "stuff" were somehow able to fit in there!
In
late 1989/early 1990, Kevin ("Wink," one of the founding members
and one of my best friends) and I decided to name the van "The
Death Tank." During our 1990 senior trip, in fact, Kevin
and I sat on the school bus, making up the lyrics to a "Death Tank"
song, set to the tune of the B52s' "Love Shack." The
lyrics were all about whimsically driving down the road in the Death
Tank and running people over. ("...Bang, bang, bang, broken
legs! Bang, bang, bang, broken ribs!") We both had
a sick sense of humour, and thus to us, the song was hilarious.
Well,
over time, the van developed a few issues - for instance, the air conditioning
quit working (arrrgh!) and one of the doors wouldn't roll the window
up anymore after it was rolled down. We only had a near-breakdown
with it once in its 13+ years of service, but after the end of EKG's
run, the van fell into disrepair. All the tires went flat, and
at one point it just wouldn't start anymore.
Several
months ago, after careful consideration and discussion with me, my dad
informed me that had had accepted someone's offer to purchase the van.
Before it was hauled off, I drove by and snapped a massive batch of
pictures of the Death Tank. As silly as it may seem, it felt almost
like I was losing an old friend, and I was in tears for most of the
time that I was taking these pictures.
So,
enjoy these pictures of an old, worn-out van. If you look closely
(last picture on row 5 and first picture on row 6), you can still see
the impression in the carpet where the EKG "coffin stand"
stood for all those years. It should go without saying (but I'll
say it anyway) that I really miss the Death Tank. But, like so
many other parts of this old DJ's past, it had to move on to the realm
of memories. Insert heavy sigh here.
There'll
be a new Journal Entry extremely soon... Probably within 24 hours.
:)
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