rantcore...

[edward przydzial]

Nov 25, 2005 7:08 PM
November 25, 2003
Curtis Dickinson died two years ago on this day. He was both one of
the coolest people and one of the biggest assholes I ever met. That
combination made him completely unforgettable. Today, I walked to
Stufsaft Park in Redwood City where a park bench is erected in his
name. There is a plaque there that has his name and dates and lyrics
from a song he wrote about that little park.

Years ago, there was a big crew of friends who used to go there and
drink 40s, smoke weed, talk about plans for taking over the world,
play music , sing stoopd lyrics and hook up with each other. Total
drunken, hazed out teenage and early twenties shennanagins. Those were
some good times. He was there for alot of it and whenever he was
there, you could bet yer ass he was going to piss someone off hella
bad.

He also had a website called Rantcore, where he reviewed his favorite
bands, had anti-scene rants and some cool features. One I remember,
was where this guy actually ended up suing Curtis for slander. He just
ripped him to shreds over the internet and even posted the guy's
social security number, home address and home phone for people to fuck
with him. Good Times. He also did the same damage to bands. If he
liked your band, he would still present a side of your band that would
be half-way between an insult and praise. If he really liked your
band, he would tear into every song you ever wrote with the precision
of a killer laser beam. In other words, he HATED the Feldmans. He knew
the Sex Pistols contribution to media coverage of rock bands. Bad
press was better than no press. And he gave alot of bad press.

When I stood out there in the dark, muddy and cold park , cleaning the
mud off his plaque, I became aware of what he really meant to me, the
kids I knew and still know. Curtis motherfucking Dickinson was Redwood
City. Pure and simple. And his departure is mark in time. It signaled
the irreversible change in this town for our crew. The time before he
was around was BC, the time afterwards was AC (after Curtis). People
went head on into their self-created hells taking some other people
with them, relationships of all kinds deteriorated and the old feeling
was lost. For all his shit talking and annoyance, he made it seem like
Redwood City was the place to be still.

The world did not end though. Life moves on. New friendships formed,
old friendships grew, the time took on a different feel. The real
tragedy is that Curtis will never see it. I miss you. ---leech---