Going back to Denver for my book release.

October 6-11 was one heck of a ride. Just for the record, October 6^th is Armed Forces day in Egypt. It was also this day I started my journey back to Denver for the release of Denvoid and the Cowtown Punks via a train ride from Alexandria to Cairo.

I asked the hotel for a 4:30 am wake-up call. Thirty minutes later I was pulling a suitcase through the neighborhood of the Zamalek desperately hunting down a taxi. Ten minutes into my search I caught a cabbie napping in the front seat parked on lone and desolate street. With a couple of respectful but firm taps on his window he was jolted up from his reclined driver’s seat.

“Fil Airport” (To the airport?)

“Ay-wa” (Yes)

“Bit Qam?” (How much?)

“120”

La’ 100 (No, 100)

Ty-ebb. (Okay)

By 6 am I was filling out an exit card and going through customs and security.

When you fly in from Cairo

A five-hour flight to London or anywhere is a cakewalk these days. I used the time to catch-up on movies. Though I have never been a Beach Boys fan, Love & Mercy was powerful and made me appreciate Brian Wilson’s vision where he wanted to take the Beach Boys music. I have since researched Pet Sounds and listened to the album with a different set of ears. The depth of the layers of sounds is astonishing. 

On the other hand Amy, the story of Amy Winehouse was one I had been looking forward to. I was vaguely aware of her background and music, but had been curious about her since her death. The film featured quite a bit of archival and home movie footage to help paint a picture of her profoundly sad rise and demise. The movie should be shown to all aspiring fame seekers.

Your truly. Photo by David Ensminger 

Terminal 5 of Heathrow is one giant maze that leads to a shopping mall. Even the Cairo airport is more efficient. After a three-hour layover devoted to answering questions sent by Tom Murphy from Westword, it was a straight shot from London to Denver. The flight was mostly devoted to sleep and reading, A Wailing of A Town: An Early History of San Pedro Punk 1977-1985 by Craig Ibarra. The pages are packed full of info about bands such as The Minutemen and Descendents, infamous shows, venues, and a whole lot more. So far an excellent read.

18-hours later since leaving Cairo I’m at the counter of a car rental place. The counter person and his partner are laughing at my 13 year-old Nokia brick phone. He asked if it still worked. With a straight face I told him, “In every country except the United States, the best part is it can’t be traced by homeland security or the KGB.” He finished the paperwork in silence while I held in my laughter.

With Joe aka Spike

I rented a house in Capitol Hill near Cheeseman Park for David (editor), Sonny (designer) and I. I needed a larger space to prepare the artwork and package/ship orders. I also wanted a common space for us to spend some quality time together and figure out how the release party was going to unfold.

In the meantime, I did have a chance to jam with my buddy Martin Day at his apartment. He is a killer drummer that I always wanted play songs with. Had wine and cheese with my old college friend, Marta. Invited a handful of folks over to a casual evening of conversation. Otherwise most days (10 plus hours/day) were spent preparing artwork, hustling books, and other menial tasks.

Bryan Wendzel is your tropical home invader.  

David and Dan swapping war stories.

Sonny and Staci on the porch.

The day finally arrived for the event. Fast forward to the evening. Sonny and I hung about 100 drawings from the book. Jif Jiper showed up with the PA. People trickled in and swelled to over 150 throughout the evening. Jif played an acoustic set, The Frantix were up next and belted out a handful of classics. The Buckinghan Squares finished the night. It was the perfect trio. The two kegs emptied within 30 minutes of putting in the taps. Several family members and friends showed up, many whom I haven’t seen in dozens of years. In the end, it was everything I had hoped for.

Emcee duties. Photo by Joe Morgan  

Signing Jen's book. (note: her and her friend Cat are on back cover)
Photo by Joe Morgan.

Much love and appreciation to all who made it out and participated and supported the project. It felt surreal to actually hold the book in my hand and marvel at it. That moment didn’t come until I was on my way back to Egypt the following day. It is finally starting to sink in that I finally completed what I set out to do nearly 20 years ago. Thank you.

Plywood walls.

Making the art show happen

Colin and his adorable family showed up sporting the Chris Shary shirt collection. 

Jill and Jim. 

Frantix with Paul Dog

With Harry and Shawn

Buckingham Squares

Jif with the Squares

with Little Fyodor.

Paul Dickerson 

With Paul Dickerson and Headbanger. 

My ride home! Thanx Ben! 

With Paul Dog and Davey

The crowd. Photo by Oakland L. Childers 

Jif with my brother George in the green shirt. Photo by: Oakland L. Childers 

Frantix. Photo by: Oakland L. Childers 

You know, you can still order a copy or two (they make lovely gifts) and they will be sent out by my right hand man, Matt K. You can order directly here: http://bobrobart.bigcartel.com/product/denvoid-and-the-cowtown-punks-option-1 and receive free goodies or order through Amazon, Alternative Tentacles, Microcosm, and RevHQ. If you’re in the Denver/Boulder area check out Wax Trax, Mutiny Information Café, Kilgore Books, Twist and Shout, Black and Red, Albums on the Hill, Tattered Cover, Capitol Hill Bookstore, Red Letter Books, Trident Book Sellers, and more locations to be added soon.

Related articles:

Westword’s coverage of the show:

http://www.westword.com/music/scenes-from-a-denver-punk-reunion-at-mutiny-information-cafe-7237607

My interview in Westword:

http://www.westword.com/music/bob-rob-medina-describes-the-80s-denver-punk-scene-7220004

The morning after at the Mercury Cafe. Photo by Paul Dickerson. 

Bittersweet summer in Denver

Ana and I accepted jobs and moved overseas in the summer of 2009, six months after Mom passed. I was intent in continuing keeping contact with my Dad and thought creating a blog with writings and pictures would be the best way to keep him abreast of our adventures abroad. This blog was initially for him, that and the usual Sunday telephone call, and summer visits is how it has been for the past five years until a little over a month ago. He passed away in late July and this post has been waiting in the wing for some time. Even the simplest tasks such as pushing the publish button seemed impossible. Here is our Denver adventure. 

Our friend Andrew (Descendents/ALL soundman) hooked us up for Hardcore DEVO in Denver. While he was showing us back stage, Mark Mothersbaugh was goofing around with an oxygen tank running over Ana's foot. He eventually drove himself into a corner.  

You gotta love a band that brazenly  walks on stage  collectively sporting their own tour shirts. 

Set 2, a change of outfits.

Are we not men? 

Yes.

In memory of Bob2 aka Bob Casale

Paid a visit to Matt Bischoff (Fluid/Frantix) to hand him a drawing I made for him. We had a nice long conversation about growing up skating and sneaking into punk shows. 

Ana's family came out for a visit. My dad loved hanging out with them. 

A visit to Larry's (Rocky Mountain Low, and Trash Is Truth) house was a must. I was in awe of Larry's record and flier collection.  

Ana thought we should all take a field trip to Hammonds. This is the place responsible for all the thick candy canes and Christmas candy. 

Type 2 Diabetes here we come. 

Working for the man. 

I think we sampled this in the car. And to think my parents thought I was crazy when I mixed chocolate, bacon, and potato chips together. 

Had to see what was at the Great Divide Brewery tap room. 

Duane from Wax Trax is still looking great. 

Hadn't seen Blair in quite awhile. We've been friends since high school. First time getting my hair cut from him. 

Sonny came out to Denver as well. We went to visit Val who just opened a record store-Chain Reaction in Lakewood. 

Getting some of the old crew back together. 

Mike Serviolo (IZ, Jux County, Elam, Peace Core, etc.) looking like Charles Bukowski in Safeway Supermarket. 

My old college roomie, Staci.

Keith, Colin, Sonny, and I remembering the old days.

Ben and I playing some pinball waiting for the Mentors to show up and play a book store. 

Longtime Denver punk promoter Jill Razor and I embarked on an urban adventure. We ran into Andrew Novick (Warlock Pinchers, etc) who was on a 3 week scavenger hunt looking for a clue to a hidden map that led to a golden nugget. 

Jill and I drove around looking at former buildings of where we used to go see punk shows. One was the Fun House in Five Points. It was our lucky day, we ran into someone who lived in the building and let us roam around. 

Outside the Fun House. 

Protecting one's investment. 

Artist Rebecca Vaughn and I went to school together, got to see her new space.

Too many nights at the Aztlan Theatre to remember. We had a running joke that went something like this. She told me to kiss her someplace dirty so I took her to the back of the Aztlan. As you can see it isn't falling apart anymore. The owner Tim and Aurora really did a nice job fixing up the place. 

Hanging out with Tim and Aurora. Tim is still the same, he asked Sonny and I if we wanted a beer and you figured that after all these years that this one would be on the house. He did make Sonny and I do a shot with him. He let that one slide. 

One of the upgrades Tim and family did was putting in a side bar. Their son said they were selling it hoping to fetch a couple of millions. 

No theatre is complete without a framed Bruce Lee poster.