Social Distortion
Live In Orange County
2004
Time Bomb Recordings

Mike Ness – vocals/guitar
Jonny “2 Bags” Wickersham – guitar
John Mauer – bass
Charlie Quintana – drums

1. Making Believe
2. 1945
3. Telling Them
4. Bad Luck
5. Footprints On My Ceiling
6. Don’t Drag Me Down
7. I Wasn’t Born To Follow
8. Another State Of Mind
9. The Creeps
10. Mommy’s Little Monster
11. Mass Hysteria
12. 99 To Life
13. Ring Of Fire
14. Story Of My Life

I bought this DVD a couple of years back at Second Spin on Ventura Blvd. Overall, it’s pretty good. Worlds away from the old days, but somehow Social Distortion are still around and they are bigger than they were back in the old days.

My only gripe is there is a scene where Mike Ness pulls some kid up on stage and talks about how kids like this are the ones keeping punk alive and kicking, etc. Then later in the extras, he pulls up another kid from another show and says the same thing. Kind of irritating, I thought he was being spontaneous, but it’s a scripted bit in each show. Bummer.

If you don’t own it, give it a chance.

Rating: ** * two out of three stars

On with the story . . .

Some time back I wrote about a guy who I knew in Junior High and High School. A guy named Wayne, Wayne was deaf, had cerebral palsy, and was racked with vision problems.

Anyway, on August 20, 2009, Wayne was in a terrible accident and was in a coma for the better part of a week. On the day after the accident I was sent a copy of a newspaper clipping that read as follows:

Yucaipa man in wheelchair hit by pickup truck

11:47 PM PDT on Friday, August 21, 2009

By PAUL LAROCCO
The Press-Enterprise

A 43-year-old Yucaipa man remained hospitalized in intensive care Friday, a day after the motorized wheelchair he was using was struck by a pickup, officials said.

Wayne Swanson, 43, was attempting to cross Yucaipa Boulevard at 11th Street late Thursday when a 16-year-old boy westbound in a full-size Chevrolet pickup failed to stop in time, San Bernardino County sheriff’s investigators said.

The boy, who was not injured, was fully licensed and appeared to be traveling within the speed limit and right-of-way through the unmarked intersection, said sheriff’s Sgt. Don Mahoney.

“It’s still a legal place to cross for pedestrians, but you have to do it with due caution,” said Mahoney, a supervisor with the sheriff’s Major Accident Investigation Team.

Swanson suffered severe blunt force trauma when he was thrown from the wheelchair to the pavement. He was taken to Loma Linda University Medical Center in critical condition, officials said.

On Friday, Swanson was in the hospital’s intensive care unit, Mahoney said. Doug McDonald, a friend of Swanson, said Friday that the victim was in “really bad shape.”

McDonald said that Swanson was in a hurry when the accident happened, on his way to help move his ill girlfriend into an assisted living center in Colton. Swanson was rushing to catch a bus from Yucaipa Boulevard, McDonald said.

Skid marks at the scene and witness interviews indicate the driver tried to stop, Mahoney said.

Reach Paul LaRocco at 951-368-9468 or plarocco@PE.com

So, I’ve had damn near twenty-five different people shooting updates to me when it happened telling me the status of his condition. Coma for about a week, and then he started opening his eyes, and then going back to sleep. Everybody’s prayers paid off. Wayne came out of it like a trooper.

LAST ONE TO DIE is officially out, order at: https://www.createspace.com/3669330.