MarioTV : Episode 19 : Nine Inch Nails

I would be hard pressed to say what was Super's favorite NIN song - this one would have to be up there. -Jeffy Chaucer

NIN : Head Like A Hole

Nine Inch Nails : Phoenix : 09.19.05

Jeff is in blue.
Justin is in red.
Mario, as always, is in green...


For the NIN show at America West Arena in Phoenix, Super and I of course do a little pre-concert drinking near the arena. We ended up going in a little inebriated, meeting up with JC and doing our usual lap around scoping out the chicks. Super and JC headed down to the floor…Super naturally to the pit…and I end up heading to the second level where some people I knew were sitting - that was the last time I saw Super until after the show. So I hook up with JC on the phone afterwards to find out where Super and he are at…I am told they are already outside and the only sober thinking person - JC - informs me that I should probably hurry out and that there will be a little surprise when I arrive. Not thinking much of it, I exit and search for them among the crowd until I hear a yell for me coming from the other direction. I turn around to see JC standing there with Super, who was sitting on a pillar with a fucked up bandage wrapped around his head and a silly grin on his face. I headed over to try to figure out what the fuck had happened.

Apparently, Super was in the pit and inadvertently took a shot to the noggin somehow. (It was a falling elbow from someone else who had been crowd surfing. Mario said it hit him "perfectly squarely," if there is such a thing.) He continued on through the crowd until people started looking at him weird, while blood was dripping down his face all over himself, only then did he begin to realize that something may be wrong. As he headed up, the security people were trying to convince him that he should take a break and that they should call him an ambulance. Well, Super was having no part of that even after they showed him in a mirror what had happened to his face…hell, he would be missing the rest of the concert and he didn’t really think it looked all that bad to him at the time. So as a sort-of-sorts compromise, the staff wrapped his head up in a mummy-like fashion and sent him back into the crowd.

As I reached them outside, “Hey Chaucer, don’t you work at a hospital close by here…you think you can stitch me up?”

“Sure Super,” slurring my own words, “I can do that shit up real quick before we head to the bars.”

Jeff's memory is an interesting thing, but let me just say, I went in to the concert to watch the opening acts and he and Mario stayed across the street doing their ritual until about 10 minutes before Nine Inch Nails took the stage. The only communication I had with either of them was via text message, which was sporadic at best. I remember being on the barricade during the show, and when the last song came on with only a minute remaining, here comes Super over the top of the crowd, crowd surfing like it was no big deal. He had had enough to drink that night that he was pretty much lost in his own body. I looked at him as security helped him down to the floor, and here was this BIG bandage wrapped around his head. Later, he would deny that he crowd surfed after they wrapped him up. He never admitted to it, which was funny because......well, I must have really been imagining things. With all the water I had been drinking no less.

When we got outside he unwrapped his head and showed me this nice gash about an inch long and a quarter-inch to half-inch wide splitting his eyebrow in two.

Can’t you just superglue that shit closed back at the house? I laughed pretty hysterically, “no Super, I responded, we have to get you to a hospital so you can get stitches.” Jeff arrived a moment later and we took a snapshot of Super's head. Of course, of course, Jeff laughed hysterically too. It was a pretty funny moment for all of us.

No man, fuck that shit, it’s not that bad! I guess I’ll let the pictures do the talking there. Notice the impish grin? He had to sign a waiver for the first aid staff at America West to release him. For some reason, that made him happy.

We were right up the street from St. Joseph's hospital so away we went. I accompanied Mario into the triage area where a nurse stitched him up, leaving Jeff out in the waiting room sitting. Despite all the shenanigans that took place that night, he and I were still able to quote some lines from “Fight Club.” In the movie there is a scene where Edward Norton is sitting in an emergency room setting getting his head stitched up by a nurse as well. Brad Pitt, who is Edward Norton’s alter-ego and appears throughout the entire movie as a man named Tyler Durden, is sitting up in the background on a countertop.

Edward: “Sometimes Tyler spoke for me.”
Brad: “He fell down some stairs.”
Edward: “I fell down some stairs.”

Those were the exact lines Mario and I repeated while he was getting his suture. Another night I'll never forget...


[About to get sewn up and all smiles]


[Taken from Jeff's cellphone. Evidence that even in the waiting area we were goofing off...]


[The first photo taken just outside the venue]

In memory of Mario Frassetto. Took a licking and kept on ticking. For you, Super.

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow...

The finishing touches are being applied to the Phoenix NIN story, courtesy of Jeff. I just need to put it together and get it up tomorrow. There will probably be multiple font colors to distinguish Jeff from Mario, and myself. I'll be sure to attach a key right in the beginning before you start reading.

Looking at the list of things I want to share, still, it seems like I haven't even put a dent in it. A much more endearing post in regards to my relationship with Mario is on it's way. I call it, "The Tilted Earth." I've had to battle a few sobbing headaches and heartaches to get it finished. Hopefully it will help redeem anything I've shared in a negative connotation. There is a time when some things are better left unsaid, however, I think it's fair to warn everyone that if you cried at Autumn's post, you'll want to bring some kleenex along for mine. Even I can hardly look at it without trembling a bit. I plan to unveil it by Thursday, but if not, by Friday/Saturday. Whatever day it doesn't make it up, keep your eyes peeled for MarioTV Episode 7 to fill the gap.

I wanted to thank Jeff, Autumn, and Warren for their contributions here, as everyone has graciously thanked me as well. I think I speak for all of us when I say that Super would be grateful.

- Justin

MarioTV : Episode 4 : Nine Inch Nails

And now a word from our sponsors:

MarioTV is brought to you by...

Mario Frassetto.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

One of the last conversations Mario and I had regarding music was about Nine Inch Nails. We revisited a topic Mario was quick to point out just about every time the name Trent Reznor was thrown out there. He was disappointed with the way things started to sound a couple years ago, ever the critic on what was good and bad. Mario would only give the occassional "meh", followed by a comment about it not being like the old NIN. He'd also say that comparing Nine Inch Nails Old to Nine Inch Nails New, wasn't like comparing them to another band. Not too many artists (bands) have the extensive catalog that Trent Reznor has put together.

When I was out in Cali hanging with him in June I popped in to a store and the guy behind the counter went to turn down his iPod when The Perfect Drug came on. I interrupted his shutdown so I could hear the song. Fifteen minutes later I told Mario that the store closed with me in it, and the guy blared The Perfect Drug for me. I haven't listened to that song in a long time, I'll have to put it on my Nano for tomorrow. Low and behold, he came back after work that day and said it's one of the best music videos out there. I forgot how sweet that song is. Seems he paid a visit to YouTube at some point.

By no means was Mario a fiend of any sorts in the using and abusing department as this song suggests. After all, lots of songs say plenty of things that don't pertain to our lives whatsoever, and yet we still enjoy them. This song (and video) just happen to be ranked right up near Super's top.

Having been a fan of NIN since I was about 13, hearing specific Halos remind me a lot of Mario. When he and I lived together he would play The Fragile, And All That Could Have Been the DVD, Things Falling Apart, and The Perfect Drug single (which was all remixes)......constantly. He had 5.1 surround in his room, and I didn't, so I left most of the DJ'ing up to him. A majority of the time I returned home at a decent hour he'd be in his room with a movie on (that was muted with captions), CD's playing, sitting on the ground with a laptop on the coffee table. That was his thing. He had a sofabed in his room but he always sat on the ground right in front of the table. When something good wasn't on TV he'd always have music playing over a muted television show or movie. Matter of fact, that's where I got it from. These days when I'm lounging around my place I will do the exact same thing. He was the person who taught me that even when you think you know what they're saying in a movie, sometimes you really don't know. You think you do, but you don't. Movies like "Snatch", where Brad Pitt's character Mickey O'Neil speaks in Pikey, a not-Irish, not-English, gypsy dialect, listening to it in caption would change the entire experience. For instance, Mario showed me that when caption was turned on the TV, it would predict the language in a certain pattern. But if the caption was turned on the DVD player, sometimes the sentences would be slightly different. From there, it was all interpretation.

Above and beyond any situation I could remember Mario in, him sitting on the ground watching a muted movie with some music on is the way I remember him most easily. With that said, there will be plenty more NIN to come as I can think of 10 songs he loved, and several that remind me of him.

Here's the video for The Perfect Drug with the lyrics listed below. If you ever come across this and the video is disabled, please let me know so I can re-up it. Thanks. Enjoy.

Nine Inch Nails : The Perfect Drug

I got my head, but my head is unraveling
Cant keep control, cant keep track of where its traveling
I got my heart but my heart is no good
And youre the only one thats understood
I come along but I dont know where youre taking me
I shouldnt go but youre reaching back and shaking me
Turn off the sun, pull the stars from the sky
The more I give to you, the more I die

And I want you
And I want you
And I want you
And I want you

You are the perfect drug, the perfect drug, the perfect drug
You are the perfect drug, the perfect drug, the perfect drug

You make me hard, when Im all soft inside
I see the truth, when Im all stupid eyed
The arrow goes straight through my heart
Without you everything just falls apart

My blood wants to say hello to you
My feelings want to get inside of you
My soul is so afraid to realize
Every little word is a lack of me

And I want you
And I want you
And I want you
And I want you

You are the perfect drug, the perfect drug, the perfect drug
You are the perfect drug, the perfect drug, the perfect drug
You are the perfect drug, the perfect drug, the perfect drug
You are the perfect drug, the perfect drug, the perfect drug
You are the perfect drug, the perfect drug, the perfect drug
You are the perfect drug, the perfect drug, the perfect drug

You are the perfect drug, the perfect drug, the perfect drug
You are the perfect drug, the perfect drug, the perfect drug
You are the perfect drug, the drug, the perfect drug

Take me, with you
Take me, with you
Take me, with you

Without you, without you everything falls apart
Without you, its not as much fun to pick up the pieces
Without you, without you everything falls apart
Without you, it's not as much fun to pick up the pieces
Its not as much fun to pick up the pieces
Its not as much fun to pick up the pieces
Without you, without you everything falls apart
Without you, its not as much fun to pick up the pieces

In memory of our good friend Mario Frassetto.

The Earth Vacuum : Part 1

The last time I drove Interstate 8 eastbound, Mario was my passenger. We were headed back after a NIN concert in September of 2005, and neither of us was in a very pleasant mood. The NIN drummer had a "panic attack" and the show was cancelled after about 2 songs. Whatever. Going up through the mountain pass between San Diego and the desert in the middle of the night may also have been better had I not sliced my finger open while reaching into my bag. My razor had shuffled loose from it's normal spot and it caught me right under the fingernail. No concert, no chapstick, and a bloody finger. I was pissed. Mario laughed like crazy while blood dripped from my finger down to my elbow before grabbing me a napkin out of the glovebox. We stopped to get some gas, he saw the damage and apologized for laughing so hard. (Which is something he'd do. It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt.) I put my brights on for most of the drive because we had zero company on the road. Going up and down through the mountains I criss-crossed the eastbound lanes and drifted around the highway like it was my own personal track. Kudos. After a bit we turned our bad moods on end with some good music and by me pushing the car. Mario commented on my speed, ever Mr. Cautious, "going over 110 won't get us home any faster there Speed Racer." Which was translation for, "if you get pulled over, I'm not driving your car back you crazy fuck."

On this drive I didn't get to enjoy Mario's company. Jeff, as usual, was passed out most of the way to Tucson. After coming out of the mountains and descending into the desert my thoughts wandered back through the entire weekend. What a weekend. I never could have imagined going to Cali without having Super here or there, and especially not under the circumstances we had just gone through. I couldn't believe it, not even then. Gravity kept my tires on the road while the sound of thousands of Cicadas whizzed past my car like electricity was forming in every living thing. Jeff stirred momentarily and I asked him if he could hear the Cicadas too. He looked at me like I was crazy.

It wasn't until we were flying along one of the long straightaways that I noticed streaks of light racing out in front of my car from the sun. The sun had been perched over my left shoulder ever since we dropped down onto the desert floor. There were a few patches of clouds lingering on both sides of the road. The sun and the sky looked completely different every few seconds I glanced out. I kept looking and looking, I must have looked back over my left shoulder a thousand times. I couldn't help but wonder why everything seemed so unusual to me this time. Why did the air seem more pure today than any other day I'd ever seen it in my life? Did the sun streaks seem more potent because my good friend was gone? Deep breath. The car looked so small on I-8. Outside my windows in every direction it was like I was looking up at the earth. Up at earth!? For a moment I forgot where we were. The air felt so oversaturated as every shade of blue filtered down through the tint, my sunglasses, and my eyes. All the edges of earth seemed to meet space right out on the horizons while I was driving. There was a calm confusion taking place. It was peaceful. I sat still while it washed over me.

I decided to grab my camera and snap some pics while I was driving. I took about 40 pictures, all from different vantage points. I was amazed at how different they all turned out over the course of an hour, given I was headed in the same direction. (If you click a picture it should open larger.) I apologize for the occasional bug splat. I had to split up the blog because of the size restriction on photos and wanted to put the best ones up.

Towards the end of the straightaway, around a couple bends, I recorded a video accompanied by the song "Beside You In Time" by Nine Inch Nails. I know Mario wasn't a huge fan of this particular album, but when the song came on it just reminded me of him so much. The lyrics had never meant something to me before then. The entire video is shot left-handed while I'm driving the car. I succumbed to YouTube so I could put the entire thing up (Blogger wanted me to compress it.) If you have a 5 minutes to spare please turn up the volume and take the time to watch it. Listed below the video are the lyrics...



I am all alone this time around
Sometimes on the side I hear a sound
Places parallel I know it's you
Feel the little pieces bleeding through

And all this goes on
And on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on
This goes on
And on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on

Now that I've decided not to stay
I can feel me start to fade away
Everything is back where it belongs
I will be beside you before long, and on,
This goes on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on
This goes on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on

We will never die
Beside you in time
We will never die
Beside you in time