Original subtitles

Penelope: Did you see the first decline when it came out?

Man: Yeah. Not when it came...

I didn't see it right when it came out...

Penelope: How old were you right when it came out?

I wasn't born yet.

I got born in 80.

Penelope: [Laughing] And the world hasn't been the same since.

Nuh-uh.

Penelope: How is punk rock different now

than it was in 1979?

I don't think it is.

I think it's the same. It's just...

I think it's smaller.

But, it's more...

People are more into it more often, but...

A lot of people don't like really give a shit.

They're just like...

[Mockingly] I've got a mohawk. Let's go out.

And they go home, get a job and all that stuff.

Penelope: So if you're really a punk, you don't have a job?

No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying get a job if you can,

but I'm just saying some people, they're just...

It's just like a hobby.

Penelope: How old were you when it first came out?

I wasn't even born.

I was zero.

I wasn't born yet.

Penelope: How old were you when the first decline came out?

A sperm cell in his father's testicle.

I was one and a half.

I was zero.

I was just born but I own it.

I was an abortion that couldn't get paid for.

We're sorry, buddy, we're sorry.

- I came here to see offspring. - We came to see green day.

- [All talking] - Man: No!

Man: Hey, green day!

Hey, you know what?

I know a guy that can suck an ice through his nose...

Woman: Suck! Suck! Suck!

[Snorts]

[All cheering]

[Cheering]

Eyeball: Ok, listen you maggots, listen up here.

- Attention! - Attention!

- Attention! - Attention, butt-holes!

- Please be advised... - Please be advised...

That by your entry into these premises...

By your entry into these premises...

More spit, more spit!

All: More spit, more spit...

You are consenting to be photographed.

You are consenting to be photographed.

Yeah!

- And to having your likeness... - And having your likeness...

Your fucked up likeness...

- Used in a motion picture. - Used in a motion picture.

For pornographic purposes!

[Cheering]

- And for other purposes! - Other purposes.

- Thank you! - Fuck you.

Man: Fuck you!

Your spit is greatly appreciated.

Man: The next decline is coming up...

And if you guys wanna be in it,

fuck shit up out there in the crowd tonight.

Check! Two! Check!

One! Two! Insurance check!

- Check! - What's up, homies?

Checking once!

Man announcing on mic: You've got five minutes!

Man: All right! Next time throw money, dickwad.

[Punk rock music playing]

[Singing indistinctly]

Penelope: Tell me your name and tell me how you got that name.

Squid. And how I got the name?

Oh, well, uh... It's kind of a tick up wall!

I drink like a squid.

Uh... my name's filth and...

I really am not sure how I got it,

probably because I'm like, dirty!

Well, my name's spinner and I got it when I was 13 because...

I used to do a lot of speed and I was always spun out.

Penelope: So, what's your name?

Me? "Why me?"

Ilspoon'i

- "little Tommy, the queer." - Penelope: Okay, all right!

- I'm troll. - And I'm hamburger.

Or Mr. Potatohead!

- My name's Nate and I'm 15. - I'm Justin. I'm 16.

- My name's herk. - My name's sage.

My name is pinwheel.

My name is Keith Morris

and I was the original lead singer in black flag.

And went on to start a fabulous band called the circle jerks.

- Beverly Hills! - Beverly Hills.

- Century city! - Century city.

Everthing's nice and pretty!

All the people look the same.

Don't they know they're so damn lame.

Don't they know they're fucking lame?

Penelope: What was it like back then?

Well, there was a lot of energy, there was a lot of anger.

It wasn't like it is today where you could go out

on any corner and see punk rock people hanging out.

Keith: I was a complete waste.

That was the reason why I was able to get away with

a lot of the things that I got away with.

Tonight!

Does it make any difference to you that you never,

like, became the big huge rockstar?

Never wanted to be a rockstar.

I'm a rockstar!

The kids now...

Have even more reasons to be angry and upset.

Our society kind of almost pushes them in that direction.

They're basically trapped. They're cornered, and they've

gotta fight their way out of these corners.

There's more people.

And because there's more people, there's more crime.

There's more corruption.

There's just more bullshit in general.

We have the Republicans that keep

stressing this family values thing and

those fuckers can more than afford to have, you know,

adhere to the family values thing because

they're out there ripping off the public,

they've got the money to spend.

Penelope: The world's gotten uglier over the

past few years instead of prettier.

Well, it certainly hasn't got any more beautiful.

But then the punk rock thing was never a beautiful thing.

Penelope: Describe to me

what it was like in the original punk rock days.

It was just...

Absolutely great, you know.

It was really free, really different, really radical,

true to itself,

didn't have any idols...

A lot of, a lot of anger that

wasn't really vented at any particular thing,

just at everything.

Punk rock, if you will, is the siren

for all the problems we're having now in our society.

And it's shrieking.

[H.a.n.k. Playing]

God to me is a corpse on a cross.

Been dead forever and still the boss

god to me are his fucking sheep

told when to laugh and when to weep

god to me is disease of aids all the children sent to graves

I see god in a Nazi parade

what in the hell is inri?

What is i-x-o-y-e?

Goddamn fucking shit, my lord

you don't mean nothing to me

have no use for religion

it has no use for me

[singing indistinctly]

I see god in a Nazi parade

what in the hell is inri?

What is i-x-o-y-e?

Goddamn fucking shit, my lord

you don't mean nothing to me

why is it a sin to murder?

Carnage is all I see

have no use for religion

it has no use for me

[cheering]

Penelope: Tell me what you think is most fucked up about the world?

Everything sucks!

- Penelope: In what ways? - In every which way possible.

None of it works.

Environment, the government...

Everything, our school systems...

They just pretty much ruined everything.

Penelope: What do you hate the most in the world?

How people hate each other for no reason.

You know, everybody just judging people

by their fronts, you know.

It's not liking someone 'cause they're black

or Mexican or whatever. People are people.

I mean, I may look intimidating to other people

just because of my hairdo or the way I dress or whatever.

But you know what? You don't know who I am.

And meanwhile, the right wing is organizing with guns,

bombs, and politicians so...

We have to stop fighting each other

and start fighting the real enemy which is big business

and the right wing.

We have to get together and unite against them and revolt!

[Punk rock music playing]

Penelope: How long you been having punk rock at your theater?

Nine years.

Penelope: You've had nine years of punk rock?

- Correct, since '88. - Penelope: And you survived?

Almost there. Look at the gray hair.

[Punk rock music playing]

As soon as the music starts,

something ticks these people, you know,

they'll be moving like crazy, jumping everywhere, and...

[Punk rock music playing]

Hell, yeah! Chaos!

You know, it doesn't look like a dance, like me and you.

[Punk rock music playing]

Usually, you know, they're so proud to see the blood and...

When they bleed, they don't want to even clean them up.

They just leave it like, "this is a scar! I like that!"

“Leave it alone!"

- Penelope: A badge of courage! - Oh, yeah!

Penelope: Tell me all the times you got hurt.

I broke my nose three times, that's about it.

Say, it's not very violent, it's just dancing sometimes,

you fall down.

Yeah, if you're trying to stop the dance and the moshing,

you're just asking for trouble. You will have a problem.

Actually, we will find out just to leave him alone,

they know the rules of the moshing, and just doing their thing,

and no trouble happens.

Penelope: They get political sometimes, yeah?

There is a couple of groups or the... which we call them...

New skinheads, which is the...

Group which is called unity of sharp.

They call themselves unity, but, they're full of shit.

Penelope: Are they white supremacists?

- No. - What are they?

They're sharp skins.

Penelope: What does 'sharp' stand for?

Uh... skinhead against re...

Racial prejudice, yes.

Skinheads against racial prejudice,

which is great but they're turning into a gang

and fuckin' up punks at shows!

Both of them are bad, really, because

the Nazi skinheads coming here to beat on the Mexicans or black

or whatever minority.

Nazi skinheads come all the time.

I hate Nazis.

I just don't believe in that shit.

I'm half phillippino and these Mexicans...

Were going, "why you got that fucked up haircut, white boy?"

I've been to a kkk rally in Austin, Texas and got

arrested for, for trying to fight this klansman that was

telling me to swim back to China and I'm not even Chinese.

But the other one, they go in inside sniffing around...

For any Nazi for anybody who had a little lace, red lace,

or, you know, different kind of shoes, whatever...

So they start asking questions,

"oh, you're Nazi! Okay, I'm gonna beat you up!"

I got jumped by a bunch of skinheads.

When they fight, they don't fight fair.

They fight one against... I mean, 20 against one guy!

They're really a bunch of sissy faggots, they'll run off and...

Be scared usually 'cause there's usually more of us.

They kept kicking my face into a door of a car.

And they surround one guy and beat him up to death, you know,

Penelope: What happened to your jaw?

It was broken here and here.

And I had to get it wired for eight weeks.

So, we won't allow either party, if they come in here,

they have to follow our rules, which is very simple.

No politics.

Penelope: When you go home at night, do you listen to this?

Oh, no, no. [Chuckles]

I listen to frank Sinatra, Tony Perez, Louis Armstrong...

I have nothing to do with this! Strictly business!

I can eat food now, so I'm happy! [Laughs]

I don't have to puke through a fucking wired jaw.

It comes all out like a sprinkler when I did!

Man: This next one, goes out to...

One of the most oppressive forces...

Oppressor of women, oppressor of gays,

basically an oppressor of all free thought.

I'm not talking about a politician,

I'm talking about organized religion.

People who fucking abuse other people's faith for money.

[Punk rock music playing]

Forgive me, father,

for I have sinned.

[Music continues]

Penelope: How the hell did you get to be a punk rocker, you think?

Because I'm angry.

'Cause people don't like me, 'cause I don't fit in.

'Cause I'm a fuckin' nerd.

All my life, I've always felt, like,

separate from everybody else.

Like I couldn't hang.

Penelope: Tell me what you think made you a punker,

like, in your background?

Not really having a family.

- Penelope: That made you tough? - Yeah.

Penelope: Punks don't get their feelings hurt so easy?

I think they do, they just cover it up

with spikes and color and shit.

It's not about the way you look, it's not about, y'know...

Anything like that, where you're from or like that.

It's all about how you live your life.

I don't have a lot of friends,

I don't choose to hang around with a lot of people.

I don't mix well with people, I just like to be alone and read.

I found just a tight group of friends,

there are like three or four of them that I can

actually hang out with. They're all just like me.

They all have the same feelings of rejection.

I guess being a punk,

to me, it's not really about

what you are, but what you are not.

Do you know what I mean by that? I'm not...

Penelope: What are they not?

We're not... we're not... I tend to think, I tend to hope,

we're not all selfish, all committed to simply ourselves,

but, you know, we like to

give to each other and I don't see that a lot, you know,

in a capitalistic society or just a real structured society.

I think punks are probably the nicest people you'll ever meet,

at least that's what I've seen.

Penelope: You seem like you have a good heart to me.

I try.

The whole thing has, like, adopted me.

I could go across the state, anywhere I want to.

And I'm welcome.

These are the kids that I live with.

They're my family, they're my support, they're my love,

they're everything.

Anyone, besides punk rockers, I do not socialize with.

[Singing]

Sing it!

[Woman shouting]

Penelope: What pisses you off the most?

Cops. I hate 'em.

We represent everything they're against.

Penelope: What do you represent?

Pretty much, doing what we want to do.

The unique thing about them is they dress all different.

There's not one set of dress the way the punk rockers dress.

But one thing is unique,

that whatever it is, how they dress is

gonna be something that catches your eye.

- Penelope: Who made your jacket? - Me.

Penelope: How long did that take?

Couple of years.

That's what they're looking for,

the attention they haven't had when they were growing up.

That's with the hair sticking up, maybe their mohawk

with the red color or the purple coloring,

the nose piercing, all the different piercing, the tattoos.

I was drunk but someone stuffed it through my nose.

I had the m put on in Prescott, Arizona...

The year before last

and the dots done in Seattle last year.

The leather, the chains, things like that...

Me and you would not wear it in the norm,

but when we're driving down the streets, we turn and look,

it's something that definitely catches our attention.

- It's a rib bone off a dog. - Penelope: A rib bone?

Yeah, like a puppy or something.

I'd like to say that all police officers have

seen everything, but that's not the case.

And everyday, we see something different, and...

They definitely are able to open our eyes sometimes.

Penelope: What have you got in your ear?

- It's a pen tube. - Penelope: What's that?

- Penelope: A what? - Pen tube.

- Stuck in your ear? - Yeah, it's...

Penelope: Is there a hole that big?

Yeah, it's really not even big. You used to see all the...

My friend Ted's got big old plugs like this.

I've seen a guy on Melrose,

he had like soda pop cans

- stuck in there... - Penelope: In the earlobes?

This is big enough for me because I think when it gets that big...

Dude, that's so ugly.

Who can do the craziest thing,

who can do the most outrageous thing,

so just somebody notices them.

Penelope: What's your tattoos on the hand say?

"Taco bell"

[smirks]

Penelope: Do you ever make fun of them?

[Exhales]

No, I don't think it's so much making fun except

maybe trying to understand...

Their point of view and where they come from.

We just like to be to be treated with respect like everybody else

and they don't seem to give us that.

Well, if somebody tries to tell us something,

we'll take it into mind but if they try to force it on us,

we'll fight back even more.

When I'm in trouble with the police,

it's because of something I did...

Wrong, usually.

Not because... not because they're just fucking with me.

We sometimes come across them at underground parties,

in terms of where they'll rent a warehouse or

rent something out in a basement,

and they'll pack in the people and

then we'll get a phone call from the neighbors,

or the fire marshals that want to shut these people down.

There'll be about

a hundred punks getting drunk outside the show.

Cops will come...

People will get pissed...

Start throwing beer bottles at cops, riots start happening and

the place gets shut down.

The type of problems that we have

with these kids are probably not

as great as some of the other major problems we have with,

say, gang violence or robberies or things like that.

Don't they got some kind of rapist to bust or something?

We're just trying to get out there and trying to get them

back in touch with their parents or with people that,

you know, have legal guardianship over them.

Penelope: Do your parents like your hairdo?

Ii no-

- Penelope: Excuse me? - No.

I've also come in contact with kids that are like this

that have very loving and caring homes.

And, you know, in that situation, their...

Son or daughter goes out on a Friday night

and then comes home with an earring

or comes home with their hair colored and stuff,

and their parents are looking...

Sometimes, they turn to the police, looking for help...

Johnny, you said you were going to the menudo concert!

Penelope: What did your parents think of

your tattoos and piercing?

Well, my mum's got, like,

five piercings and a tattoo,

so she doesn't really care too much.

It turns out more than not that they just...

Don't like authority.

And we represent authority.

Penelope: You got any more under your shirt?

Right, just... just one.

Penelope: Can you describe the music they play?

Very loud. Very loud, very loud, very loud.

One, two, three, four!

[Loud music playing]

I hate greedy politicians I hate greedy corporations

I hate their manipulation I hate all their exploitation

I hate their economy I hate this whole society

I hate it all I hate it all

smash the state

smash the state

smash the state

smash the state we don't need it

I hate all the presidents and I hate all the governments

I hate the laws that they invent

I hate all that they represent

I hate their fake democracy I hate their damn hypocrisy

I hate it all I hate it all

everything could change everything could change

everything could change take some action

everything could change everything could change

everything could change take some action

Penelope: Do you like cops?

Uh-huh!

- No. - Penelope: No?

Fuckin' assholes!

Penelope: What do you think about the cops?

- They can suck my dick. - [Chuckles]

Because they're a bunch of fascist ass cracks,

they can suck my dick again, part ii even.

The cops don't do anything good

except fucking harass us every day.

They're so corrupt.

They're so damn corrupt.

Penelope: Only beat up by the cops one time?

No, about three times.

Different precincts, so...

Like they'll put the handcuffs on it,

and you'll be right there and they'll, like,

squeeze 'em, like, squeeze it, so...

Penelope: The handcuffs?

Yeah, once I didn't feel my thumb for about a week.

They put a phone book over my face and hit me with a club.

And they're assholes.

They stole my leather jacket and all my clothes. [Laughs]

I'm like, "there's supposed to be a certain area

“where we have to hang out at,"

and then one cop's like,

"yeah, why don't you try the city zoo?"

And I'm like, "fuck!"

City zoo!

When will you start to get angry?

When will you start to fight back?

Smash the state

smash the state

smash the state

smash the state we don't need it!

I hate the United Nations I hate their disinformation

I hate military actions

I hate fascist right wing factions

I hate all the isolation I hate all the desperation

I hate it all I hate it all

smash the state!

So, who do we look at then?

- Either one? - Both: Each other!

[Sighs]

[Laughs]

I'd never been in a band before, I was a French horn player.

[Playing]

Take two!

I did not know how to write rock n' roll music

or sing it, but I could...

I had the expression and anger and

all of this aggression, and Phil just helped me-

you were pissed, man!

[Singing loudly]

She had an extremely loud voice, for how big she is,

and that kind of gave me the idea, like,

“hey, maybe she should be like

“a singer in like a rock band."

His mom put a guitar in his hand

when he was like two or something.

- Penelope: Oh, really? - We have a little baby rocker!

[Plays one note]

Okay, I'm done.

I was trying to make a living on classical guitar

when I was going to school.

[Playing fast tune]

Isn't that romantic?

[Laughing]

[Playing fur Elise]

[Chuckling]

I learned this when I was six.

That's good.

Penelope: So, the guys next door.

On one side of us is a heavy metal band

that practices and then on the other side

we have a mariachi bar,

it's like around the other side of this wall.

They have live mariachi bands every Friday and Saturday night.

Penelope: So you've got mariachi, punk rock and heavy metal?

Heavy metal

Christian guys that do speed and watch pornos!

Aaron: They're from Alabama.

Penelope: Are they really religious though?

They're born again, serious, born again christians.

Penelope: How do they justify

the Christian thing with the speed and the porno?

Have you ever stayed up for a couple of days on speed?

You can make all kinds of things sound tangible.

- I wouldn't know personally! - Penelope: Yeah!

- Penelope: Where do you work? - I work at a pizza place.

- Penelope: Yeah! - I shouldn't say the name...

I made 800 pizzas today!

I get to stay home and work out of the house, like,

fix cars, and...

Do construction, welding...

I work at the dry cleaners!

I'm graduating to pressing pretty soon!

This is like a job where it is pretty kicked back,

you have to deal with pricks a lot, and a lot of fucking

assholes that are coming to get their shit cleaned,

they get mad at you when their shit doesn't come back all

sparkly white, but, you know, it's pretty...

Penelope: People walk in there and get things cleaned up

and you're standing there with green hair then what's up?

And they just go, “where'd you get that green hair?”

I'll say, “well, I found it in the backyard,” you know?

"How come your hair is green?"

"I went swimming in Santa Monica, you know?"

Stupid shit, like that.

[Plays notes]

For some reason,

everyone thinks a punk rock bands

should be poor and exploited,

but any other kind of musician can make money, and...

[Indistinct]

- Penelope: So, Kirsten? - Hmm?

Penelope: How do you feel about that?

It's bullshit! No one should be exploited!

The bigger picture...

The funniest part of this whole money and exploitation thing...

Nowadays in the '905, there are so many bands out there

getting screwed over by independent labels

and, in the scene,

a lot of people get mad at bands if they sign at major labels

but in the 90s,

the major labels are not really screwing bands over anymore.

Penelope: You're in a bind though, because a lot of your fans

are not gonna dig you if you signed to a major label.

Both: No!

That's the irony of it all.

Actually, here's our mail order. We have all this stuff under here.

“Much much alive" album.

We have our selection of naked aggression patches and pins,

for any occasion.

Bitter youth album...

Kirsten: Phil made a heat dryer and

silk screened these ourselves.

These are like "punk sucks."

Compilation cds.

Man: More than one kid at this show, man, they're all cool,

they got those butt-flap things.

I'm like, its a bag patch,

I suppose you could wear it on your butt.

There's so many screwed up things going on like...

This culture of take everything and waste it all

and you don't need love and you don't need family,

you don't need friends, you don't need anybody,

you just need money, you just need things to make you happy.

Penelope: But punk rockers don't think that way.

But they see things in a different light

than someone that lives in front of the TV or

borrows daddy's BMW to go to the store

to buy a new blouse because I'm sad!

Penelope: What are some of the causes that

you've been asked to raise money for?

Help build a rape crisis center.

Kirsten: Yes, we do a lot of...

National organization for women.

Women's shelters for abused women,

aids research...

If some guy needed his rent paid, went to benefit...

- Well, that was... - Yeah...

We've helped pay people's rent.

[Playing slow tune]

There was a protest to go on to help defend this doctor's house

in a local clinic that did abortions.

Phil and I rounded up, like,

30 to 40 punks in a whole bunch of different vans.

We all drove across town to the clinic,

and all the people that were there already were just like,

"woah," 'cause there's 40 punk rockers

just jumping out of vans, ready to, like,

defend the clinic.

Once we played a show in Denver, the cops came,

they started beating up this little punk rock girl

that was like 14 years old,

so all of our friends jumped the cops,

and started beating the fuck out of the cops,

they started smashing their glasses,

they started smashing them to the ground,

they were bleeding,

the cops wanted us to go to court, then we said,

“fuck you, we're not going to court to testify you."

No way!

We're like, "well, can we play one more song,"

and they're like, "yes," we played the song

death to all the pigs.

We packed up and they escorted us out of town.

Penelope: What would you do if you ever got famous?

Like people jumping all over your car and shit?

I would probably hate it. I'd probably try to run them over.

[Laughing]

We'd just do the things we always like to do.

But we're still gonna know the world's still fucked up.

There's still people starving to death and

being killed by death squads.

I'd probably be able to buy car insurance.

[Playing classical tune]

- [Laughing] - Oh, that's so beautiful!

Man: What do you call that piece?

I call that piece, “my radiator's broken."

[Laughing]

One two, fuck you!

[Punk rock music playing]

[Whooping]

Oh!

[Indistinct conversation]

Yes!

Penelope: How do you make your money?

I don't.

What money?

I panhandle, I collect bottles...

Rob and pillage.

Do whatever!

Sometimes, I Rob, steal.

Spare change, whatever.

Panhandling or...

Photospanging or doing labor work here and there.

- Like construction... - Penelope: Photo-what?

- Photospanging. - Penelope: What does that mean?

It's-ii it's-ii

we go stand out in front of mann's Chinese theater

with our hair all charged and stuff,

and the tourists come by and want pictures,

so we just charge them.

We spange and charge tourists money to take our ugly pictures.

They give me a dollar or so, each photo...

[Shutter clicks]

In fact, we just made two bucks on the way here.

Today, I made like three bucks the whole day and that was...

Shit.

About 10 bucks a day

and I spend it on beer and then mooch off of him.

Anywhere from $10 to $20.

- And you can live on that? - Yeah.

To be all charged up, I go down to Melrose, make like 50 bucks...

To make about 40-50 bucks, that's all day.

Capitalist bastard.

Penelope: Aren't you embarrassed to ask people for money?

No, because I'm not begging.

- Penelope: What are you doing? - I'm asking.

I'm asking for welfare, I'm asking for...

Someone to help me out.

People trip out,

[mimicking] “You're gonna buy heroin or something," you know!

Well, if you wanna buy me food, go ahead.

That means I got more money in my pocket for beer.

Down. [Clicks tongue]

Penelope: When you Rob, where do you Rob from?

Stores, people... cars...

Houses...

Penelope: You ever feel guilty about that?

No.

Penelope: Why don't you go and get a job?

It's hard to find jobs for people looking like me.

I don't want a job. I don't wanna do that.

I don't need that.

[Punk rock music playing]

Spare any change at all today, guy?

Twitchin'...

Spare a quarter for disorder?

Can you spare any change at all, folks?

Right, thanks a lot, and a have very lovely day.

I swear I won't waste it on food.

Even a few pennies, a nickel, a dime...

Spare a dime, prevent a crime!

Got an extra cigarette? I'll be your best friend.

How about an answer? Spare an answer? Dick.

Spare any change, buddy, by any chance?

Come on, sexy. Muah! Muah!

- Woah, right on, sir! - Thank you.

- Cheers! - Thank you so much, sir!

Ex-porno star, out of business, need change.

Oh, yes.

- We got it down. - Cheers, man.

Pennies? Answer?

Say no... bitches!

Spit on me for a quarter!

Shit on me for a dollar!

[Laughs]

Kick me in the nut-sack for 50 cents.

I'll kick you in the nut-sack for 50 cents, motherfucker!

[Hard punk rock playing]

Is it cool if I'm short 10 cents.

[Hard punk rock playing]

Lower the crime rate, spare some change!

Next person I Jack maybe someone you know and love.

Spare any change at all for a case?

Oh, so sexy!

Spare any change for the old folks' home?

Spare any change for some glasses?

Spare any change so I can get a dress for the prom?

Spare any change at all, fella, for the unabomber?

You spare any change at all, madam?

Spare any change at all for a fucking plastic purse?

Spare any change at all by any chance, anything helps.

No.

Oh, shit! It is Bruce hershenson.

Fuck!

[Punk rock music playing]

Fuck you, squid!

Hey buddy, can you spare a little bit of change?

To get another one of those?

Yeah, one of those.

You can recycle it, if you want.

- Here! - Fucking prick!

Both: Spare change!

Penelope: In the first punk rock days, did you do drugs?

Sure. I think everybody did.

- Penelope: Like what kind? - Um...

Pills, heroin,

alcohol...

Whatever was around, basically...

Penelope: What does it do to your body?

It fucks your body up.

You're not eating, you're not sleeping, in...

The right order anyway.

If you're having sex,

maybe you're having it too much, too little...

Just, basically, screws up everything.

Penelope: Why did you do it?

Felt good at the time.

And it's peer pressure somewhat.

I just wish I hadn't wasted so much time doing drugs.

Penelope: Let me see your arms, your arms look pretty clean.

Certainly are, just the scars.

- Just the battle scars! - Penelope: Yeah!

I don't do drugs.

Uh-huh... used to. Quit.

[Clacking teeth]

Too many friends dead.

Penelope: So where did you meet little Tommy the queer?

At an na meeting, actually...

- Penelope: Na? - Yeah!

- Penelope: Narcotics anonymous? - Both: That's right.

- Penelope: And you're 15? - Yeah!

- Penelope: What were you kicking? - Speed.

- Penelope: And you? - Downers...

Codeine and stuff...

Beer, bud, and...

Once in awhile heroin...

No drugs... booze!

This cup is the best two dollar investment I've ever made!

- Every time... - Let me see it, I can't see it!

Okay, well, it's a club refill from... I think chevron.

- See? - Yeah.

Hangs on my shoulder here.

Usually, I'd stumble on, you know, if I got no beer

or alcohol...

Crank it off, see?

Spare a swill?

- [Laughs] - Penelope: What's in that bottle?

Space juice. [Laughs]

Penelope: Do you drink every day?

I... yeah.

I have to drink every day or I'd freak out, you know...

[Buzzing] D t's

how much?

[Laughs] Enough to black out every night, I don't know!

Penelope: What time in the morning

did you start drinking, hamburger?

Six in the morning, once they start selling.

Booze door opens at six, and closes at two, so...

Penelope: And what time you stop at night?

Two in the morning, once they stop selling.

Penelope: So, when did you start drinking today?

I think about 10 this morning.

As soon as I wake up, I'm gonna freak...

Usually when I wake up...

Whenever I wake up...

You hear all funny and you see the little detox gremlins,

running around and...

- You get a lot of hangovers? - “No-

I always wake up buzzed. [Laughs]

I can't even eat unless I've at least had a few sips.

I mean, give me a 12 ounce can of beer in the morning

and I'll be all good.

Penelope: How old were you when you started drinking?

Uh... about 14.

About 12.

Like 10-11.

The first time I ever got drunk I almost drowned in a toilet,

'cause my dad and my uncle got me drunk.

And, I drowned in the toilet almost.

They were feeding me beer all day, but...

- The first time... - Penelope: How old were you then?

About three.

Penelope: Why do you think you started so young?

Problems.

It's not really fun to be in reality.

I'm a lot better person to be with

when I've got a couple of frosty cold ones.

Penelope: Are you nasty otherwise?

Uh... boring!

I wanna go to find a farm

and live there without nothing.

- Simple life? - Just grow stuff and just...

Have friends around and brew beer

and drink all day and get drunk and hang out with friends.

And just... have a compound.

- Penelope: Right on! Commune! - Yeah!

That's what you want? You want a beer commune?

Yeah. The alcoholic commune!

All I remember is,

I was at my fucking cousin's house, Linda,

and I took a big old chug

'cause I was all asking my dad if I could take a swaf of beer

and it was whiskey, not beer.

And he poured himself a glass and went into the bathroom,

and I grabbed it...

I just swallowed it all down, it started all burnin' inside me

and all of it sprayed out my nose, right back into this cup.

And there was a booger floating around inside of it

and he came back, grabbed it and swilled.

Me and my sister stand there going...

That fool just drank my iougie.

[Chuckles] But I don't know...

An alcoholic's dream is taking a solid shit.

And we went up there, they lived on the third floor,

we were knockin' on the door,

and they wouldn't answer and I'm like,

"come on, I know your home, I know your home!"

“Come on, open the door."

And they wouldn't open the door, I was all like, “fuck this.

"I'm just gonna go into the alley outside,"

and I'm, like, running down the stairs,

and I got to the bottom stairwell,

and I took like this giant leap and it just went...

[Blows raspberry]

Everywhere and I went, "oh, man!"

Penelope: You shit your pants?

Oh, yeah, but I, like, took newspapers and stuff.

I tried to clean up but... And they were home!

And they were even home the whole time.

[Punk rock music playing]

[Indistinct chatter]

Fuck you. Don't tape this.

[Indistinct chatter]

I don't think you have enough film

in the entire world to watch me get beautiful.

Fuck off.

Piss off!

It would take me, like 15 minutes but I...

I do like a spike and I'll go drink a beer.

Girl: Procrastination.

This is my friend, Chris.

[Punk rock playing]

And this is my other friend, pockets.

And the reason they're outside is 'cause they got bugs.

Penelope: Are you really a racist?

- Am I racist? Yes, I am. - Penelope: Why?

No, seriously, I ain't a racist,

I just fuck around, I don't give a mad fuck.

Yeah, if you think I'm a racist, then you think I'm a racist.

If you think I'm a faggot, then you think I'm a faggot.

Straight up, I don't give a mad fuck what anybody thinks about me.

I just don't like that fucking shit pointing at me,

just makes me like...

Penelope: I'm sorry, but this is what I do in life.

All right, that's your hobby. This is my hobby.

[All singing]

[Crowd chatter]

Woman: Who peed on the fuckin' mattress?

Spoon: I didn't do it. I didn't do it.

[Indistinct chatter]

[Burps]

Look at them all getting pretty.

Oh, yeah. They don't care about the way they look,

they're all in there for hours trying to get pretty.

You're gonna get no footage, huh?

Penelope: I don't think so.

Wow!

Look at that! Good god! All right, girl.

And then I woke up and and I did that

'cause I was really fuckin' drunk.

[Laughter]

Penelope: You burned yourself with a cigarette?

With a couple of cigarettes.

Every one that I smoked that night,

I put it out on my arm, I had a couple of friends do it too.

Penelope: Did it hurt?

I didn't feel it at the time,

but now it hurts like a son of a bitch.

Why don't you put something on it to make it not get infected?

'Cause I'm lazy and I don't wanna.

Since I got it started, I might as well finish it.

So as soon as I get drunk enough I'm gonna finish it.

- Gonna make an arm band? - Yep.

Gotta get the good one right there.

The one that is going to get infected.

Penelope: Oh, god.

Man: No need for this.

[Punks screaming in the background]

Can I say something for the record?

Those are not my friends, I don't know 'em.

Everybody needs to believe in something

I believe I have another...

Beer

my parents were the typical conservative...

Yeah, half of my family are gangsters,

and I'm the only punk rocker.

Penelope: Do they think you're weird?

Yeah, I think I'm weird but they know what I'm fighting for, so.

My parents are mormon.

I grew up with a military father,

military family.

Yeah, my family was screwed up. My dad was kind of a prick.

My mom used to be a hippie

and my real dad and stepdad used to be, like,

rival pot dealers in high school.

And a bunch of crap went down when they were kids.

And now they're so middle class, it's so pitiful.

"White picket fence" life

- is what they live. - Oh.

Penelope: You think they love you?

Yeah, they might, I don't know.

- You don't talk to them? - Nah.

Penelope: So why did you leave home?

'Cause I was forced out, physically, by my parents.

'Cause they couldn't deal with me

and I couldn't deal with them.

When they kicked me out, I said, "good riddance."

Well, my dad tried to force a stepmom on me.

And my stepmom was like, she didn't want me.

She put me in a mental institution.

- When you were how old? - Seven years old.

And my dad pulled the old

“I'm going to the store for smokes, be back in five“.

You know how long it's been since I've seen my pops?

Penelope: Why did you originally leave home?

- When you were 13? - Physical abuse.

I lived with my dad and he wasn't, you know...

He used to beat me and stuff.

- Did your dad hit you? - Yeah.

- Penelope: Tell me about that. - It doesn't feel good.

- I mean, it makes... - Tell me what happened?

It makes me feel like a little kid again, I mean...

It's demeaning.

Penelope: What did he beat you with?

Chairs, his fists, whatever he can get his hands on.

Any number of objects, I mean, anything from a belt,

to a stick, to a pipe, to a power tool.

You know, anything my father could get his hands on,

chairs, I've had my head put through windows.

Penelope: What would your dad hit you with?

His fist.

- His fist? - Yeah.

- Where? - Face.

And other places too.

Penelope: For what?

'Cause I'm smarter than he is

and I can make him feel like an idiot.

Penelope: So are any of those scars from your father?

Not, not on my chest.

Where are those?

I've got one on my shoulder, some on my back, my legs.

My face.

Penelope: Did it make you sad when he did that?

Yeah.

Made me feel helpless 'cause I can't do anything.

He's fucking 6'3", 200 pounds.

Penelope: Did he physically abuse

any other kids in your family?

My sister.

Physically and sexually.

When you think about it now, do you get sad?

Yeah... yeah, I get sad.

Penelope: Do you...

You think that's why you're a punk?

I think that's a big part of it.

Penelope: If you have children, are you gonna do that to them?

No.

I would take little bit better care of them.

Penelope: What would you say to them right now

- if you could say one thing? - Hi.

[Killing floor playing]

There's this group around that calls themselves pro-life

well, instead they should call themselves pro-death

because by trying to take away our freedom of choice

they're going to force many women

who don't want to bear children to the back alley

and many women are going to die from these back alley abortions!

But these people don't seem to care

Got an abortion in a back alley got an abortion in a back alley

got an abortion in a back alley

Got an abortion in a back alley got an abortion in a back alley

got an abortion in a back alley got an abortion in a back alley

and now I'm bleeding to death on the killing floor

[Music continues]

Penelope: How long have you been homeless?

Off and on since 12.

Penelope: Have you ever lived in a house or apartment?

I've stayed in a few apartments.

That's about it, like, overnight.

Penelope: And where do you live now?

In this field behind burger king

or alleys wherever I stay.

I live wherever I sleep.

Penelope: Okay, where do you sleep?

Usually, camping out,

you know, outside places.

Sometimes, you know, in this drinking field.

- Penelope: In a what? - In a drinking field.

- What is that? - It's just, like, a field,

there's, like, two fences and you can...

Just drink in there, with other people.

I don't stay indoors too much, not in a domesticated house.

I don't feel very comfortable [Clears throat] living indoors.

Penelope: Actually, you're the only punk around

that's got their own apartment.

Yeah... yeah.

Penelope: How old were you

when you first started squatting?

Thirteen.

Since I was sixteen, I'm 22 now.

I've been in thousands of squats all over the country.

I gotta break into a new squat pretty soon.

- Same here. - Since these lazy bums

don't wanna fuckin' help me.

I do, I do.

How do you find a squat?

Just walk around, find a place that looks empty...

Boarded up house, an abandoned building.

Wait till dark fall, and break into it.

- Rip a board off. - Crowbar!

Invite yourself in.

Penelope: And then you live there?

And then you live there.

- And they call it squid squat? - No.

That was just a joke we got out of south bay.

But it got busted, or else you would've been

able to film there today.

That was down squat, that was my last squat.

The neighbors loved us, we had a set up.

It was so clean.

Penelope: It was nice?

It was the best house I ever lived in.

[Punk rock music playing]

Flea: This city has become a lot more

hostile and a lot less caring

as time has gone by, I know there's a drastic difference

in a short amount of time.

Ten year period of time, 15 year period of time.

There's a drastic different feeling in the city,

it's more hostile, it's more cold

it's less forgiving, it's less flexible.

And it's gotta be hard for a homeless kid now, I know when...

When I was, like, punk rock,

you know, whatever, in like 1981,

you know, I went and stayed at the cash club at...

Janet Cunningham's contemporary artist space of Hollywood

with like... animal boner and

all these punk rock guys who were sleeping on the couch there

and there was just this sense of community, you know,

you could stay there and there would be poetry readings,

people making art and making music.

And this feeling of like...

You know, maybe you're like...

Don't have a family, you don't have friends,

no place to stay but there's an umbrella.

You know, this umbrella of art or whatever you wanna call it,

punk rock and it was like a feeling of being loved!

Which is what everyone wants, you know.

And...

For kids that are homeless now

walking a boulevard or whatever,

you know... fuck man!

[Punk rock music playing]

Penelope: What are you gonna do with that dog?

You don't even have a home, how can you have a dog?

I've managed to take care of myself every day.

That's why I sold my dog.

- You sold your dog? - Yeah.

- For how much? - 30 bucks.

So I could get loaded last night.

Life is boring when you're stuck out on the streets,

you know, the only thing to have fun is to get high or get drunk.

That's what you can do. Yep, kill time.

I live right here in this filth and garbage

and slime that you see every day in la.

- [Laughing] - And I enjoy it.

There's no where left to go. So, we hang out here

on the streets.

Penelope: What are you gonna be doing in five years, man?

Well...

I was thinking about running for maybe president one day.

Free beer for everybody, yes!

Where do you sleep at night, Mr. President?

- [Cues band music] - Anywhere.

- Bushes, yes. - We have our own bush home.

Yeah, it's like a condominium, we have all these bushes.

Surrounded, and then inside we got mattresses and shit.

Penelope: So where do you got the bathroom at?

- Alley. - You know, find someone's

back door unlocked in their car, piss in their backseat but...

I was gonna go back here actually but you guys came so...

Penelope: What about normal people that have tvs and vcrs,

don't you wish you had all that stuff?

- Not really. - We're not building society.

We don't need all that shit. We don't need any of it.

Penelope: Where do your parents think you are?

My father's dead. My mom...

She's in a shelter, I don't know where she is.

I don't think she knows where I am, either.

[Imitating motorcycle]

Penelope: What are you going to be doing in about five years?

Probably the same thing.

[Punk rock music playing]

Penelope: How long you been living out on the street?

- Since fourteen. - Seventeen.

Penelope: Do you ever change your clothes?

Yeah, I used to but...

Generally, this is like my traveling clothes.

Penelope: How long since you had a bath?

Oh, shit. Month and a half maybe?

- You're into punk rock? - Hell, yeah.

I'm into punk and drinkin'.

I hate life and I hate society

but I'd rather drink beer,

I'd rather like live for beer, that's what I live for.

Penelope: You go to many punk rock shows?

Yeah, all the time.

- How do you get in? - Rush the door usually...

Whatever I have to do to hustle you know and get in, you know.

Most of the clubs are too far to walk

and I got really big blisters on my feet.

Penelope: So let me ask you a question.

Goddamnit

what happens when a... I'm sorry I shouldn't have...

How do you like living on the streets?

It's all right. It's better than the abuse

I had in my home.

Mental and physically.

My stepmom would beat me over the ass with a two by four.

And they'd call me a loser and that...

All their fights are caused by me.

They always fight because of me and

they're alcoholics and drug addicts.

So I just followed in their footsteps

and ended up on the street.

My dad's a computer nerd and my mom's a tweeker.

- Penelope: A what? - A tweeker.

- What is that? - A person who does lot of speed.

When you were growing up, did she do a lot of speed?

I didn't even really know her until I was 12.

And then after that?

Yeah, I wasn't raised with her though.

- She snorts it or what? - Yeah.

-She shoot it? 'No-

- she just snorts it? - Yeah.

- I bet the house is clean, huh? - Yep.

My mom used to drink before she gave birth to me and

she fed me booze in my bottle to put me to sleep

'cause I cried at night.

Penelope: That sucks, doesn't it?

- So what? - I liked it.

I'm glad. I'm an alcoholic, I dig it.

You wanna say anything to your mom right now?

Hi mom, thanks for making me an alcoholic, I love you.

[Punk rock music playing]

Penelope: Where you live, man?

- On the street. - On the street.

Penelope: How do you get money to go to punk rock shows?

Panhandle.

Or a scam.

-You ever steal stuff? 'No-

- no? - Don't steal.

What a good boy.

Why are you on the street?

'Cause I got kicked out of my house

when I was nine years old for setting my house on fire.

- For what? - Setting my house on fire.

- Why'd you do that? - I was trying to light a heater.

- It was an accident? - Yeah.

- So your parents kicked you out? - Yes.

They put me in a shelter home

and then forgot about me.

You've been on the street ever since?

- Yes. - Are you sad about that?

Not really... no.

Penelope: What do you do every day?

I panhandle.

What do your parents do?

My parents? My parents are bikers.

- You got a home right now? - No.

- Why not? - Why not? I lost my job and

couldn't afford the apartment I was staying in.

Penelope: What's that on your arm?

It's an anti-Swazi.

So you don't like the skinheads?

No, sure don't.

- You ever fight with them? - Fight a lot with them.

- Are they mean? - They're pretty mean, yeah.

- Are you mean? - Yeah.

- Are you angry? - Right now?

- In general. - No. Angry... hardened, yeah.

[Punk rock music playing]

Penelope: Can you describe what the kids look like

that you see out there?

Most of them are the...

Spare change, what we call gutter punks,

you know...

Look like they haven't been eating much,

drink a lot, probably take drugs.

Getting into all sorts of trouble,

sleep in the street type of thing.

Penelope: You guys ever hear that name "gutter punks"?

- All: Yeah. - What does that mean?

- Who live in the gutters? - Dirty drunk fuckers

who like wander around and terrorize people on the streets.

I don't know.

- Is that you? - Pretty much, that's us.

Where are your parents?

Wherever.

- You don't know? - I don't know.

- Do you ever talk to em? - Nope.

- How old are you? - 22.

-How long you been on the street -since I was 13.

Penelope: Your parents know where you are?

No.

When's the last time you talked to 'em?

My mom disowned me, my dad disowned me so...

- Why? - Because...

They think I'm a freak!

So when you get all these piercings and stuff,

where did you get the money for that?

I do it myself.

- You do it yourself? - Mm-hmm.

- Doesn't it get infected? - Well, yeah. But it goes away.

What happened to your arm right there?

A bunch of skinheads decided to kick my ass,

put a motorcycle muffler to my arm, so...

That was that.

- So you like skinheads? - No.

[Laughs mischievously] Not at all, to be honest. But...

- Where do you sleep every night? - Here, there. I don't know.

- In the alleys or what? - Alleys, rooftops, wherever.

Aren't you afraid out there?

Isn't anybody gonna hurt you out there?

I don't think anybody could hurt me any... I don't know...

I've been hurt enough so... I don't think anybody...

Doesn't that make you sad that you've been hurt that much?

No.

[Punk rock music playing]

[Punk rock music playing]

[Squatterpunk playing]

Woke up this morning my squat ablaze

broke out through a window in a half drunk haze

thought about the dead Nazi from the night before

I like life this way normal life is a bore

knifed a guy in an alley for hitting a friend

cops let us all go in the end skinhead fight and I'm in jail

he's with the nurse and I can't make bail

all this will be mine one day, I love it.

Penelope: On tight.

Never thought I'd be at gizmo's mom's house.

Penelope: Why do they call you “eyeball?"

I sleep with one eye open and a friend of mine was...

He was talking to me while I was asleep, he thought I was awake.

And I was dead asleep actually.

My eye was half open,

you know, he's in some squat and he's all...

“Hey, man, come with us."

And, "let's go do this and that, “ and...

I was totally oblivious to the fact that he was talking to me,

and then I kind of snored a little. [Snores]

You know...

He realized I was asleep, so,

he started calling me “the eyeball" guy.

You know, "that guy with the eyeball...“

it kind of stuck.

There's a good pile of stuff.

Gizmo's parents are pack-rats, man.

Quick ease!

[Laughs mischievously] What does that do?

- What room is this? - This is the living room.

Oh, what's this? Oooh!

A cop doll.

We should do something with this later.

Penelope: Margie, can you walk to the TV?

[Laughs sheepishly] Yes, and no.

Show me.

- Can you walk over to your TV? - Yeah.

Because, you know, I know my house.

I'm not crazy.

Can eyeball walk over there?

You can come. This way, this way.

Not this way, this way.

- This way? - Okay

- I don't wanna. - This way, this way.

That's okay.

Penelope: Well, I love your house!

I hate it.

[Laughs]

And they wonder where punk rockers come from.

Rehearsal room is right here.

Guys are out here...

There's... According to the signs...

[Reading]

It says...

I was walking down the street on Hollywood boulevard

and I was trying to get to work and I was really pissed off...

'Cause there was a lotta people, actually I was on a skateboard

and there was iotta people out there and...

I was just trying to get through and I was like...

"I gotta get through, gotta go to work, I'm late."

[Humming beats] It just started going through me.

And then I had to say, "screw it.

"I'm gonna be late for work," 'cause I had to stop

behind a building and write a song.

[Punk rock music playing]

People just fuck with me and I just don't know why

[singing indistinctly]

Penelope: Sean, where do you live?

- Couch tour. - Couch surfing.

- Couch tour. - I live on the streets actually.

Penelope: When you need to rehearse,

how do you get together?

We all know how to get a hold of each other.

All: Yeah.

How do you get a hold of each other?

Pagers or whatever.

We know the particular places we couch tour at.

Sometimes it's real hard.

We're the only street punk band in la.

We're the only ones that live on the streets.

This one's squatterpunk.

[Punk music playing]

First time I actually stepped into an abandoned building,

and went to sleep, I was 14, I believe,

and I thought at the time, I'm probably the only kid

in la or the United States

that's... living in an abandoned building.

I didn't even know what a squat was or anything like that,

you know...

- There's know a lot now. - Yeah.

[Squatterpunk continues]

People that decide to live on the streets

just because of the simple fact they know they can't

exist in regular society, they can't go on.

It's not because of them, it's because of what

society has become, it's in a decline, it's falling apart.

And writing of the youth who

can't buy houses and can't get jobs,

they're not getting the education they need, that is,

you know, that's basically

an inevitable fact of the future. All systems collapse.

I think that there is inevitable economically based

class war that's going to happen in the United States.

I think the economic system has taken the haves and have-nots

and separated the classes to where it's just poor and rich

and the more middle class is dying away.

Every society has a rise and fall

and a beginning and an end, you know.

And... it happened in Rome

it happened in england, and it'll happen here.

Penelope: Punk is getting to have bigger audiences

or smaller or what, right now?

Well, real punk is

getting smaller audiences and...

Like, the sell-out stuff is getting bigger audiences.

The most that we've been able to play for is probably 300.

- Maybe? - Okay.

And the least?

When you've done a show, the least people

-that were ever there? 'Two-

Penelope: What if some record company came and

tried to sign you and give you a bunch of money and...

How do you feel about that?

I mean, it's iffy, you know.

Am I gonna be their puppet or am I gonna be able to...

To... you know...

- Money can't be an issue. - Yeah, money's not...

What I'm concerned with, what I'm concerned with is,

"am I gonna be able to say what I want?"

What I wanna say isn't gonna be playable on mtv!

I get more of a jolly out of... Off of a...

Walking down the street, seeing some kid I don't even know

and hear him sing lyrics to my song,

you know, that's like way more cool than

probably ever seeing myself on mtv.

The major labels and... And mtv...

And the radio stations, they're afraid of this stuff,

you know.

It's like volatile chemicals, you know.

- Watch mtv? - Mix it with kids

and it's gonna blow up.

Anybody out here into bondage or anything like that?

Pierced nipples, you know, shit like that!

Penelope: So your main priority in life is?

My band. Band before anything.

Band before my job, band before bitches.

'Cause I love women,

and I don't want them to get in the way of my band.

[Crowd clamoring]

Penelope: Your girlfriend got beat up!

- Where's she at? - She's okay.

- Shit! They kicked her out? - Yeah. She's outside.

There's something about when

a woman comes, showing that...

Really tough side of her, really turns me on.

Penelope: You know, that's surprising.

I would think that you'd like these wimpy chicks, you know?

No, I like tough chicks.

- Huh? I'm shocked. - My girlfriend...

That one girlfriend you got now, she's kind of like tough.

No actually she's got a... She's got a little bit of a...

Tougher side in her than I do, you know?

- She does? - Yeah, I really think

it would be better off if the world was run by women.

If I had a daughter, I would love it if she's a lesbian,

because I don't trust guys and I trust women a little bit more.

See I love a strong woman and

I love to see a woman going [Showing rage] over me.

- You do? - Yeah, if she can kick my ass,

man, I can fall in love.

[Singing]

Penelope: Where do you work?

Right now, I have a job doing phone sex.

Penelope: Does it gross you out to do that?

Oh, yeah. I'm straight, so...

Oh, it's gay phone sex?

I had this guy that, you know, he was...

He was obese, he had an obesity problem.

He... he wanted to...

He was about 350 pounds. He wanted to be 400 pounds.

I mean, like, 500 pounds. He wanted to hit five bills.

He would incorporate food into sex, you know?

So things like... "Let's pour honey

“or let's pour syrup all over you."

"I think I'll roll you in fruit loops.

"And eat em of your ass," you know?

And he'd say, "eat em off my flubbering ass," you know...

That guy was too much, man.

You don't get paid to do work 'cause you like it,

you know, you get paid 'cause you don't like it.

I hate my job.

[Singing]

Hit me, Pierce me, shave me shame me, slap my sweaty balls

there's a whole world of pain and I wanna feel it all

Penelope: When you guys got in that wreck,

you were drinking a lot?

- Yeah. - Yeah. Look in here.

Yeah. So it was six of us in the car.

The girl that was driving was drinking?

Yeah. She was to gettin' off at the exit and she...

She swerved over

and hit the center divider and that spun the car out.

And when the car started spinning out and stuff,

I don't know, everybody was just pretty beat.

And it flipped, and I was like...

[Groaning]

Holding on to shit and fuckin'...

And all of a sudden, I hit my head and

blacked out and, me and Mikey and

Ricky ticky, we all flew out of the car.

And all I remember was...

Waking up on the dirt.

And I got up.

And I took two steps,

and I collapsed.

Stephanie, she got crushed by the steering wheel.

And...

I got my back broken

and Mikey got fucked up and...

And Ricky ticky died and...

[Chokes up]

This one time,

after all of these years just...

It just fucked me up.

You know, this is where I am today.

Penelope: So if you could walk again?

Do you think you would drink again?

I would drink but I wouldn't drive.

Woman: I want one! I want one!

There he is.

[Punk rock song playing]

[Screaming]

[Indistinct talking]

Penelope: Wait, wait, wait. Who is this?

Woman: Oh. Take three drinks!

Shut up, I'm tryin' to fuckin' sleep.

[Coughing]

Man: Dude, you're pretty stupid. Aren't you?

[Laughing]

Spoon: Not me! Not me!

Penelope: How many times

does this happen, this kind of party?

Right, I don't know, it's like every day.

- Every day? - Yeah.

Does it drive you crazy, this is your house?

Well, sometimes, like...

Maybe tonight.

[Group screaming]

You sick?

Penelope: What do you need?

Man: Hey, rush, will you flush the toilet by the way?

Penelope: Wait, wait, wait.

Where should I go... I want to get some dinner.

I didn't get “taco bell” tattoo on my knuckles for no reason.

Penelope: You got a ticket today?

What did you get it for?

- Drinking. - Being a wanker?

Drinking in public?

Yeah, I was drinking cider and they made us pour it out.

So what did you do with your ticket, man?

- I ate it. - Right on.

Penelope: What did you get your ticket for?

Fuckin' same shit. Drinking cider.

Penelope: Right?

Squid: You guys, be quiet.

Penelope: Did I just see you pukin' in the bathroom?

- Yes. - Why were you doin' that?

'Cause I got cirrhosis and I fuckin' can't drink that well.

Girl: Shut the fuck up, squid.

Penelope: How do you get the money for this place?

My folks and... I got disability.

- From the accident? - Yeah.

How many people have their own place to live?

[Group laughs]

Penelope: Hey, what's your name?

Steve, come and sit down man.

Penelope: Where's Steve?

Penelope: Steve, where do you live?

- Spoon: In his Van. - You live in your Van?

All right.

Well, we live right off Hollywood, man.

We got a home, we don't pay rent.

We got a nice apartment,

we got electricity, radio, tapes.

We got a nice home!

Penelope: Don't you know most of the people

in this country got electricity?

Yeah. But we don't even have to collect welfare to get it.

We just steal it.

It's there, we take it.

Penelope: Steve, where is your family?

Austin, Texas.

Austin, Texas?

Man: Aaaah!

Yeah, my dad's a pio.

- What does that mean? - My brother's... he has his own

business like...

- Together: He's an investigator. - He's a cop.

Penelope: Where are you all gonna be in five years from now?

Drunk!

[Laughter]

[Punk rock music playing]

We love you, Penelope.

Penelope: You ever get these people coming up say,

"thank you for letting us hang here"?

Yeah.

Penelope: 'Cause I feel like they care about you, a lot.

'Cause they were trying to get you

to the hospital and everything.

Yeah... I know.

And I appreciate everyone

for helping me out and...

[Mumbling]

We love you, Darius!

Penelope: You guys care about Darius or what?

Man: Hell, yeah! All: Yeah!

Man: More than he knows.

- More than he acknowledges, man. - More than he wants to believe.

- Way more. - Yes, stick it.

[Laughter]

Spoon: So they cleaned up most of the bottles that they left.

Squid: This is for Stevie.

This is our shrine that we made for him.

“For you I shall spill some of my beer

“I wish we could swill and that you were here.”

Squid: He would always drink here and then

and it's gone to this, look.

That's Stevie's bed roll right there.

[Reading]

Squid: Yeah, that's a good one.

I can think of a million people

that could've gone instead of him,

me being one of them.

- What's your name? - Steve.

Penelope: Steve, come here and sit down, man.

So what do you know about Stevie?

I've known him for years.

Penelope: How old was he?

Spoon: He had just turned 19.

Just a little boy, that's all he was.

Feel like you wanna take him under your wing.

And he used to go,

"dyin' over here, dyin' over here.“

and "woot! Is toilet out?"

Spoon: Knock ya fuck out.

I've had three people die this month so far including him.

But I've never lost...

This is the first one I've been in.

- A fire? - Yeah. First squat fire.

We used to joke around about it but...

Guess it ain't funny.

Penelope: Why do you live in places like this?

I believe in squatter's rights

and I don't have anywhere to stay.

Penelope: So how long were you squatting in here?

About three weeks.

Me, Stevie and Billy were upstairs.

Stevie just came back to the squat

with his little puppy Ruth.

We'd been drinking all day, he was with me.

We were about to come back here and crash out too.

That skinhead guy, what's his name?

Oh yeah, um, spooky.

And her and spooky were down here.

Squid had got pissed because

this skinhead was swooping on his girlfriend right.

So he went upstairs to crash out.

I was up there and I was coming down to check on him.

He decided to come down and see if they were fuckin' or not,

you know, 'cause he was pissed.

Penelope: Who saw the flames first?

I did.

Can you tell me what you did at that point?

Freaked out!

I hit Stevie in the chest, "squat fire!"

Penelope: Why wouldn't Steve wake up?

All: Steve was too drunk. He was drunk, so drunk.

I started grabbing all my stuff 'cause I had my pile laid out

and, like, just even in that two seconds...

The flames were already poking through the door up there.

Man: There was a squat candle which is a lot of wax

that's put in to a can, or a glass or an ashtray

or something. A wick put in it, and just used, you know?

Squid: I ran out, threw my shit,

jumped on to the roof, went down,

crossed the street, and I looked and no one was coming out.

I tried to come back in. But the smoke was too thick.

We saw the smoke from Hollywood boulevard

and so we cruised down here

and we saw the place was on fire.

It was fuckin' burning up.

When we were outside, we were screaming at the firemen.

"There's people still in there."

That's why they went upstairs first.

[Indistinct chatter]

[Girl sobbing]

Girl: Stevie!

[Girl continues sobbing]

Firemen: You all right, son?

Firemen: Don't take this off yet.

Penelope: What happened to the dog?

Got burned alive and then found him and left him in here.

They dragged him outside over there to the front porch

and buried him, next to the front porch.

Penelope: Who?

Here lays Ruth, the baddest squat dog... ever.

Penelope: How come the dog didn't run away, do you know?

Probably because Stevie was holding on to him.

He was probably holding on to him.

Man: Tied up or something?

Man: Although, when we found the dog, it was close to Stevie.

[Slow music playing]

I just wanna go.

Penelope: You got an idea about

what you wanna be when you grow up?

Not really.

Things are so fucked up in this world, like...

It's-ii

there's really nothing that...

There's no goals right now, not for me at least.

Penelope: What you gonna do in five years, man?

I'll be drinkin'.

Drink myself to death, that's what I'm gonna do.

Penelope: What are you gonna do five years from now?

What are you gonna make out of your life?

I'll probably be dead in five years from now.

What do you think is gonna happen to you in 10 years?

What're you gonna be doing?

I'll be dead in 10 years. I'll be dead in five.

What you laughing at, Amanda? What you gonna do in five years?

I'll be dead, too.

Penelope: Well, does that make you feel bad?

No.

- You guys won't miss us. - Yeah, no shit.

It's kinda sad, don't you think?

No. I'm not happy here.

Sooner I go the better, as far as I'm concerned, really.

I don't live a happy life.

Penelope: Hey, what happened to your eye, Amanda?

I got jumped by four people.

- No way. - Yeah.

- When? - Like, Friday.

You know carpe diem?

I take today, I look to tomorrow, but...

I ain't plannin' 10 years ahead.

I'm not gonna go look for a job but if a job finds me,

I'll take it.

Penelope: You're gonna enter the workplace?

Yeah, I'll try!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I am, I am.

You're gonna enter the workplace?

- Yeah. - All right.

- [Man guffaws] - Fuck you, dude.

Penelope: What are you gonna be when you grow up?

A cook? I don't know.

Something. I don't know.

Gas station guy. I don't know.

You seem like kind of a hopeful person.

I try to be.

Even though you're homeless?

Yeah. I try to be... Look for the best, you know?

Don't you get depressed out there on the street?

Yeah, sometimes. But other times I just feel... you know...

I'm strong, I can make it through.

We're the cockroaches.

We're the ones who're gonna live through everything.

Penelope: So when the world's over, when everything has ended,

then there's only gonna be...

[Punk rock song playing]

Sorry about that, hey, man.

[Slow music playing]

[Punk rock song playing]