Mark McClellan

Rancid / Campbell Video

I found this beautiful little YouTube video from someone on Facebook and loved the trip down memory lane. See, I grew up in San Jose, California and when people ask me what part, I’ll usually tell them something like “near Campbell” or “practically Campbell” and if they are at all familiar with the area, they know exactly where I mean. To set things straight, I’m no wannabe Campbellite, I am a San Jo thug til I die if you know what I’m saying. But it seems I couldn’t venture too far South or West from my house before ending up in Campbell. Heck, if you were to ask me where Taco Bravo, the Prune Yard, or where Andy Rockwood lived, I would have said San Jose. And I would have been wrong on all accounts.

One of the things people from this part of the world love to talk about is the fact that the band Rancid hails from the area, as if that’s the coolest thing about the place. Well, it is pretty cool, but now I think it’s even more cool to tell people that eBay is just a stone’s throw from my parent’s house. I can remember that office park before it was bought out and I can even remember when that old house (the Ainsley Mansion) sat right there before being moved down next to the Campbell library.

Well, before I geek out too hard, let me get back to my original purpose for posting this clip which was to allow me to add my own personal commentary and anecdotes. The bad dancing is reminiscent of this other video that I enjoy at a level beyond reason, but again, this is like a trip home for me. So here we go.

Opening Shot — Man I totally remember that animal hospital on Winchester Blvd. for some reason. I know it’s not the one just up from the old Delta Queen car wash where more than one of my household pets was euthanized for one reason or another.

@0:10 — Ah, Highway 17, the lifeline to the coast.

@0:21 — Westmont High. My dad taught here (though he doesn’t remember Lars). I went to Del Mar because it was a five minute walk from where I lived. There was the ominous threat of me getting pulled out of “that school” and being brought over to Westmont where I could benefit from stricter parental supervision of my scholastic career. I learned to get grades just good enough to not let this happen

@0:39 — Campbell Water Tower is looking pretty swanky. Did they paint that thing or something? Must be to make the yuppies feel better for paying as much as they did for their townhome.

@1:08 — I used to ride my bike past this sign a lot on my way to work.

@1:29 — Ah, BART. This reminds me that I need to write a post someday to compare and contrast the experience of riding BART and CalTrain.

@1:34 — Sharmon Palms Lane. I used to pass this everyday on the bus back in 7th grade when Campbell Jr. High was “too full” so they bussed me over to Rolling Hills. Was I part of some diversity program? Bring kids from “the hood” (okay, so I did not live in the hood but Ravenscourt was pretty scary!) over to affluent area to give the rich kids someone to taunt and torment? Holy crap, I think I was… I’m totally voting against that crap in the future.

@1:53 — Two, wide lanes of traffic in either direction, this was cool to see. Downtown Campbell underwent a big transformation that started back when I was working for the Waltons on Railway Avenue. Used to be I had to risk my life to run across this intersection to get to the swarthy little convenience store with the dirty magazines so I could buy chocolate milk (or something else totally ridiculous) for Curt. Now they have crosswalks and traffic signals. The convenience store was probably replaced by a Starbucks or something.

@2:16 — Ahhhh, Taco Bravo. Del Mar had an open campus and this was where you went to been seen. I think the first time I witness a drug deal was in this parking lot. Memories. Still love that place, even after my little brother told me what someone who worked there confessed to him, something about the beans… Plus you had Der Wienerschnitzel right next to it if you wanted chili cheese dogs or Tower Records if you needed music. Oh, speaking of Tower Records, if you ever find yourself there with a friend who’s holding a CD that has two price tags on it, do not advise said friend to remove the price tag with the higher number. You will be fine if you do so, but your friend will get picked up by an undercover security guard with an inferiority-complex that will perp-walk him to the back of the store and proceed to attempt to scare the crap out of him with words like “juvenile hall” and “crime record” while you wait hopelessly for him to get released. If this happens to you and your friend, pray that this friend has an understanding, discreet brother-in-law that can sign for his release when his mother cannot be reached.