Monday, June 25, 2007

Do It For Ram.

WHAT'S YOUR STORY?

Got your own classic or funny Tacoland story like the ones below?

Proove it!

What about an old flyer, photo, video or one of a kind Tacoland keepsake?

Share it!

Simply leave a comment in the comment section or email me.

Share it with Stories from The House Of Ram and we'll not only make sure you get it back, we'll give you credit on the web site, in the book and on the Official Stories from The House Of Ram DVD. And, to say thanks for sharing (because without you, this whole project would totally suck!) we're gonna make sure you get a free copy of the book and some other surprises that are in the works.

Proceeds will benefit The Tree or a yet to be determined benefactor, one that would make Ram proud.

So go for it.

Don't be a Pussy.

Do It for Ram.

Send your story via the comments section of this site.

Or send me an email regarding any of the above mentioned photos, flyers, videos or any other Tacoland ephemera and we'll figure out a way to get it up on this little tribute to Ram site.

Attention: (TacoLand) hmk@sharkthang.com

If you want your stuff back and credit given where' it's due, place your stuff in an envelope, box or anything self contained that's got your name, email and contact information on it.

Remember, the more clearly you write, the faster this stuff will get archived and returned. Plus, writing clearly will greatly increase the chances of you ever seeing your shit again!

Keep in mind that we'll be categorically archiving everything digitally by year along with subcategories for Stories, Flyers, Photos, Jokes, The Gospel According To Ram, History, MP3 Downloads of Tacoland performances, and yes, updates on what's up with The Tree and the Sacred Ground on which it stands.

Thanks in advance for everyones contributions to this project. Your help, comments, suggestions and advice are totally welcome - email me and I'll be in touch as soon as possible. I can't do this alone - I just wanted to plant the seed and pay my respects to a good man and a great human being, Ramiro "Ram" Ayala. San Antonio lost a little part of it's soul on the morning of June 24, 2005. Harshing everyone's Spurs buzz to boot.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

This happened a few months ago, March or April, 2005. I didn't witness the incident, but my buddy Frank told me about it. We, los #3 Dinners, were playing Tacoland, having a good time playing for Ram and his friends. This one chick was too drunk (not a problem with Ram), but out of control and acting like, well, a pussy (a big problem with Ram). She received a few warnings about her behavior, yet she persisted to fuck up. Let me digress for a moment. Ram had a sixth sense about drunks. He knew when they were 30 seconds from exploding into a difficult to control monster. He was skilled at intervening at the exact moment when the drunk had reached that delicate balance between being a happy Tacoland drunk and an out of control pussy. The point where the drunk was most vulnerable and could be thrown out on their ass with minimal effort . . . just before a critical mass of drunkeness was reached and the situation would become expotentially more difficult to control. It was a zen master-like ability to know when just one utterance of "GET THE FUCK OUT OUTA HERE!" would communicate directly with the drunk's last functioning brain cell and defuse the situation. If you ever saw it in action, you were awestruck . . . that's if you weren't too drunk to notice. Anyway, this drunk chick had hit that point and she was being evicted from the House of Ram. She pleaded for mercy. "Ram, I love you! Don't throw me out! I'll give you a blow job, ANYTHING, if I can stay." Ram's perfect response was, "I'd rather have a blow job from your boyfriend. Now, GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!"

Yawn said...

It's all a haze of $1.50 beers and whatever else was making its way around. This site's an awesome idea and I'd like to throw a post out here and there, but I can't think of too many Tacoland stories I want with my name attached to it posted on the Internet. If I think of any PG-13 ones I'll come back and throw them in the comments, but we're talking about Tacoland here- not the type of place you tell your grandma about!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for doing this, Michael! I'll try and get the word out here in Austin.

Do you know if there's a fund to help out the surviving employees and how to donate?

Anonymous said...

One time on a slow night at Tacoland we were all watching a Spurs game on the TV on the refigerator. (yeah, this was a while back) I turned to Ram and asked him who he thought would win.

He turned to me and said, "That's easy. The niggers in the white socks."

Of course someone just had to play My Wife Just Ran Off With a Nigger on the jukebox at that point.

Rolling and smokin' one for you Daddy.

We miss ya' already.

Anonymous said...

There will be a memorial service held in memory of Taco Land owner, Ramiro "Ram" Ayala, on Sunday, August 14th, 2005 starting at 8:30 pm. It will take place at the historic Josephine Theatre, which is located at 339 W. Josephine Street (at the corner of W. Josephine & N. St. Mary's).

The memorial service is being held by Ramiro's wife & love of 41 years, Tina Cruz, and their sons Mark and Edward. There will be live music by The Infidels, The Rhythm Kings, Los Mescaleros and others, as well as remembrances by many of Ram's friends, family & members of the San Antonio & Austin music community. The event is free & open to the public. All of Ram's friends & fans are invited to attend.

The South Texas Blood & Tissue Center will also be on-hand throughout the evening for a very special Blood Drive. The "First Annual Friends of Ramiro 'Ram' Ayala Memorial Blood Drive" will begin at 6:00 pm in front of the Josephine Theatre, and will continue inside the lobby when the doors open at 8:30 pm. The hope is that this drive will generate as many as 100 units of blood for the center, which is currently operating on only a one-day supply. This event will also act as a "blood replacement drive", benefiting our friends Denise "Sunshine" Koger and the late Douglas "Gypsy Doug" Morgan. If there are any outstanding medical expenses for either (or both), the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center will direct a donation for every unit collected that night toward those hospital bills.

In addition to helping to boost the South Texas blood supply at this critical time, donors will receive a commemorative Ram Ayala Memorial T-Shirt while the supply lasts. This shirt will not be sold or reproduced, so donors are encouraged to arrive early.

The Cruz Family wishes to thank the public, Ram's public, for the generous outpouring of love & support over these last difficult weeks, and looks forward to seeing everyone at the Josephine Theatre on this Sunday, August 14th for this memorial service & celebration of a truly wonderful man's life.

Please help us to spread the word of this event, by forwarding this E-Mail to as many friends & fellow members of the music community as possible.

Thank you--
Jerry Clayworth
(for the Cruz Family)

Anonymous said...

my band was touring through texas in 2003, and we played a show at taco land.

as far as i could tell this was the cool place in town to play, despite the lack of a website or answering machine.

i did successfully reach someone at the bar on teh phone, and booked a monday night at 11:00 P.M., which I was told was when people started coming in there.

I called back about 3 weeks later to reconfirm the show, and this crochety-sounding guy with a heavy mexican accent answers the phone.

I explain to him that we're a band from L.A. and we booked a show there. He looks at the calendar and says we're not on it. I say we booked it through this woman at the bar, whose name i forget, and he says "she don't work here no more."

at this point i'm thinking of saying "thank you" and hanging up, but he says no to worry we could play there. but they don't have a P.A. system.

So i look for san antonio bands online and write to find out if anyone has a P.A. and wants to play with us that night, and sure enough we hook it up.

when we get to SA the first thing we do is spin by the place to check it out. It looked comlpetely abandoned, like it had been closed for 5 years.

We were a bit nervous at this point, but decided to go to our hotel, settle in and come back later.

Our bassist, Albert, was Korean, and let's just say him and Texas didn't seem to get along that well. This was our last show of the tour, and he said that he'd just sit in the car until show time, which was 2 hours from then.

we told him he was being ridiculous, that there was nothing to worry about, no one was looking at him funny, etc.

the rest of us go in, and from first glance were in love. and then we met Ram. probably took 2 or 3 glances to fall in love with him, but here's how it happened.

we went up to the bar and ordered 3 budweisers. he say "ok, that's a dollar each"

being from LA we were already in heaven. as we're handing over the money, he pulls out 3 Lone Stars from behind the bar, and says "but if you want these, they're free for band members."

We all stare at each other, look back and say "three Lone Stars!!"

this starts the beginning of a very drunken evening. we go out to the car and get our bassist and tell him to come in cuz everything's fine.

he steps foot in the door, and we tell Ram that he's in the band too, so he can get free beer. the first words out of Ram's mouth were "We have a one-Chinaman limit here."

well, i guess he should have stayed in the car after all. it was a priceless moment. In fact there was another woman of Asian descent in the bar, and despite Ram's quip, and several other Asian-related points of humor he exounded upon that night that i won't share, Ram was making out with aforementioned Asian lady an hour later.

We didn't take stage until 12:30 at night on a monday, and for whatever reason there was water all over the floor by the stage, and it looked like it could easily hit the power strips and amps. so our guitarist grabs a mop and starts soaking it up.

it's to date the only gig that we've had to mop the stage before playing due to danger of electrocution. but, again, priceless.

Ram called us pussies a dozen times, gave us stickers saying "is it too loud for you PUSSY??" and at the end of the night, he took us back by the bar, pulled out a six-pack of Lone Star and says "here, take this for the road."

it would be impossible to forget the one night we spent at Taco Land, and I always figured I'd get back there soon... I guess not. But at least we were there.

Anonymous said...

My favorite memory of Taco Land, was, besides it always being a warm place and Ram yelling your name at you if he knew you, and the great tacos and music, was one time, I don't remember how many years ago, my friend Letty and I were hanging out at Taco Land, listening to a local band, and Ram was behind the bar. The place was crowded, and we were jammed up against the bar. Ram came around the bar and while holding it down below his waist, passed a joint to Letty and then to me, and in the other hand, he had a can of Glade air freshener, which he was also holding straight down at his side, but aimed upwards. From time to time he would spray a shot of Glade upwards into the room, to mix with the smoke, while we enjoyed his sharing. God bless Ram! Nothing will ever replace Taco Land. Whoever you were, as long as you weren't an a$$hole, he welcomed you in, even, if like my friend Letty, you forgot your purse after hours and he opened up for you to retrieve it. Maybe that was his undoing. Such bittersweet memories!

davidwann said...

My first time playing HerbFest.

I was introduced to Ram.
"David this is Ram, he owns this place."
--we shake hands--

"Do you know how old I am?..." is the first sentence Ram ever said to me.
"68. You believe that shit??"

"Yes I do, sir," was my reply, but.....
"You know why I look so good??... EVERYDAY I have bacon... and EAT PUSSY."
--nod--

GREATEST intro EVER!!!
Ram was the coolest guy I ever met... just the way he held himself.
I played there for 3 HerbFests, and that man treated the entertainment like we were Kings!!
I've never been so respected and treated as an equal than by that man.

De la Paz said...

Ram told me he had a part in John Wayne's Alamo.
His limp was from a bullet in the Korean War.
He and Fred Carasco's second in command got in a fight at Tacoland before it was Tacoland and they both went over the cliff into the river bed. Ram won.
Ram and I finished a fifth of mescal in 47 minutes.

SKELD said...

I have a million stories about Ram and Tacoland but this was the last one.


Remember hitting your head on that huge tree out back?

I remember being strung out sleeping under the bridge next to tacoland...it was 22 degrees and I was sick.
The music was pumping loud (as usual) that night...and I wished I could go up and be a part of it.
Next morning I was woke up by the sound of trash cans...it was Ram dumping the trash.

He saw me and said "Man you look like shit" (I always loved his honesty) and he took me inside and made me one of his famous burgers.
We sat and talked for a couple hours. He was concerned about me...he said " Man, you need to clean up your act man....you and your band used to make me alot of money...when the fuck you going to play here again so I can make some money?". I told him the band was dead and I wish I could. He said "Shit man, that sucks...ya'll could fucking jam man". I know I said.

I told him I appreciate the burger and beer but, I had to go. (I was so sick) He said "It's cool man...don't be such a pussy, get the band back together and come make me some money". I told him I'd try.

That was 3 days before he was shot...........I wish I would've stayed and talked to him more. I knew him for a long time and from that first night long ago of him saying "Whatcha want to drink pussy?" he was a friend of mine.

I remember hearing about the shootings...I felt so sick to my stomach and empty. I couldn't believe someone could do that to Ram....he was a true man.

I've been clean now for 5-6 years now, playing music again and all around content....thank you Ram for always talking to me, for your love, humor, honesty and most important...for being you.

Snowbyrd : Ram TEST

Snowbyrd Rules:   https://youtu.be/td_jT3Gc0bg