11 Hours
It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood


Here's a copy of the story that inspired the creation of the song 11 hours, by mindface. The story is a bit disturbing, and we've heard the song has made some people in the audience feel a little "un-easy", as it should. It ain't no prom theme people.

July 2, 1998

SOUTH RIVER, NJ -- Three members of a family threatened police Wednesday and barricaded themselves inside an apartment lined with aluminum foil to keep out moonbeams and planet rays, police said.

Negotiators tried all day to get the family to come out, said Capt. Wesley Bomba. After about 11 hours, they voluntarily left the home and were taken to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation.

Police officers had gone to the home three times in the morning after neighbors reported a disturbance. Family members had been fighting with each other, said Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor Lawrence West.

On the last visit, Boris Angelevski, 56, stood behind his wife, Maria, with a sledgehammer and threatened them, police said. Police said the couple's son, Sasho, 31, pointed a knife at himself and threatened to commit suicide.

Bomba said the Angelevskis had covered the walls and ceiling with foil to keep out "moonbeams and rays from the outer planets."

The Angelevskis are from Yugoslavia and speak Macedonian, Bomba said, making it difficult for negotiators to communicate with them. Three negotiators tried, to no avail. Finally a former professor from Rutgers University who speaks their language arrived at the scene. He, too, had trouble speaking with them.

Mr. Angelevski was upset about several things, police said, including that his children are becoming too Americanized.

Bomba said the Angelevskis have not been stable since they were in a traffic accident in 1991.

The standoff began around 9:15 a.m. in this community of 14,000.

Police cordoned off streets surrounding the building on Jackson Street and evacuated a nearby apartment. The Middlesex Hostage Recovery Team began trying to negotiate with the family at 11:40 a.m.

Another son, Dzordz, 27, went to the apartment and talked to his family from down the hall, Bomba said. Other family members and friends, talking either on the phone or from down the hall, also tried to coax them out.

Gas and electric power were shut off at 4:25 p.m. in an effort to drive the family from the apartment. The utilities were restored Wednesday night.

At about 8 p.m. Dzordz and the family's attorney, Trudy Maran, talked them into leaving, she said.

They were taken to South Amboy Memorial Hospital to be evaluated, West said.

Maran represented the family after they were involved in a 1991 car accident in Piscataway when a tractor-trailer hit them head-on. Sasho suffered neurological damage and Boris has been unable to work since then.

Andre Gramata, 23, a neighbor, said he had known Sasho for several years.

"He was like a regular guy. He was a guy to hang around with," he said. "He was always easygoing."

But after the accident, he changed and people left him alone, he said.

"I knew he was whacked in the head, but I never figured he'd do something like this"

So, if that makes you feel un-easy, as it should, just bang you head and scream a little. You'll feel much better. And if the song is a little too hard rockin' for you, well, you never know, mindface could whip out some Devo covers at any moment. You just never know. So, everybody sing along now...

11 hours
words & music: s. leonard

Crash, Head on...
Now nothing is the same.
Ever since that tractor trailer hit,
it seems you've gone insane.

Alone, You are...
Your children have been Americanized,
this joke has gone too far.

What's goin' on next door?
What's goin' on next door?
What's goin' on?

What's goin' on next door?
What's goin' on next door?
What's goin' on?

A hammer, to his wife
His boy took a knife and
said he'd take his life.

The power, turned off
To try and drive them out
The professor can not translate a word

What's goin' on next door?
What's goin' on next door?
What's goin' on?

What's goin' on next door?
What's goin' on next door?
What's goin' on?

"You better stay inside today.
You can not misconstrue my way.
There is no need for you to shout,
just block the door and get the Reynolds Wrap out."

"Foil up the walls, and get the ceiling too.
Don't miss a spot, and be sure it's smooth.
Keep out the moonbeams, this we need too soon.
Rays from outer planets will get you"

Stay Back, you can't come in.
Get Back, my mind I can't.
Stay Back, you can't come in.
Get Back, my mind I can't.

The Lawyer, talked them down
Finally the door swong open,
a family had been found.

Later, that day at the police station,
they got shipped out for a brain evaluation.

Neighbors said he was whacked in the head,
but never thought it would be like this.


mindface lyrics

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