My interview with VOIVOD/ex-METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted on Friday went really well. I am still editing the nearly twenty minutes worth of audio I got from the interview so be looking for it on the website this week.
After I got off the air Friday, Rebecca and I left for Fort Mill, SC, home of Carowinds. We stayed the night at the Holiday Inn Express directly across the street from the theme park so we could hit the ground running when they opened at 10 a.m. The crowd wasn’t as bad as I had expected considering it was a Saturday in late June. It was, however, hotter than I had anticipated as we both hit Boomerang Bay, the water park section before noon and spent a good bit of time there but not before I hit the new ride, the Carolina Cobra which was badass!
After walking around on hot concrete and getting sunburnt despite the fact we were both wearing SPF 50 sunblock, we left shortly after 5 p.m. and drove into Rock Hill, SC, home of my alma mater, Winthrop University for a little scenic drive down memory lane for myself.
After getting home and unpacking, I took it easy for the rest of the weekend being as I was in too much pain to do much of anything! Thankfully, I am back to 100%!
Man, what a week this has been! So much has transpired this week that it seems so unreal! Our Governor Mark Sanford runs off to Argentina for some extramarital activities, Ed McMahon dies on Tuesday, Farrah Fawcett loses her fight with cancer followed by Michael Jackson’s succumbing to cardiac arrest yesterday. WTF’s next?!
In light of all the events that have taken place in the world this week, my petty actions seem trivial. However, it is my duty to share with you my twisted world despite how inconsequential it may be. Having said that, I finally watched Role Models starring Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott as a couple of guys who are court ordered to do community service by being ‘Big Brothers’ to a couple of troubled youths. I knew I would enjoy the film but I didn’t expect it to be as hilarious as it was! You gotta see it!
Role Models \m/ \m/ \m/ \n
Wednesday morning I got up just a little earlier than normal to go catch the 9:30 a.m. showing of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Overall, I enjoyed the film though it wasn’t nearly as good as the first. The sequel’s plot was weak, the dialogue was lame but the action and special effects were amazing! The eye candy, for the most part, made up for the script’s shortcomings but I’m not sure I can forgive the writers for the characters of Mudflap and Skids whose comic relief was painfully awful as they reminded me of Jar Jar Binks from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace - only times two! Still, the film is worth taking in in the theater for all the eye candy: amazing special effects and MEGAN FOX!!!
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen \m/ \m/ \m/ \n
After the movie, I met with Hugo Ferreira, frontman for TANTRIC and his record rep, Bebop for some lunch at P.F.Chang’s. They were coming in to promote the band’s new single “Mind Control” and Hugo even came into the studio with me for a few when I went on the air.
Speaking of which, I gotta hit the airwaves and prep for my interview with former METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted! WOOHOO!!!
Before I dive into the rundown of my weekend, I have to give my two cents on the remake of Friday the 13th which I rented Tuesday night on its release date. I liked how they combined elements of the first three original films to cover Jason’s background including the death of his mother, his shrine to her including her rotten head and his finding the hockey mask. That pretty much ended my appreciation of the film as I was just not impressed. No real complaints. Just not impressed.
Friday the 13th \m/ \m/ \n
The very next morning I had to get up extremely early and head to the Waffle House on Asheville Highway in Spartanburg. I got there around 6:30 and had a terrific breakfast with a waffle, bacon, eggs and hashbrowns to get me going. I then put my game face on and greeted some WH customers before actually getting behind the counter to flip some hashbrowns, scramble some eggs and make a waffle! It was a ball, but I’m no cook by any means!
Friday night Rebecca brought over The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke and a very naked Marisa Tomei. This film was absolutely terrific - and Marisa Tomei naked wasn’t bad, either! And seeing her strip made me really want to go to a strip club myself! The movie made me worry about being a one-trick pony myself as I am really only good at radio. Seriously! Thankfully you can grow old in radio!
The Wrestler \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/
Saturday I went in to do my Saturday morning air shift and then went home and finished watching My Name is Bruce, a fun film starring Bruce Campbell as his campy self who unwittingly takes on an ancient Chinese demon thinking he is just making another bad low budget horror film. For what it’s worth, it’s a horrible exploit into the B-movie genre for which Bruce Campbell is so well known for but, by the same token, it’s meant to be as it serves as a parody for the genre and for the man himself. Fun if you can handle some mindless tongue-in-cheek cheese!
My Name is Bruce \m/ \m/ \m
Saturday night Rebecca and I went up to Boiling Springs for a little shindig at Trevor and P.A.’s house, the owners of BLVD Music, sponsors of Upstate Unsigned - shameless plug in my own blog! LOL! They were having some food and beverages including a delicious low country boil. We had a great time talking with some friends and fellow musicians and tossing back a few vodka and cranberries!
On Sunday, my family gathered at my aunt and uncle’s house for another shindig as my cousin Tonya was in town from Portland, Oregon. We all stuffed ourselves with hot dogs, hamburgers, baked beans and the whole nine yards and waited less than the recommended time before hitting the pool (don’t do this at home, kids!). My cousin Ray and I along with his friend and brother-in-law Mikey all made asses of ourselves trying to dive onto one of the water floats. I ended up getting some sun on my back - a part of me that rarely ever sees the sun!
After getting home I dried off and laid around for a while before heading to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things including the new Ghostbusters video game which Ray and I had talked about earlier in the day. So, intrigued, I went to Wal-Mart on a mission! I got some drinks for the fridge then grabbed a Ghostbusters T-shirt and the new video game of the same name for PS3. So far I’m really enjoying the game though I’m still getting used to the controls. I think it’s time to wind down my rambling and go bust some ghosts!
Before I get to the weekend, I had copies of the new Clint Eastwood flick Gran Torino to give away all last week so I had to watch it when it came out on Tuesday! Eastwood plays an old racist veteran from the Korean War who befriends, oddly enough, a family of Asians. I found it strangely similar to Billy Bob Thornton’s character in Bad Santa in that the main character is a hardass who begins to soften in a very subtle way. Ridiculous parallel for two great but vastly different films.
Gran Torino \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/
Also over the course of the week, I watched Tom Hanks’ very first film, a slasher flick from 1980 called He Knows You’re Alone which is actually a fairly good one from the genre. I’m not going to officially review it since it’s almost 30 years old, but I figured it deserved honorable mention considering most people are not familiar with it.
Friday night, Rebecca brought over Marley and Me which she had already seen but I had not. It was a heartwarming story about a couple and their life with their beloved but misbehaving dog, Marley. All I can say is that I am glad it ended when it did because I was losing the battle of holding back an ocean of tears. Yeah, I’m a pansy!
Marley and Me \m/ \m/ \m/ \n
Saturday I had to get up fairly early and head out to Auto Zone on Anderson Road in Greenville for a live broadcast for Havoline with Deposit Shield. It was pretty hot so I stayed in the shade and enjoyed some Papa John’s pizza and ice cold Cheerwine while giving away prizes including $25 Texaco with Techron gift cards with the Havoline hottie Erica.
Afterwards, I went out to the Shriner’s Hospital benefit show in Mauldin and hung out with some fellow musicians and caught a few great local bands including GHOST IN THE MACHINE whom I gave an introduction for on stage.
I got home a little before six and had some dinner while waiting for my cousin Ray to meet me at my apartment so we could head Mike Burket’s house to plot and conspire about starting a new project of original material. When we got there I unwittingly stepped right into a fire ant hill getting the little bastards all in my left shoe and suffering a couple of bites on my left ankle and a bite on my right hand as I tried to clear them away. I ended up having to abandon my shoes until we left a few hours later.
Again I slept in Sunday morning being the only day I was able to do so. Actually, I got up at my usual time just couldn’t find the motivation to make it to church. I did watch Charles Stanley on TV! For most of the day I watched TV and napped on the couch to make up for not sleeping in!
Later my mom took my Aunt Pat out to dinner for her birthday and wanted me to come. I told her I couldn’t because I was broke and wouldn’t get paid until today. However, I ended up calling and checking my savings account balance on the phone to see how much money I had to go and grab myself a cheap bite to eat for dinner only to discover my check had been deposited on Saturday! I immediately called Mom and told her I’d be on my way and met them at Copper River in Easley. I ordered the blackened tuna filet sandwich which was simply amazing and followed it with the equally amazing moosetracks brownie sundae! My stomach seriously just rumbled as I am writing this!
After dinner, I ran by Robbie and Vanessa’s house since they live nearby in Powdersville. I just sat and killed some time waiting for my old college friend Christopher Doehling to get into town from visiting friends in Clemson. Chris is the guy who worked on the Disney animated film Bolt and is back in South Carolina from Los Angeles visiting family and friends.
Before he arrived, I also took in a little shopping at Wal-Mart to pick up a few groceries, this Cookie Monster shirt I am currently sporting and the Star Trek movie trilogy on Blu-ray including The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home. As soon as I got home, Chris called me and we met up at IHOP, but I of course was too full to put anything in my body besides water! It was great to get to see my good friend from my college days since it’s been over a decade now since we both graduated.
I went home, popped in The Search for Spock and watched most of it before hitting the sack and waking up this morning to start another grand week at work!
It was an amazing weekend this past weekend which I will get to shortly. First off, I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Rebecca last Monday - which we finished just in time to catch the debut of The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. Brad Pitt, as usual, shows that he is much more than some Hollywood sex symbol as he truly is a great actor as he portrays a character who has a rare condition in which he is born old and wrinkled and grows up as an old man but grows younger with age - even to infancy before dying. I don’t mean to give anything away, but there is so much more to the film than the main character’s unusual condition that it does serve as the backbone of the film. Just go watch it, damn it!
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/
Conan took over the legendary Tonight Show with a strong but slightly awkward debut but got into the groove very quickly. I actually enjoyed the second night moreso than the first as Tom Hanks was a much better guest than Will Ferrell and I LOVED the meteor knocking Hanks straight back in his chair! GREEN DAY was also more enjoyable than PEARL JAM was the first night though I’m not crazy about either band. At the end of the show, GREEN DAY’s drummer, Tre Cool was sitting awkwardly next to Tom Hanks as if he was scared of him and bolted as soon as Conan said good night! Maybe Tom was scared of GREEN DAY!
Friday night I chilled at home after work as my mom and Rebecca went to go see Stomp at the Peace Center. I was resting and getting ready for a big day up at BLVD Music the next day. I got up fairly early to work on the air from 10 til 2 pm and had Dex on live from 11 til 1 pm at the grand reopening of Del Taco in Boiling Springs which is bizarre because I was live at BLVD Music from 3 til 5 pm just down the road from there in Boiling Springs later that same day.
I got there just in time to see TEN GRAND LEG wrap up their set and make way for JOHNNY SUEDE AND THE RADIO JUNKIES featuring Mike Burket formerly of GHOST IN THE MACHINE on guitar. Mike then pulled double duty as he remained onstage for THE OTHER BROTHERS getting Lehman from TEN GRAND LEG back up on the drum kit. It was quite hot out there so I avoided the sun as much as I could since I didn’t apply any sunblock.
Before hitting the stage, I asked Burket about getting together to form a new project of original material since we both have a lot of the same influences ranging from thrash to progressive metal and then some. He said he had been working on some new material for just such a project so we exchanged numbers and are currently working on mapping out our ideas and personnel. I’ve been wanting to work with him since meeting him in the earlier stages of GHOST IN THE MACHINE but, when he left the band, he understandably wanted to take a break from playing in a band. So, since my latest band TRAGEDY CHAPTER had just recently split, I figured I’d try again and it seems the time is right! I’m crossing my fingers and hopefully I’ll have more good news soon!
After Bands on the BLVD was over, Trevor, P.A., Melissa, Rebecca and I went over to Fatz Cafe for some food and spirits! I wasn’t extremely hungry so I ordered the Honey BBQ Chicken Nachos which was probably the most amazing appetizer I’ve ever had! Yummy! It was great to get to sit and chill with Trevor and P.A. since they’ve been so wonderful with helping out with the local show being the official sponsor of Upstate Unsigned!
Afterwards, Rebecca and I went to Blockbuster to exchange one of my online movies for some Swedish vampire flick called Let the Right One In. The cover of the DVD boasted that it was “The best vampire film. Ever.” which was a quote from I believe the Washington Examiner. I have to say I TOTALLY disagree. I would agree that it was maybe the most original vampire film yet, but I was not blown away with anything in the film save for one of the last scenes which almost makes the rest of the movie worth it. Almost. Here is the scene so you don’t have to endure the entire film, but be warned it is a bit graphic:
Maybe had there been more scenes like this in the film, I would have enjoyed the movie more. That and maybe I should have turned off the horrible dubs and went with the English subtitles! People that do voice-over work in films must be the worst actors you can find that can’t get a gig otherwise! I mean it’s horrible!
Let the Right One In \m/ \m/
I slept in on Sunday and Rebecca talked me into going to Discovery Island, a water park in Simpsonville. It’s relatively small but, considering it’s only ten bucks to get in, it’s not bad. So we got there, got a locker to put up our flip-flops, beach towels, keys, etc and applied some sunblock so we wouldn’t cook like out-of-season turkeys! We started out in the lazy river floating on inner tubes and then hit the slides.
After a while, Becca decided to lay out and get some sun so I thought I’d brave the surf simulator thingy. As I had figured, I had no clue as to what I was doing as I spun around in circles on the body board under the fire of the jet streams. However, my clueless stunts apparently looked cool because some kid came up to me later and said I did an awesome job. Then again he may have just been trying to be nice or was talking to someone behind me, I’m really not sure! LOL!
After all that, I had worked up an appetite so I grabbed a Double Stacker at Burger King and went home while Rebecca headed to her parents’ house for dinner. While resting I began to notice some sunburnt areas I had apparently missed when applying sunblock like the fronts of my biceps, my knees and the fronts of my ankles. Needless to say, those spots have provided me with more than mild nuisances coming back to work today!
Saturday morning I had to get up relatively early and head to Greenwood with Dex for our remote at AT&T. It was a very warm, sunny day and we got to meet a lot of Greenwood P1s! Before leaving, I took advantage of being on location a few stores down from Marble Slab Creamery as I went in and had them make me a milkshake combining both cheesecake and blueberry ice creams flavors for a delicious blueberry cheesecake milkshake! YUM! Also before leaving, apparently Dex got bit by a fire ant, but I wasn’t aware of it until a few minutes ago when he showed me the red, swollen area on his left forearm! I hate those things!
After the live broadcast at AT&T, I went to go see the new horror flick directed by Evil Dead/Spider-Man director Sam Raimi, Drag Me to Hell. The movie is about a young woman who is trying to get promoted to assistant manager at a loan office. Pressured to take charge in order to get the promotion, she denies an elderly gypsy woman a third extension on the mortgage on her house which is being foreclosed. The woman then begins to beg thus making a scene forcing security to escort the old woman off the premises which brings shame to the gypsy and invokes anger and retribution in the form of a curse which summons a demon to come and drag the young woman to Hell to burn for eternity.
Granted the film is no Evil Dead or Spider-Man, but it is filled with numerous ‘jumping’ suspense scenes and a lot of ridiculous and gory elements you would expect from a Raimi film. Plus, his trademark yellow Oldsmobile which shows up in all of his films (except for The Quick and the Dead since it was a western) is actually the vehicle driven by the elderly gypsy woman in the film.
Drag Me to Hell \m/ \m/ \m/ \n
The movie didn’t scare me as bad as I thought it would having come from a strict Southern Baptist upbringing where ‘fire and brimstone’ are common themes in their weekly sermons. I think the ridiculous elements of the film helped take my focus off the grim horrific nature of the overall theme of the film. This was a relief considering I am truly terrified of Hell and still sometimes feel like a wretched hellbound soul as a result of years of condemning and belittling sermons from my childhood church despite the fact I am a born again Christian who now attends a non-denominational community church.
However, the film did disturb me enough to choose a comedy for later that evening so I went to Blockbuster to trade Fanboys in for Paul Blart: Mall Cop starring Kevin James and my future wife Jayma Mays. The film was a rather decent comedy about a mall cop (go figure!) who hasn’t been lucky in love but meets an attractive redhead in the mall who gets taken hostage on Black Friday by a group of thugs who are trying to rob the mall. Of course, our hero takes charge and saves the day thus rescuing and getting the girl.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop \m/ \m/ \m
Sunday I just had lunch with my Aunt Pat, Uncle James Ray, cousin Ray and his wife Erin and their son Jay and then I came home to do some dishes and some laundry (I took out the trash on Saturday) and relaxed for most of the day. I love being lazy on Sundays!
Last night, I ended up working over in the office for a little while after getting off the air. Before leaving around 8:30, I called Happy Pie (insert shameless plug here) and ordered my usual, a medium mushroom and black olive pizza, then left out to pick it up. As I picked up my order, I was talking to a young lady who works there out in the parking lot and noticed the oncoming storm approaching from the direction of my apartment. So, I hurried over to my apartment so I could check my mail and pick up the copy of Fanboys I had waiting on me.
As I pulled into the complex, I stopped by the mailboxes and walked down the walkway towards my box on the left and noticed movement to my right out of the corner of my eye. I looked down and saw a young copperhead striking at me! The angry serpent struck at me two or three times as I backed away.
I then called Rebecca who was already on her way to watch the movie with me and she had me call my property’s emergency maintenance. In the meantime, I turned my car towards the walkway and my headlights apparently bothered the snake so it retreated into the pine needles. When she got there, she called her cousin who happens to be a maintenance guy at my apartment complex and just happened to be on call so he had to brave the severe weather to make it in from his home in Piedmont! She then played watchman for me so I could get into my mailbox to retrieve my mail without worrying about a venomous reptile nipping at my ankles!
We then went in before the weather hit the fan and popped in Fanboys, the long awaited comedy set in late 1998 about a group of Star Wars geeks who go on a mission to raid George Lucas’ famous Skywalker Ranch to steal an advanced copy of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. The film was actually finished two years ago, but must have faced some distribution issues or something leading to its delayed release. The movie was well worth the wait as it was filled with great geek-laden humor and numerous cameos including the one and only William Shatner who assists our heroes in infiltrating the mansion owned by the creator of his rival sci-fi franchise. Did I mention great Trekkie fights?!
Fanboys \m/ \m/ \m/ \n
This morning I got up a bit early to head out to Pebble Creek Golf Course to witness the kick-off of the 6th Annual Rise Guys Big Ass Golf Outing. After meeting and greeting with a few P1 golfers, I left for Hollywood 20 to catch the noon showing of Pixar’s Up in 3-D. The film was another heartwarming animated feature from the premiere computer animation company. However, I did not expect the film to have so many tear-jerking moments as I had to fight back tears at least three times, and not quite successfully each time! Another wonderful story with even more lovable characters! How does Pixar keep doing it?!
Wow what a week(end) this has been! I took in some good movies, found a new bowling technique at the Rock ‘N’ Bowl, went to Morganton, NC and visited the renovated Frankie’s Fun Park!
Monday after work I went to Blockbuster to trade in a couple of my online flicks and picked up Passengers on DVD and Taken on Blu-ray. I started with Passengers with Anne Hathaway which wasn’t nearly as suspenseful as the trailer leads you to believe. The film is really slow paced with a decent payoff, but not enough to justify being dragged through most of the movie. However, the ending did help make up for the rest of the film though it was an ending that was fairly predictable.
Passengers \m/ \m/ \m/
Later in the week I watched Taken with Liam Neeson as a former spy whose daughter is kidnapped in Paris by an underground prostitution ring. The film was quite impressive with Neeson’s character showing some even more impressive skills in the hunt for his daughter and her abductors.
Taken \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/
Friday night was the night of my personal favorite event in Test Fest, our annual celebration of manhood, the Rock ‘N’ Bowl. When Rebecca and I got there, we were placed in the first two lanes which we had to ourselves so we took advantage of it and bowled to our hearts’ content! We started playing off of some of the P1’s in the neighboring lanes and P1 Boss T and I started randomly coming up with ridiculous bowling techniques including the reverse Granny or as I call it the ‘Goose egg’ because you look like you’re laying an egg and you tend to come out with no pins taken down. Then, as a joke, I grabbed a bowling bowl with both hands, held it up in front of my face just below eye level so I could aim the ball then thrust the ball forward with rather satisfying results. Needless to say, I began using this technique since it seemed to be working for me and ended up setting a new personal record for myself with a score of 116 and later tied it! I grabbed a video camera and had Rebecca film me using this grand technique so hopefully I’ll have it posted here soon!
I had to pack in right after bowling because I had to be in Morganton, NC by 11 the next morning for a remote at Carolina West Wireless. Being we don’t get to Morganton very often, I had Sarah Berger throw in some extra Planet shirts because I knew the eager NC P1’s would be out in force - and they were! It was great meeting some P1’s I normally wouldn’t get to run into around town so I was thankful for the trip!
When I got home, I ran to Best Buy and bought seasons 6 and 7 of Tales From the Crypt since they were on sale for $17.99 each! Now I’m only missing season 5! I went home and chilled in front of the tv since I needed the rest and didn’t sleep well the night before. Which is odd, because if I didn’t have to get up early, I would have been out like a light! Weird! I also watched Underworld: Rise of the Lycans since I had picked that one up at Blockbuster when I returned the others. This film serves as the prequel to the Underworld series with some of the original cast reprising their roles to tell the backstory of their characters. Personally, I wasn’t blown away by the other Underworld films but I really liked this one. Makes me want to go back and revisit the rest of the series with a renewed perspective!
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans \m/ \m/ \m/ \n
Sunday I slept in getting some much needed rest and then went to Frankie’s Fun Park with Rebecca for the first time since they renovated the place. We played various video games before going out for a round of miniature golf and laser tag. I kicked her ass at miniature golf but got my ass handed to me in laser tag! I’ve ALWAYS sucked at that!
Memorial Day I took in a double feature down at Hollywood 20 and saw Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Angels & Demons. The sequel to Night at the Museum was true to the first film, but seemed to lack the charm and wonder of the first installment. Don’t get me wrong, it was still a fun and immensely enjoyable film.
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian \m/ \m/ \m/ \n
There was only about a twenty to thirty minute lay over before Angels & Demons started so I went and got some popcorn while waiting. The sequel, which was actually written BEFORE The DaVinci Code and serves as a prequel in the novels, was many times a better film than The DaVinci Code. The film seemed more sinister with the threat of a very old vengeful secret society known as the “Illuminati” attacking the Roman Catholic Church. Plus the battle of religion vs. science actually showed much more reverence for the Catholic church than the other film thus stirring less controversy.
Man, last weekend was the biggest event I’ve been a part of since I first started at this station over ten years ago!
Before I give the rundown of the weekend, last Wednesday Rebecca brought over one of her Netflix, The Rocker starring Rainn Wilson from The Office as Fish, a washed up drummer who was kicked out of an 80s glam band right as the band signs a record contract and goes on to become one of the biggest bands in the world. After being fired from his job for fighting a coworker who was forcing him to listen to the latest cd from his former bandmates, Fish moves into his sister’s house and later joins his nephew’s garage band for their gig at their high school prom. Despite the initial prom gig being a total train wreck, Fish stays on in the band but has to move out of the house so they decide to start practicing via webcam. Playing from the hot, stuffy basement of an Oriental restaurant and unaware he is actually on camera, Fish gets behind his kit completely naked. The video hits YouTube and the band becomes an overnight success thanks to “The Naked Drummer” giving Fish his chance to finally breakout and live his once-shattered dream.
The Rocker \m/ \m/ \m/ \n
Friday was an insanely busy day following another insanely busy day of giving away Crawfish Boil tickets EVERY hour and dealing with callers who became like kids incessantly asking “Are we there yet?” but instead were asking “When are you giving away Crawfish Boil tickets” over and over and OVER!!!! So, after getting off the air, I had to tie up a few loose ends in the office before heading to the Crawfish Boil myself - of course Dex got to broadcast from the show as did Samantha D the following day - where’s the justice?! I need to have a talk with Mark! LOL! So I arrived at the Bi-Lo Center and was pulling into the parking garage as GAVIN ROSSDALE was finishing up his set with “Comedown”, a song he did with his former band BUSH. It sounded great from the parking garage!
After getting settled in, SHINEDOWN hit the stage and put on a great set although Brent was having a bit of trouble with his voice - maybe Paige pulled too much out of him when he and Barry came in the studio earlier that day! Following SHINEDOWN was SNOOP DOGG who thus ended the day - and a bit late I might add much to the chagrin of the uppity residents of downtown Greenville who were very vocal about the ‘noise’ which baffles me since SNOOP honestly wasn’t very loud especially in comparison to the rock bands. I also tried some crawfish as they were giving away some free samples at the end of the night. My verdict: the tail meat is great (I can see the poor man’s lobster reference), but sucking the head not so much as the meat was real earthy and mushy.
As a result, Saturday’s decibel level seemed considerably lower but that didn’t spoil the fun by any means. Since I had to work a shift that morning then wait in the long ass line to get in the gate, I missed PARMALEE but arrived just in time for FILTER to hit the stage. Richard seemed to be struggling with his voice a bit but I speculate it may have had something to do with the mic levels as I threw out my voice while making stage announcements and I wasn’t talking over guitars and drums! On a side note, as I was making my way to the stage for the first announcement after FILTER’s set, I saw frontman Richard Patrick backstage and introduced myself (a personal highlight for me). CANDLEBOX was next and put on a great set which included OZZY’s “Crazy Train”. THEORY OF A DEADMAN took the stage next follwed by HINDER and then 3 DOORS DOWN.
It was two great days of music and food as I spent a lot of money feeding and having a few drinks! Let’s see: chicken on a stick, bacon cheddar ranch fries, chocolate-covered funnel cake, a chocolate milkshake, sweet tea, a Bahama Mama and some ice cold Miller Lite! And I wonder why I weigh over 200 lbs! And don’t forget the amazing turnout as we had reports of around 10,000 concertgoers EACH day for a grand total of 20,000! We DEFINITELY need to do it again next year!
I hope everyone went and saw their dear moms for Mother’s Day! I did but I’ll get to that in a few.
First off, as I’m sure everyone knows, Star Trek opened on Friday so I went to check it out both before and after my air shift. After work, I met up with my friend Steve who used to do maintenance at my apartment complex along with his brother-in-law Rich and Jeff and Willie from my band TRAGEDY CHAPTER to catch the 8 o’clock showing on Hollywood 20’s digital projector.
The film was great although I was a bit disappointed I think mainly because I had built it up in my head for many moons! Still, the film was visually stunning and had a fairly unique and complex storyline. Trekkies should not be disappointed though I, of course, am a Star Wars geek!
Star Trek \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/
Saturday I loafed around all day and watched Hotel for Dogs with Rebecca since she had it on her Netflix. It was a cute movie filled with wondrous inventions and that tugs at the emotions of any dog lover - yeah, I may have shed a tear or two…..
Hotel for Dogs \m/ \m/ \m/ \n
Yesterday morning I got up rather early so I could make it to my childhood church where my cousin Ray was dedicating his 7-month-old son Jay. When I got there, I saw people who have known me my whole life who looked at me as if I were some heathen who’s been out raping babies since I no longer go to their church - which, by the way, is hardcore Southern Baptist. To top it off, I ran into the former pastor’s son who I went to high school with who also happens to work with my drummer Willie. He said he had heard TRAGEDY CHAPTER’s music from Willie’s iPod and thought we sounded really good. Then he had to announce immediately after that he doesn’t listen to my radio station anymore because we’re so ‘anti’ everything he believes in. Okay, granted, we are a rock station that is predominately, well, sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll with songs like “Crazy Bitch” by BUCKCHERRY, “Bad Girlfriend” by THEORY OF A DEADMAN and “Figured You Out” by NICKELBACK but it’s not like EVERY song pertains to sex and it’s not like we’re advocating worshipping Satan, killing your mother or raping babies! Now I know why I no longer go there and why so many of my colleagues and I go to a nondenominational church!
After getting home, Mom called me and said she was turning onto Woodruff Rd so I got in my Jeep to meet her at Cracker Barrel. As soon as got in my car, she called back and said that there was a line of cars just trying to get a parking space. I then asked her if she was that hungry to which she said she wasn’t so I told her to meet me at the station so I could go charge my iPod on the computer in my office since I don’t have one of my own! When I got to the station I gave her the rose I got for her from church that morning and the $5 cake I got at the Wal-Mart on Pelham Rd with strawberry filling! I then showed her around the station since she’s never been inside and then we went over to Best Buy for a little shopping. She picked up Liar Liar and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford on DVD while I nabbed Night at the Museum on Blu-ray since the sequel is hitting theaters this summer and I haven’t seen my copy of the DVD since I moved into my apartment two years ago.
When then went to Cracker Barrel at about 2 in the afternoon after the worst of the crowd had died out. We brought the cake in with us, had lunch and some tasty strawberry-filled Mother’s Day cake! Happy Mother’s Day, Mom! Love, your TWISTED son Todd!
