Wow!  I was soooo busy yesterday I didn’t have time to blog about my mini vacation to Atlanta!  I went down Wednesday night after work and stayed with my friends Kenny and Troy (gotta love sleeper sofas!).  When I got there around ten, Troy was already passed out from a hard day (pansy!) and Kenny and I went out to a couple of sports bars where he proceeded to have a few too many beers.  Needless to say, getting home was fun being I had no idea where in the hell we were!  Friends don’t let friends drive drunk, drunk driving’s bad mm-kay!

Since we got home at, like, four in the morning, Kenny was a little difficult waking up later that morning so we could go to the Georgia Aquarium.  I convinced Troy to come along although I still ended up driving, but at least I had a coherent navigator as we made our trek into downtown ATL.  The aquarium was really nice, but we were able to cover the whole place and get some overpriced food in about an hour and a half.  Not quite worth the nearly $30 admission price, but I’m glad I went anyways.  Overpriced but enjoyable if you have the dough to blow!

I took it easy the rest of the day, but spent the day with our mutual friend Paul on Friday while Kenny and Troy were at work.  We grabbed some lunch at the Golden Corral in Alpharetta then went to Best Buy so Paul could pick up the new METALLICA cd.  While we were there, someone tipped us off that Hot Topic was selling it for only five bucks that day only.  Needless to say, we ended up at the North Point Mall to pick up the new cd and take care of some other shopping since we were conveniently at the mall anyways.

We got out to Paul’s car (no, I didn’t have to drive this time!) and popped the new METALLICA disc in at a good, full volume!  Wow!  It’s the first time I’ve wanted to crank a new METALLICA cd in 20 years!  It’s still not quite what they used to be in some ways, but, I gotta say, Lars has really outdone himself with his drumming which is a relief considering the YouTube clip where he can barely keep up the double bass in “One”!  The whole album is so much better than “The Day That Never Comes” which I consider to be the weakest track on the album.  I will further dissect the new METALLICA in the next issue of The Village Idiot where I now do CD reviews each month (and which would explain why I haven’t done any in a while here in my Twisted Thoughts!).  Make sure you grab a copy!  It’s FREE!!!!

METALLICA  Death Magnetic  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m/

That night Kenny, Troy and I went to a surprise birthday party for their bandmate Justin.  Kenny, surprisingly, stayed sober that night so I didn’t have to drive!  I did, however, do some really crappy driving in the Wii version of MarioKart.  The party was held at their friend Andy’s house and he was a wizard at the game taunting his opponents as he whipped our asses.

After the party, Kenny and I met up with a few other friends from the party at the Oasis, a fun little ‘gentleman’s club’ as they like to call them.  I still had money left over being I was shacking up at Kenny and Troy’s which was bad because that left me with money for dances.  In the words of Forrest Gump, “That’s all I got to say about that”!

I was invited to go to a college football party at Kenny and Troy’s other bandmate Gerr’s house to watch Georgia take on South Carolina.  I was already planning on heading to the Mall of Georgia that day while on my way home so I regretfully declined because they were gonna have some good eatin’!  I proceeded to head home and stopped by the mall and pretty much spent the rest of my paycheck (which was cool since yesterday was payday!).  I picked up a new pair of Chucks, a couple of shirts and a new coffee table book (I’ve been obsessed with those lately!) on roller coasters.

I got home, unpacked and unwound and prepared for my usual Sunday ritual of going to church, visiting my mom and aunt and working on Upstate Unsigned.  And, of course, I got my own copy of the new METALLICA disc yesterday so I can fine tune my review!

I took a little time out of the office Friday to go see the new Mike Myers flick The Love Guru.  I was expecting another stupid comedy from another SNL veteran like that of Adam Sandler’s You Don’t Mess with the Zohan and even that was an overestimation!  The film was full of unrefined dick and fart jokes, which I usually enjoy but these were totally lame and unoriginal.  I admit I chuckled a few times at the blatant absurdity of it all, but not enough to have remotely enjoyed a whole hour and a half of it.  Hard to believe this came from the mastermind that created one of my all-time favorite comedies (and frequently quoted both on and off the air), Wayne’s World.  I’m not going to tell you not to ever see this movie.  I will tell you to consider it if you’re on vacation and you and your significant other want to stay in and catch a movie in your hotel room and take advantage of free HBO!  Just don’t pay to see it!  Thankfully I didn’t!

The Love Guru  \m/ \m/

After work, Mikey and I went to catch a much better film, the film adaptation of the 60s’ hit TV series Get Smart starring Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway and Dwayne (will still always be “The Rock”) Johnson.  This was everything I expected, so I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Comedy, action, gadgets and a surprising number of appearances from cast members of the remake of The Longest Yard.  Nothing more to say except that this was the film to see this weekend.  Screw the guru!

Get Smart  \m/ \m/ \m/ \n

Before leaving the office to kill 90 minutes of my life Friday morning, I grabbed a copy of the new SHINEDOWN cd we had just received.  As I was hoping, the album goes more in the vein of “Devour” as that song opens the cd with the title track “The Sound of Madness” following and keeping the momentum.  Granted there are a handful of trademark ballads from the band such as “Second Chance” and my favorite of the slower tempoed tunes, “If You Only Knew”.  Overall, a really good record from a band I, admittedly, am not a big fan of being this is the first album by the band I’ve owned.

SHINEDOWN  The Sound of Madness  \m/ \m/ \m/ \n

It’s about damn time THE OFFSPRING got back to just rockin’ it instead of trying to be a joke band.  Don’t get me wrong, I think they pull it off well, but I think they’re much more than a one-trick pony.

The disc opens with what I consider to be the strongest track on the record, “Half-Truism” which has an infectiously catchy chorus which baits and reels you into the album which, in turn, keeps you ensnared with its pop punk appeal that is the band’s true forte.

And I am actually surprised I liked the disc so much considering it was produced by Bob Rock, the man who made a large contribution to METALLICA’s ruination.  Let’s just hope Rick Rubin can redeem our fallen metal heroes since he didn’t do much for LINKIN PARK with Minutes to Midnight.  I guess we’ll find out this fall.

THE OFFSPRING  Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace  \m/ \m/ \m/ \n

Yes, oh yes, the new DISTURBED record Indestructible drops in stores TODAY!  I just got my copy like an hour ago and I’m already hooked!  Just as Draiman and Co. had promised, it is a darker, heavier record.  I love all the songs, but if I had to highlight some tracks, I would have to go with “Deceiver”, “Perfect Insanity”, “Haunted” and “The Curse” in addition to “Inside the Fire” which is still my myspace profile song.  If you love some DISTURBED like I do, you won’t be disappointed!

DISTURBED  Indestructible  \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/

Wow!  What a weekend THIS has been!

Friday night after work, Rebecca and I went to Hollywood 20 to catch the new horror/suspense/thriller The Strangers starring Liv Tyler.  The film was a wonderful exploration into old school psychological terror with the ’strangers’ playing some hardcore cat-and-mouse games with Liv Tyler’s character and her estranged lover.  And the games were just a precursor to the inevitably grim ending.  The film was effective enough to make me actually lock my bedroom door in my apartment and keep my Celtic war sword by my bedside as I turned in that night!

The Strangers  \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/

Before turning in, I tried to find out more about the films’ apparently falsified true events inspiration being I found nothing.  I did, however, discover that I had missed the release of one of my favorite band’s, KING’s X, new album which hit record stores back on May 20th.  Frustrated by my own negligence, I rushed to Best Buy first thing Saturday to purchase XV, their aptly-titled fifteenth album.  I have bought every record on its street date since the mid-90s!  The disc didn’t exactly floor me, but it IS KING’s X and is still better than a vast majority of modern music!

KING’s X  XV  \m/ \m/ \m/

From there, I headed towards Easley to hit 123 East Coast Ink to have Redneck do my long-awaited Darth Vader tattoo on my leg.  While en route, Becca called me to let me know she had found a Schecter Omen-4 left-handed bass on e-Bay for $350 with free shipping.  Having just received a nice paycheck the day before, I was left with a difficult yet obvious decision to go ahead and bite the bullet.  Hey, ramen noodles will do for a couple of weeks, right?!  So I gave her my card info so she could make the purchase only for the card to be declined.  For some reason, online purchases do NOT like my card!  So, she proceeded to make the purchase on her PayPal account and I agreed to reimburse her right after I got my new body art.

I got to 123 East Coast Ink and Redneck proceeded to turn my leg into a beautiful canvas any Star Wars geek would be immensely proud of!  Here’s the pic he took of it right after he finished:

You can also check it out and rate it on the Wall of Ink! 

On the way back to my neck of the woods, I stopped by an ATM to get Becca the cash I owed her for the bass only to find that it left me with much less in my account than I had accounted for.  As I gave her the cash, I informed her of the issue and she, in turn, checked out my online bank statement.  As it turned out, the declined card purchase posted - TWICE!!!  Considering I had just written a check for my rent that morning, I am in a considerable jam.  In all likelihood, the bank will drop the declined charges and all will be well and good, but, in the meantime, I am sweating the good possibility of a bounced check!

So, I headed home a bit concerned but ready to relax a bit nonetheless.  I threw on a load of laundry and rested until my musical comrade Mikey got off work and we headed out to The Real Gypsy to catch a former bandmate’s new band, THE DIRTY EIGHTIES.  Steve and Co. were joined by HEAD LANGUAGE and PREACHER’s GUN for a good live music outing followed by a tasty trip to the Huddle House!