….well not really but it sure seems that way!

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!

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 got the weekend off to a great start by taking a couple of hours out of the office Friday morning to go see X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  I actually didn’t have very high expectations for this one since it was a spin-off flick, but was pleasantly surprised.  The film actually did very well in telling the backstory of X-Men’s most popular character and keeping it fairly congruent to the other films.  And, despite comic fans’ disapproval, I thought Ryan Reynolds was great as Deadpool.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine  \m/  \m/  \m/  \n

Later that night I watched one of Rebecca’s Netflix movies, Choke based on the novel by Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk.  Granted Choke was no Fight Club by any means, but the film was still very complex and compelling - ok, the boobs helped!  Like Fight Club, there’s really no simple way to describe Choke.  Just go pick it up and watch it!

Choke  \m/  \m/  \m/  \

Saturday I got up early for my air shift and then hauled ass to Spartanburg for the Upstate Unsigned/BLVD Music stage at Spring Fling 2009.  I arrived just in time to see THE DIRTY EIGHTIES take the stage as they put on a great set including their cover of METALLICA’s classic “For Whom the Bell Tolls”.  Next was FROM TOMORROW as they brought some hard-hitting metal action to our stage.  THE VESSEL followed with their unique blend of rock and then handed the stage over to EVERY MANS ENEMY.  This was the first time I got to see EME with my friend Mikey playing guitar in the band and I was quite impressed as I knew I would be having briefly worked with Mikey myself.

We then had to take a break as the weather started to get a little rough as did certain dog show hosts.  So after dealing with rain and pissies, DECADENCE took the stage and put on a great show that included a cover of KILLSWITCH ENGAGE’s “The End of Heartache”.  Wrapping up the night was NOXIOUS who took advantage of the extra time we had been given due to the circumstances of the day.  They ended with their cover of TOOL’s “Schism” after dealing with some technical issues.  So, outside of weather, technical difficulties and a few unpleasant dog lovers (don’t get me wrong, I love dogs myself but DAMN!), I had a great time as we had a great turn-out with some great bands gracing our stage!

Yesterday I stayed in except for a quick trip to Blockbuster to do one of my in-store trade-ins on my online account and picked up The Uninvited, another foreign remake only this time the original was Korean as opposed to Japanese.  A tormented girl returns home from a mental institution after witnessing her mother perish in a fire only to find her father is shacking up with her mother’s caretaker.  With the deadly vixen threatening to take over her home, she teams up with her sister to investigate the woman’s past.  I would like to say I saw the ending coming, but no, I did not by a long shot.  Great story with an incredible twist ending!

The Uninvited  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m

Man, I gotta say the past week has been insane!  Monday, I had a phone interview with Richard Patrick, frontman for FILTER as they are getting ready to invade the Bi-Lo Center as one of twelve bands at the first ever Greenville Crawfish Boil Fiday and Saturday May 15th and 16th.  We talked about everything from his early days in NINE INCH NAILS to his brother, actor Robert Patrick to being attacked while overseas playing for the troops.

The very next day I had the one and only Vinnie Paul, brother of the late Dimebag Darrell Abbott of PANTERA and DAMAGEPLAN, call in to promote the new SEVENTH VOID cd featuring Kenny Hickey and Johnny Kelly of TYPE O NEGATIVE as they are signed to his very own label, Big Vin Records (BVR).  He also happened to mention the new HELLYEAH disc which is currently in the works as they will be hitting the studio soon.

The day after that, I had a phone interview with Cody Hanson, drummer from HINDER as they, too, will be performing at the Greenville Crawfish Boil.

And, to top it all off, for the fourth day in a row I was exposed to killer rock musicians on Thursday as the Planet played host to a very special P1 Lounge featuring Dexter and Noodles from THE OFFSPRING!  Before their acoustic performance at 5, they stopped in the studio for an interview, a text Q and A session and even a few requested tunes from the guys themselves.  They were amazing to talk with and Dexter’s voice is great live!

If you want to hear all these great interviews and such in their entirety, simply go to newrock933.com, hit the ‘New Rock Music’ tab and click on ‘Planet on Demand’…..or simply click here.

Wednesday night after work I ran to my toy store, Best Buy to spend a little money since I had just got paid.  I needed a new video game so I ran in and grabbed Lego Indiana Jones since I loved Lego Star Wars.  So far, I’ve got through the six levels for the Raiders of the Lost Ark portion of the game. 

Friday night I went to the movies to go see the new horror flick The Haunting in Connecticut.  Not a bad film as far as genuine scares go, but didn’t live up to all the hype I’ve heard about it.  Still, like I said, good for a scare!

The Haunting in Connecticut  \m/  \m/  \m/  \n

Saturday, I had Willie, my drummer in TRAGEDY CHAPTER, come by my apartment and help me load my Gallien-Krueger Backline 4×10 and Peavey 1×15 bass cabinets in my new Jeep Compass so I could run them up to BLVD Music and trade them in for a new bass cabinet.  BLVD was having their awesome Red Tag Sale going on so I got a great deal on a brand new SWR WorkingPro 4×10 bass cabinet…..with wheels!!!!  So, needless to say, it was much easier getting it to my ride and back into my apartment than the other two cabinets were!

After dropping my sweet new bass cabinet off at my apartment, I ran to the mall to pick up some new threads.  I nabbed a Watchmen T-shirt from Hot Topic with Rorschach on it and a couple of new wristbands with four-leaf clovers on them that were on clearance for a buck each!

Yesterday I slept in a bit but managed to make it to the noon service at Brookwood Church.  When the service was over, I ran up to their bookstore to get one of the necklaces they had symbolizing the messages in the Easter series: He came, He died, He rose, He ascended and He’s coming back.

As you can tell, I love getting paid - especially when I don’t have a car payment this month!  I suppose that accident was a blessing in disguise!

Wow, yesterday was a crazy ass day!  At noon, we had Christian rockers RED drop by the studio to do an interview and acoustic song with our very own Dex followed by HALESTORM at one.  Of course, it was great seeing the guys of RED again in person for, like, the fourth time now!  I think we’re all on first name bases by now!  HALESTORM, on the other hand, I had never met before and, let me say, their singer/guitarist Lzzy Hale is pretty damn cute!  I didn’t get to stay long with them, however, since I had to leave for the P1 Lounge with TRAPT at Whitestone Studios in downtown Greenville.

Unfortunately, TRAPT’s singer Chris Brown was ill and trying to recuperate before last night’s show, so we proceeded with a meet and greet with the rest of the band as well as a bit of a Q and A session.  I, of course, enjoyed some free Papa John’s pizza and drinks and mingled with some of our P1s in the meantime while exploring the kick ass set up at Whitestone Studios.

Afterwards, I had to bolt back to the studio since I was on the air and all (how I managed to be both places at the same time is a secret I’ve sworn to keep)!

Once I was done with my air shift, Rebecca and I grabbed a bite to eat with Jordan Zucker, TRAPT’s record rep and then went out to the show at the Handlebar.  We got there as the opening band, INEPT was finishing up their set.  HALESTORM was next as Lzzy opened their set by demonstrating the power of her voice a capella.  Halfway through their set, the drummer Arejay Hale (Lzzy’s younger brother) whipped a pair of oversized drumsticks during a crazy ass drum solo as the rest of the band all brought out percussion instruments and proceeded to join their drummer in banging away on some skins!  I was impressed!

RED was next as they commanded the audience and even earned a crowd chant for an encore at the end of their set.  Unfortunately, they were unable to do an encore since it was time for TRAPT to take the stage.  At this point our feet were killing us so we headed upstairs to the Handlebar skybox and grabbed my former bandmate, Matt Nations of DOGFIGHT.  Being upstairs was indeed ideal as we got to sit and actually see the band seeing as none of us are too terribly tall - myself especially!

The show was great and wore my ass out from the long day of running around with bands on top of my daily duties, but that didn’t stop me from returning to work after midnight to finish up what I didn’t get done while running around!

Boy, yesterday was a long one!  Starting at around four in the morning I woke up with the worst pain from where I had my wisdom tooth pulled last week.  I got up, took a Vicodin, went back to bed and nothing.  I waited about an hour and then got back up and took four Ibuprofens.  After at least another half-hour, the pain finally began to subside, but then I got all itchy and started to doze off into some strange mini-dreams.  I finally passed back out for good a little after six which sucks because I had actually gone to bed right after getting home from my Applebee’s remote in Greer.  I was in the bed and out like a light shortly after midnight hoping to get a killer night’s sleep since I don’t get until nine and knowing the day had a lot in store.  Oh well, we press on!

After getting my office work done, I went to the studio to begin my air shift only to run right into Tyler, Dave and Dean of THEORY OF A DEADMAN right at the door!  Sarah, our promotions director was escorting them in along with P1 Big Country (or ‘Countsy’ if you will) and brought in some delicious sandwiches, cookies and such from Panera Bread!  So the guys went on the air with me as soon I first hit the air and preceeded to take over a play a few of their own selections including a double shot of BLACK SABBATH!

Not twenty minutes after their departure, Jonathan Jacobs (our Universal Republic rep) came in with Cody and Mike from HINDER.  They came in, enjoyed some of the leftover Panera goodness, popped on a few songs they wanted to hear including SEETHER’s new cover of WHAM’s “Careless Whisper” and even had time to take a call.  Check out the audio from both band’s in-studio invasions here!

Jonathan was celebrating his 32nd birthday and had me and Rebecca on the guest list at the show that night since I had given up my tickets so another staff member could go to the show.  I met her at my apartment shortly after seven and we had to hit an ATM since neither of us had cash on us to cover parking.  We got our tickets and made our way to our seats just as THEORY OF A DEADMAN started cranking out “Hate My Life” and then closed with “Bad Girlfriend”.  At least I got to see part of their set since they went on at 7:05!

HINDER went on next almost right at eight opening with “Use Me”, the first single from their latest album Take It to the Limit.  They played for around forty minutes and ended with their first hit single “Get Stoned”.  Jonathan came over and hung with me and Rebecca during most of their set then we all met up with Mark Hendrix, Stoneman from ROCK 101, Dex and a few other staff members and listeners to hang in the hall while waiting for CRUE.

MOTLEY CRUE’s set began just as AC/DC’s “Hells Bells” finished playing on the overhead.  The intro music began as the silhouette of an angel appeared followed by the silhouette of the Devil then the silhouette of the angel began to perform oral sex on the silhouette of the Devil.  This was just the first of an onslaught of sacrilegious imagery throughout the first portion of CRUE’s set.  I wasn’t offended but it made me uncomfortable and it seemed a bit out of place.  It would make me uncomfortable anywhere but I could see all that taking place at a MARILYN MANSON, SLAYER or CRADLE OF FILTH show but not so much at a MOTLEY CRUE show.

Musically speaking, the band was dead on and Mick Mars even seemed to get around fairly well despite his condition, but Vince Neil sounded like a castrated chipmunk - well, more so than usual!  The fireworks and pyrotechnics were a bit overwhelming and Rebecca is allergic to sulfur so we left after a few songs.  I believe we made it through “Shout at the Devil” which I think is one of CRUE’s stronger songs from their best album of the same name.  I’m not a big CRUE fan as I was planning on leaving early regardless, but even I was starting to actually taste the sting of the sulfur at that point.  Well, at least now I can say I’ve seen them live!

I know the weekend isn’t over yet, but I figured I’d go ahead and sum it up as of this far:  Friday night Rebecca and I went to go grab some dinner at Ruby Tuesday’s and then went out to Medusa’s to see IRONSIDE, a band I used to do a lot of shows with back in my days in DEAD AT DAWN.  The line-up was a motley crew of bands from North Carolina I’m not yet familiar with, but IRONSIDE was on their game when they took the stage with their new singer and guitarist.  Check them out if you want some serious hard-hitting metal here!

Rebecca once again had to take care of some work early Saturday but afterwards we went to the Haywood Mall to get my new watch adjusted and grab some lunch from the Jambalaya place in the food court.  We then drove around looking at some houses and then on to Wal-Mart to swap out my digital antenna and her mismatched shoes (one a 5 1/2 and the other an 8!).  I had to pick up a different flat antenna for $50 since they were out of the one I originally purchased but this one picks up local digital channels better so it works out!

We got home and popped in one of Becca’s Netflix Journey to the Center of the Earth with Brendan Fraser.  The movie wasn’t anything spectacular but entertaining with its surrealistic looking special effects.  Not one I would buy, but an enjoyable rental that looked great on my new 40″ LCD flat screen TV!

Journey to the Center of the Earth  \m/  \m/  \m/

After the movie, we went out to the Handlebar to see the newly reunited UNDONE open for HELLS BELLS the AC/DC Tribute Band.  UNDONE took the stage almost right at nine to get the crowd going which consisted of both old fans of the band as well as newcomers who were AC/DC fans that surely walked away fans of UNDONE at the end of the night!  And, of course, they closed their set with the local hit “Bag of Crazy” which won them best song in Upstate Unsigned’s Top Ten Songs of 2007 before encoring with their cover of GNR’s “Sweet Child o’ Mine”.

Not being a fan of AC/DC, Becca took my car and ran home to put her dogs to bed after UNDONE’s set while I caught some of HELLS BELLS’ set.  She came back to pick me up after I got to catch a few songs (including “Shot Down in Flames” and “T.N.T.” which were the two AC/DC covers I learned in my very first band, FEAR THE GHOST) and we grabbed a late dinner at IHOP.

We got home and watched the first half of another one of Becca’s Netflix Zombie Strippers featuring legendary porn star Jenna Jameson and Robert “Freddy Krueger” Englund until we were both about to pass out from exhaustion.  We slept in this morning and then finished the movie which was a fun expedition of straight-to-video cheese chock full of gore and nudity and even more loaded with really bad lines!  Let’s not forget the epic one-on-one fight between the two lead zombie strippers with Jenna Jameson’s character shooting ping pong balls and even billiards from her nether regions!  CLASSIC!!!

Zombie Strippers  \m/  \m/  \m/

After finishing Zombie Strippers, we sat and watched My Best Friend’s Girl starring Dane Cook and Kate Hudson.  The movie was a funny and crude twist to your usual ‘date movie’ or ‘chick flick’ as Dane Cook plays “Tank”, a guy who makes extra cash by taking out acquaintances’ ex-girlfriends and treats them like crap so they run back to the guy they left with a newfound appreciation and devotion.  This plan, of course, backfires as he does the same for his roomate played by Jason Biggs only to find that his ex (Kate Hudson) is somewhat turned on by his antics.  As in most romantic comedies, it becomes a big mess that needs to be sorted but keeps the guy appeal with its blatantly crude humor.  A bit cookie-cutter but enjoyable for both sexes.

My Best Friend’s Girl  \m/  \m/  \m/

Making it a big, lazy movie day, we turned right around and popped in Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who which was a hundered - no, a THOUSAND times better than both live action attempts to bring Dr. Seuss’ beloved stories to the big screen!  The animation was incredible and even infused some seemingly hand-drawn sequences and the storyline was great and remained fairly true to that of Dr. Seuss.  Enjoyable for all ages!

Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m/

Wow!  I just got back from one of the greatest concerts I have ever experienced!  I admit I have like severe ADD so I often lose interest and my mind wanders during 95% of all shows I go to, but this was one of the few shows that kept my attention entirely from beginning to end - a feat only accomplished by a distinguished few such as ROB ZOMBIE, LINKIN PARK and TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA!  Both percussionists, Clown and Chris were all over the place and DJ Sid was constantly climbing all over Clown’s kit while it was spinning and lifting on the hydraulics - it’s no wonder he’s prone to getting injured on stage!

They opened with one of my favorites from the self-titled debut, “(Sic)” followed by a few others from the first album including “Wait and Bleed”.  They covered a ton of great material from all four albums and then came back to do an encore with “Surfacing” and “Spit It Out” the latter of which had an extended interlude in which Joey Jordison’s drum kit rose, spun and tilted forwards all while he was feverishly playing.

Of course this was just the end of a crazy ass day of having Corey Taylor and Clown invade the studio during my air shift to guest DJ and ride my ass!  It was great having them on to play killer tunes such as “Jesus Built My Hotrod” by MINISTRY and a double shot of SLAYER including “Angel of Death” and “War Ensemble”!  Of course Corey had to follow the SLAYER double shot with “Secret Lovers” by ATLANTIC STARR not to mention “Shake Your Booty” by KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND prior to both!  It was easily the most fun I have ever had on the air in my ten years of radio!  I’m actually listening to the audio right now as I write this!  Check out the podcast here!

Wow, it has been a crazy week with SLIPKNOT in town tonight at the BI-LO Center!  I can’t wait to do another blog tomorrow about it!  So, I am just now getting around to giving my rundown of last weekend!

Friday, Rebecca and I went out to Ground Zero to see GHOST IN THE MACHINE, WICKED JONES and SKIN KAGE.  Before the show, I was talking to Travis, guitarist of SKIN KAGE about his new B.C. Rich guitar which came with Rockfield pickups as did my new Traben bass.  I was surprised to hear that B.C. Rich was using Rockfield being a new and virtually unknown brand, but we both agreed that their sound was amazing.  I couldn’t exactly make out the sound of the pickups during SKIN KAGE’s set being my ears aren’t THAT good, but their set was great!

WICKED JONES put on an amazing show next with a style that is totally their own!  You just have to see this one!  GHOST IN THE MACHINE brought it like they always do and introduced a couple of new songs while they were at it!

The show ended after one in the morning and then Becca, our friend Michael and I all went to Waffle House for some late night chow.  We didn’t get home and get into bed until about 3:30 - which sucked because Rebecca had to be up at 6:30!  When the alarm went off, Becca wasn’t feeling too good since she had a good bit to drink but not enough time to sleep it off.  So she was hugging my toilet which at least allowed her to feel a bit better so she could make it through her day.

When she got home we watched one of Netflix movies, The House Bunny with Anna Faris which was actually pretty funny and was pretty much what I expected of a movie about a Playboy bunny becoming a geeky sorority’s house mother.

The House Bunny  \m/  \m/  \m/  \n

After the movie, we went out to grab food and some other things and stopped by Blockbuster to trade in one of my Total Access flicks for Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa on Blu-ray.  The sequel brought back all of the lovable characters from the first film, especially the penguins (my favorites!), and introduced some new characters as well.  However, the film didn’t have as great appeal as it’s predecessor.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa  \m/  \m/  \m/

Sunday, I didn’t do much except rest in the wake of this crazy week!  Monday I had to work late being it was the only day this week I really could do so!  Last night I ran down to the Applebee’s in Anderson for week two of Applebee’s Late Night World Tour.  The turnout wasn’t as massive as week one was in Simpsonville, but it was a very passionate crowd that was really appreciative to have the Planet out representing!  I did some really horrible singing on “Eye of the Tiger” and “Crazy Train” on Guitar Hero: World Tour and my drumming on a couple of songs wasn’t much better!  Definitely a fun time but I’m looking forward to having even more fun tonight at the SLIPKNOT show and ecstatic about having Corey Taylor and Clown in the studio today to take over the airwaves during my show!  More tomorrow!