After what seemed liked endless months of nonstop work, I finally got to get away from it all and made trips to both Savannah, GA and Tampa, FL for a much needed vacation.  Since my finances have been less than satisfactory lately, I had a shoestring budget to go on but, lucky for me, I have friends in both places!

I went down to see Rebecca in Savannah first and just chilled with her for a few days before making my trek down to Tampa.  We went to see Inglourious Basterds since she had yet to see it at that point and we also hit River St. which is a must for any trip to Savannah!

On Tuesday morning, I gassed up and headed even farther south to visit my friend known as G Man and his wife Barrie.  We had tickets to see MOTORHEAD that night at the Ritz Ybor so we met up with his friend Ross and hit a couple of bars before getting to the show.  We got in just in time for REVEREND HORTON HEAT to promptly start the show at 8.  Admittedly, the REVEREND isn’t my bag (neither is MOTORHEAD for that matter, but any metalhead can appreciate the legendary Lemmy!) but he was actually quite impressive live!

MOTORHEAD took the stage next to ensue chaos in the crowd as G Man served as my mosh pit blocking wall during most of their set.  When they resumed the stage for their encore, G Man walked up to the front of the pit as it had subsided since the band was playing their acoustic number “Whorehouse Blues” which G was filming with his mobile phone.  As soon as they finished the acoustic tune, one of their roadies brought Lemmy his bass and I, being unguarded by G Man, made the wise decision to slip over to my right by a considerable distance as MOTORHEAD revved up their most notorious heavy metal anthem “Ace of Spades”.  The crowd went ballistic and apparently even G Man got thrown around the pit thus dropping his phone.

After the show was over, G Man was lucky enough to find his phone with the help of other concertgoers.  The phone had actually fallen apart into a few pieces but, miraculously, wasn’t broken.  As a matter of fact, it had taken some great footage of being thrown around in a MOTORHEAD mosh pit!

After the show, we hung around since we had after show passes but Lemmy stayed back in his dressing room with a few select fans of the female persuasion so G Man had a girl take Lemmy his ace of spades playing card to get it signed and we bolted since it was already well after midnight and G Man and Ross had to be up early.  We ran by Steak ‘n’ Shake for some late dinner since all of us were starving by that point and none of us had eaten before the show.

I slept in a little bit the next morning but not too late since I was heading for Busch Gardens.  I finally got up around 10, hit the shower then grabbed a quick lunch at Arby’s before hitting the Gardens.  I got to the park around noon and it was quite a slow day there which was great for me since I didn’t have to wait long before I was riding the first roller coaster of the day, Sheikra!  I have to say it was by far the best ride in the park with Montu being a distant second though it was a great coaster in its own right.  I took some video of Sheikra from below the ride because I did not want to risk dropping my phone on the ride!  I may have to see if I can get it posted!

I ended up leaving at five only to hit Tampa’s rush hour traffic so less than ten miles took a good half-hour as I made my way back to G Man’s apartment.  When I got back there, I went with him and his wife to a restaurant called Lee Roy Selmon’s which is named after the NFL Hall of Famer and former Tampa Bay Buccaneer who is also the owner.  G Man told me about their entree called Twisted Southern Chicken which perked my ears up for obvious reasons then further tantalized my taste buds as I read the description:  Grilled chicken breasts stacked on smashed potatoes, smothered in maple bacon creamed corn, melted cheddar cheese, cool sour cream and freshly diced tomatoes.  Holy crap!  I now have a new favorite dish!  Too bad all their locations are in Florida!  Needless to say I slept real good that night!

I slept in a little while again Thursday morning and then got up and packed my things and hit the road to make my way back to Savannah.  I stopped in Ocala, FL to meet up with my old college sweetheart Elena for some lunch and some catching up since we hadn’t seen each other in twelve years.  After lunch, I followed her to their Best Buy so I could get a car charger for my iPod which was dying from the long hours of my road trip over the past few days.  I also ended up picking up a copy of both Robot Chicken: Star Wars specials on DVD since I have the seasons already.

I got into Savannah around eight that night and Rebecca and I went out to dinner.  She retired early after a hard day and I stayed up to watch Conan and catch MEGADETH on Jimmy Fallon that night.  I’m not sure if it was the sound settings on Rebecca’s TV, but MEGADETH’s sound was horrible and I couldn’t even hear Chris Broderick’s guitar solo and I know it’s not a refelction of the band by any means!

As I was sitting up watching TV, I began to develop a sore throat which is how all my ailments start.  So, needless to say, I awoke the next morning beginning to feel a bit under the weather.  Rebecca and I went to grab some lunch and then went to go see the new animated flick Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs starring the voices of Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Bruce Campbell and Mr. T.  It was a fun movie about an inventor whose inventions always backfired on him and created a rift between him and his father as well as others.  Accidentally, one of his inventions literally takes off and begins raining food on his hometown making him a huge hit and brings worldwide attention to the dried-up secluded town.  However, this newfound success has its own unique set of consequences!

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs  \m/  \m/  \m/  \n

Not long after returning to Rebecca’s apartment I started running a fever of 101.7 degrees!  I went and soaked a while in the tub and then we ran to grab some over-the-counter drugs to try and alleviate my symptoms.  It became clear to me that I was not going to be able to make it home that night so I could make it to my anger management meeting the next morning, so I decided to take some nighttime medicine and try to sleep off whatever I could.

I ended up waking up in the middle of the night feeling better but being unable to go back to sleep so I got up, packed my car and headed home at about 3:30 in the morning.  I made it back to my apartment and crawled into bed around eight and slept an hour before getting up, showering and heading to anger management.  After the class was over, I ran to Target to get Little Jay something for his first birthday since his party was that day.  I figured since I wasn’t running a fever I could risk a drop-in.

I grabbed some grub on my way home and sat and watched a movie as another feverish wave hit me.  I fought it on into the night rather unsuccessfully but ended up sleeping it off during the night as I slept nearly ten hours and so far, so good today.

Well another holiday weekend has come and gone but not without leaving its tale to be told.  Before the weekend officially started, I went to the Handlebar Thursday night right after work for a little local band action with TREND KILL OMEGA, KELEN HELLER, THRESHOLD and WAITING FOR AIR.  I got into the auditorium just after WAITING FOR AIR finished their set unfortunately because I was having to tend to some serious business: feeding my fat ass!

Tyler from promotions, aka Twisted Tyler, and his band THRESHOLD were up next and put on a great show.  I gotta say Tyler really is impressive on stage - can’t wait ’til I get in a band and play a show again!  I got to catch KELEN HELLER for the first time featuring Ricky and Mark formerly of HEADSNAP and their set was interesting to say the very least!  I managed to stay late enough to catch a handful of songs from TREND KILL OMEGA’s set as it was my first time seeing them with their new singer whom I went to high school with.  I gotta say, I was impressed “Opie” as we used to call him back in the day!

Friday after work I stayed in the office to finish up a few extra things and, when I went out to my car, lo and behold there was Rebecca parked next to me!  She came into town to visit family and surprise me with a visit so we went to Blockbuster to trade one of my online movies for Push on Blu-ray and then grabbed some dinner from Oriental House.

Push was an interesting spin on the ’superhero’ genre as it is a tale of people with extraordinary abilities running from a secret agency that seeks to research and exploit their abilities.  Fairly clever film for a decent movie rental night.

Push  \m/  \m/  \m/  \

Saturday I took it easy most of the day and then forced my lazy ass to get off the couch and head out to Gottrocks that night to catch LECHEROUS NOCTURNE, GIGAN and INSIDIOUS DEMISE with Rebecca.  We got there just as INSIDIOUS DEMISE was finishing their set which ended before we could step foot inside the door.  GIGAN was next with their unique style of death metal and I noticed a fellow lefty playing guitar and a hot chick kicking ass on bass!

LECHEROUS NOCTURNE dominated the stage next with Kreishloff’s ludicrously fast shredding and Hohenstein’s God of Thunder vocals and stage presence.  Filling in bass duties was the singer/guitarist from APOTHEOSIS who’s name escapes me because I always call him “Heavy Metal Kenny” because he looks like the death metal version of my best friend, Kenny!

Also over the weekend I managed to take in a showing of the new Rob Zombie flick Halloween II.  Granted I had already heard all the not so flattering reviews of the film, but I decided to give it a shot anyways.  After seeing it for myself, I can honestly see where some people would have complaints because the film does have weird moments that seem to be for the sake of just being weird (and when I say weird, I MEAN it: watch out for a very “Weird” cameo).  Don’t get me wrong, I love Rob Zombie’s morbid and often trippy style but this did go overboard in a few areas.  However, I enjoyed the film overall and liked it more than I remember liking the first Halloween remake he did a couple of years ago.

Halloween II  \m/  \m/  \m/

Sunday I managed to make myself go to church and even go to that night’s Single Adult’s ministry, The Point.  As usual, I stood out like a sore thumb as most people who are rockers/metalheads usually don’t go to church nor get involved in religious activities which makes it a bit difficult for me since I seem to represent two very different groups without really belonging to either.  I know it makes me unique and I even hope it even opens some people’s minds on the stereotypes related to the groups but, damn, it makes it really lonely and alienating sometimes.

Two days ago marked the 33rd anniversary of my entering into this world which I will surely someday conquer.  It has been an insane week which is why I am just now getting to reflect upon it as I just got back from my live broadcast at City Tavern in downtown Greenville which was fun but tiring after an exhaustively long day and week.

The weekend before my birthday was interesting to say the very least.  After getting off the air Friday night I went out to the Channel on Orchard Park to see chick-fronted Christian rockers THIS MACHINE IS ME.  Once I got there and the show started I discovered that the band I came to see had cancelled but I stayed and caught DAYS OFF SCREEN play their set since I’d never seen them though I’ve played them on Upstate Unsigned.

I left shortly thereafter and got me some dinner and dropped by Blockbuster to swap one of my online movies for the Disney sci-fi classic Tron since the buzz is on for the upcoming sequel currently in the works.  I watched about half an hour of the film then passed out since I had to be on the air at ten the next morning.

When I got off the air Saturday I had to make the haul to Beech Island, SC for the Fried Green Tomato Festival as I was doing some ‘mandatory volunteer work’ (another story for another day) for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.  I arrived at about 5:30 and stayed for only two hours since the festival was over at 7.  My main duty was to stay overnight in town and help clean up the next morning but I was told by the owners of the Iron Horse Bar who hosted the festival that they had enough help the next morning so I was cleared of my obligations so I drove through Aiken and got some dinner at the Variety.  I have to say it was a very interesting and scenic road trip.

I left Aiken at 9 and made it home by 11:30.  I think I made an attempt to watch more of Tron, but I was so exhausted I just passed out.

I slept in Sunday morning and then met my mom out for an early birthday dinner at The Coach House in Simpsonville.  After dinner I came home while Mom went to pick up my brother Anthony and came over to my apartment to watch Watchmen.  She picked up a few snacks and picked me up an awesome Star Trek cupcake birthday cake.  When the movie was over, I met up with a few friends at Steak ‘n’ Shake for a late night bite before packing in for another work week.

After work Monday, those same friends wanted me to go out with them for my birthday so I met them at Hooters in Greenville and then headed out to Platinum Plus which is where the train derailed but not in a good way.  Suffice it to say I’ll never kick off another birthday on Baker St - and that’s not the address of either place we went to but rather refers to the company I was keeping that night!

The next day, being my actual birthday, I brought what was left of the cupcake birthday cake to share with my fellow Entercom employees which, admittedly, was nice of me since there exists a high school-like clique downstairs where only their birthdays matter.  However, Ayse was nice enough to take me out to lunch.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t expect anyone to take me out or do something for me on my birthday, but it would be nice if some of  my coworkers at least treated the rest of us with the same courtesy instead of as if we didn’t matter.

Before going out to lunch, Mom and Aunt Pat dropped by with a fresh coconut cake my aunt had baked me for my birthday which was AWESOME!  I LOVE her homemade coconut cake!  I ended up working over until I realized I wasn’t accomplishing anything so I decided to go home and watch another half-hour of Tron before passing out yet again from sheer exhaustion.

Yesterday was business as usual and then I had my second anger management class after I got off the air.  Earlier that afternoon, Rebecca called me to let me know that my package had arrived at my apartment as she had been tracking it on UPS’ website.  Unfortunately, the office at my apartment complex closes before I get off work so I couldn’t pick it up that day.  So, after I got home from class, I fixed myself a quick bite for dinner and finally finished watching the last half-hour of Tron!  Now I’ve got to watch the special features!

On my way to work this morning, I stopped by the office and got the package Rebecca had sent me for my birthday.  To my delight, it was the pair of Ride the Lightning METALLICA Chucks I had been wanting soooo bad!  Needless to say, they are on my feet as I am writing this!  Thanks, Rebecca!  You’re awesome!

Now I think it’s time to relax and watch the special features on the Tron DVD so I can actually return it someday!

For those who know me, know that I am actually not much of a party guy.  On the contrary, I am actually quite boring and reclusive in my free time.  This weekend, however, had me playing quite the active role as I was all over the place!

Friday night I left work to go straight out to the Handlebar for the LAST DAYS PARADE cd release party.  I got there just in time to catch the last few songs of SISTER TRISH’s set which included a great cover of THE CRANBERRIES’ “Zombie”.  When they finished I ran to the bar to get some food to fill my empty tank and then caught TEN GRAND LEG’s final performance.

I wasn’t familiar with the next band but they were pretty good for their style of rock.  DECADENCE hit the stage next and did a great job until the time I had to leave to go hit Saints & Sinners to catch WHISKEY MOUNTAIN MACHINE.  I caught about an hour of their set before I had to head home from sheer exhaustion and get some sleep before working the following morning.

I got up at nine yesterday morning to start yet another long day.  I stopped by Hardee’s and grabbed some breakfast and did my shift from 10 am til 2 pm.  I then went home and rested a while before heading to the Gathering Spot (aka the G Spot) in downtown Greenville for Yuengling night as we were qualifying listeners for our $10,000 custom made limited edition Martin acoustic guitar which we will be giving away on September 11th at the Handlebar.

Right after the G Spot, I ran out to Medusa’s for their final rock show.  I got there just as RESTRICT THIS hit the stage with their intense brand of punk rock followed by TATTERMASK led by the lovely Amanda on guitar and vocals and featuring G Floyd on drums.  TATTERMASK put on a great show being the last rock band to play the venue.

After hitting FOUR bars in TWO days, I think I’m ready for a day in my cave before the madness begins again tomorrow!

Monday after work I went to help Rebecca load up her moving truck along with her brother and mutual friends Michael and Mikey - I know too many Michaels, Mikes and Mikeys!  We loaded most of her things in just a few hours so she could take off to claim her new job in Savannah the next day.

Friday after work she came back to Greenville to get the last of her things and to spend one more weekend with family and friends before getting settled in Savannah.  She got in town a bit late so we stayed in and watched the new movie on DVD Unborn.  The film was a good little scare flick though some of the plot seemed a little inconsistent.  Not bad.

Unborn  \m/  \m/  \m/

Saturday she spent with the day her family and getting some things together at her house while I relaxed most of the day until we went out that night to see Tyler’s band THRESHOLD play at Medusa’s with DEADLOCK and RELENTLESS.  We missed RELENTLESS’ set but got there just in time for THRESHOLD to start and I have to say they were really good.  Definitely the best band I’ve seen Tyler sing for.  Afterwards DEADLOCK cranked it up and brought some intensity to the stage with their brand of metal.

I slept in Sunday morning but still managed to make the noon service at Brookwood Church and stayed for Ayse’s party for her son who’s being deployed to Iraq.  The meatballs in mushroom gravy were amazing!  I even had roasted red pepper flavored hummus which was actually good unlike the plain kind!  And the cake wasn’t bad either!  Mmmm!  Making me hungry!  I need to hurry up and finish and head home and eat dinner!

Before leaving to head back to Savannah, Rebecca dropped by to watch one more movie with me as we watched Knowing with Nicolas Cage.  I was actually impressed as it was a really good apocalyptic thriller.  Definitely worth a rental!

Knowing  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m

After the movie, I loaded the microwave I donated to her into her already packed car and away she went to her new home back in Savannah which was where she was living when we first met back in November 2006.  She moved back to Greenville in July 2007 and stayed right at two years before returning to the city she loves the most and I wish her well.

Goodbye and God bless, Rebecca!

All my Twisted Love,

Todd

….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!