Ok, well we haven’t been sucked into a black hole, so at least science hasn’t killed us all as of yet in the search for answers to the origins of life.  But is this not the biggest bunch of boocrap billing for billions of bucks?  I mean ten billion dollars just to prove and better understand the “Big Bang” Theory?  And, to top it off, at the risk of possibly annihilating life on Earth in the process?  Granted it was only an extremely slim chance and life is about taking risks, but how great of a price is that chance?  Destroying life on Earth in an attempt to understand how it began?

There’s a book in my car right now that I am taking with me to Atlanta for the rest of the week that clearly tells how the world began and it’s called the Bible.  Now I’m not going to start preaching or Bible-thumping here, but, even if you don’t believe in God, this whole overpriced, glorified science project is downright ludicrous!  Isn’t there something better we could do with ten billion dollars than try to play God at the potential expense of the entire human race?  If this were a comic book, wouldn’t these European scientists be the diabolical villains?  For some odd reason I’m thinking of Doc Ock’s little pet project in Spider-Man 2 - just on a much grander scale!  I don’t even think Oscorp could cough up ten billion big ones for the science fair!

Labor Day weekend was just that: laborous!  So, when I wasn’t working, I was out trying to blow my paycheck!  Hey, what’s the point in working relelentlessly if I don’t take some time to go out and enjoy it?!  Friday I met up with Rebecca after work.  Yes, we are on speaking terms again and trying to somehow sort out our differences in some way whether it leads to us seeing each other again or not.  She brought me her latest dog rescuee being she is like the crazy cat lady only with a crapload of dogs instead of cats!  I think she knew I’d be interested in this one being the dog is a Boston terrier and border collie mix and I have always wanted a Boston terrier.  So she brought Molly (the name she gave her being she is fond of giving dogs people names - as for me, I still want a male Boston terrier and name him Vader!) to the apartment and we went to Target to pick up some stuff for the dog (leash, toys, bowls, etc.) and then went to Ruby Tuesday’s for dinner.

Saturday I did little more than do my on-air shift and the same could be said for most of Sunday.  My mom and Aunt Pat came over to see the new addition to the Twisted family and we walked her out to the small man-made lake out by my apartment complex.

Monday, when I wasn’t on the air (again!), Rebecca and I managed to take in a movie: the new comedy spoof Tropic Thunder starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey, Jr.  Of the three lead characters, Downey clearly made his mark portraying “the dude playing the dude disguised as another dude”.  I mean his character stayed in character until the end of the movie!  “I stay in character until I finish the DVD commentary!” I believe he said….and he wasn’t kidding!

And let’s not forget the A-list supporting cast of Nick Nolte, Matthew McConaughey and, oh yes, Tom “Damn, my ass is crazy!” Cruise!  I really enjoyed the film as it was a breath of fresh air from other crappy spoof movies such as the ridiculous Scary Movie saga that has bled over into the even more preposterous Epic Movie, Disaster Movie and all the other ”Fill in the Flippin’ Blank” movies!

And it really pisses me off that everyone is all up in arms about their references to mentally handicapped people as ‘retards’.  I admit it’s in rather poor taste, but isn’t comedy supposed to be unapologetically irreverent?  I mean I just watched the new Harold & Kumar flick on DVD and it’s remorselessly racist!  Being a Christian, I constantly see shows like South Park or especially Moral Orel that make a mockery of my beliefs.  Yes, it offends me, but I simply choose not to watch it if it gets too offensive which I did stop watching the latter of the two shows because it honestly made me feel like a heathen….or worse!  LOL!!!

Tropic Thunder   \m/  \m/  \m/  \n

And here’s a few of the DVDs I’ve watched recently now that I have a steady supply of rentals with Blockbuster Total Access:

I just mentioned how racist Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay was, but don’t get me wrong, it was a riot!  If you liked their first adventure getting to White Castle, you’ll caertainly enjoy this!

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay   \m/  \m/  \m/  \

I pretty much got what I expected out of Prom Night and maybe a little more since it was more bloody and violent than what I would expect from a PG-13 rated slasher flick.  Granted it is painfully obvious that it is not a remake of the Jamie Lee Curtis horror film of the same name.  The character names are different as well as the overall plot of the movie save for the fact that both films occur on (big surprise here!) high school prom nights.

Prom Night  \m/  \m/  \

When Grandma’s Boy first came out, I thought it would be a big piece of crap trying to capitalize on Adam Sandler’s success by throwing a comedy together using a cast full of his supporting cast regulars - but no Sandler.  It turned out being one of my favorite comedies in recent years so I had high hopes for Happy Madison’s latest DVD release Strange Wilderness.  I have to say I was somewhat disappointed.  Don’t get me wrong, it had some rather hilarious moments, but just didn’t deliver a comedy I’d really want to watch again.

Strange Wilderness   \m/  \m/  \n

That’s it!  I’m done and heading home to take care of Molly!

I recently got into a discussion with Mark Dennis, our web assistant, about space travel and how the thought of being stuck in a relatively limited space attached to many tons of highly explosive fuel and being projected into an infinite, frigid environment with no oxygen or life to speak of really doesn’t set well with me.  Well he has been bugging me ever since to blog about my fear of space travel.  So, here it goes:

First off, I am rather claustrophobic.  I do not like being in confined places.  Let’s put it this way, I wouldn’t plan on excavating any mines or caves anytime soon!

Secondly, I am apparently thanatophobic meaning I am afraid of dying (thanks phobialist.com!).  Call me crazy, but there’s just something about dying I am not in a hurry to experience!

And lastly, I suppose I have a touch of astrophobia which is a fear of stars or celestial space.  Granted, I am fascinated by the cosmos, but, at the same time, I am terrified of what lies out there.  I don’t mean hostile aliens or anything, but rather very realistic threats such as comets, meteors and other celestial phenomena that could obliterate life as we know it on Earth.

So, I am content keeping my twisted ass earthbound leaving things beyond our atmosphere alone and hoping like hell they do the same!  Ok, Mark, I hope you’re happy and you had better be the first to leave a comment!

And, no, this is NOT about my trip to the dentist Tuesday! 

I recently signed up for Blockbuster Total Access which is basically the Blockbuster version of Netflix only, with their version, you can trade out DVDs with local Blockbuster stores which is totally sweet!  I got my first three DVDs this week and went back and watched Batman Begins for the first time since I saw it in the theater.  I wasn’t a big fan of the grittier, more realistic feel to the new Batman franchise (I believe I mentioned that in my review of The Dark Knight), but since seeing the new film, I wanted to give the first another shot and I am glad I did!

I also got the new horror flick Teeth which I watched last night.  As if I needed another reason to swear women off, I had to sit and watch a film about an extremely chaste teenage girl dealing with her budding sexuality - and the mythical phenomenon known as vagina dentata meaning she has razor-sharp teeth embedded in her womanhood!  Jess Weixler did a great job portraying the homely yet oddly attractive lead character Dawn who is very innocent yet curious about her newfound sexual urges.  She discovers her malicious deformity when she is assaulted sexually by her love interest Tobey.

She then makes the next obvious move and goes to see a gynecologist with more tragic results.  She then seeks solace in the arms of another male admirer only to be taken advantage of by him which, of course, turns out to be a bad move on his ‘part’ (pardon the pun)!  After all this, and a devastating family tragedy, she ‘evolves’ from a sweet, innocent symbol of purity to a vengeful vixen complete with fangs in her nether regions!  I think I’m gonna abstain myself until they invent chain mail condoms!  LOL!!!

Teeth  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m/

This weekend it became painfully clear to me that I am losing touch with the outside world.  Not with what’s going on in the world, but with people in general.  All my life I have always been someone of a loner.  No, I wasn’t the quiet kid everyone was afraid was going to just snap and go on a shooting rampage (remember I went to school before Columbine and related incidents).  I have always been rather outgoing associating with many but getting close to very few.  Even my best friend I am not very close with being he lives in Atlanta and we both lead very busy lives.

Since college, I have really only been close with someone if I was in a (romantic) relationship.  Having just come out of a year-long relationship back in May, I have, until recently, maintained a close friendship with my ex Rebecca.  Now that we are no longer on speaking terms, I feel very isolated from other people.  I even had a lady friend stay with me most of the weekend after meeting up with her and some friends at the PARMALEE show at the Handlebar Friday night.  At first it was great having some female companionship, but, on Saturday, I started withdrawing inward into my own twisted little world.

Yesterday, I went and had lunch with my mom and aunt (yes, the infamous Aunt Pat!) as I do nearly every Sunday, but it was rather short as I went to meet my friend Robbie at Guitar Center.  I grabbed a couple of guitar stands for ten bucks and we rode over to Jack in the Box so he could grab something to eat and we could catch up being he has been spending a lot of time at home with his wife and kids.  We sat and talked and even in that brief amount of time I started to feel alienated.  I’m not sure what it is exactly.  I think part of it has to do with the fact that I can’t identify with his lifestyle as a family man.  Not that there is anything wrong with it, I just can’t identify with it.  Even my cousin Ray, with whom I have been fairly close with all of our lives, is now married and expecting his firstborn son in less than a month.

I have always made the lighthearted observation that I am like the Muppets character Gonzo in that you really don’t know what he is being he is just some oddball character who loves putting on a show.  Of course, you would later find out he is really an alien in Muppets From Space.  Many people think I am just like Animal with my crazy red hair and even crazier spastic persona, but the truth is that Gonzo truly is the one I relate to the most with my sense of (no pun intended) alienation.

Maybe I just need to continue to draw inward and attempt to really discover myself and keep my public and private self as two different entities.  However, I will not hide my private self because I don’t believe in hiding anything.  Which is why I am writing this.  I am labelling this as another chapter of ‘Words of Twisdom’ even though there really aren’t any words of wisdom here, just an educated observation of myself.  Which is what further confuses me about my lifelong isolation.  I am one of the most open, honest people you will ever meet which are qualities you would think people would flock to.  But, then again, a lot of people can’t handle honesty.  To quote good ol’ Jack Nicholson, “You can’t handle the truth!”  Plus, I do have to be guarded because I meet some ‘interesting’ people being I am broadcasted almost daily over open airwaves with the push of nearly 100,000 watts.  Sadly, as I result, I end up avoiding some potentially valuable relationships.

However, for the time being, I am going to continue my routine of getting the job done then rewarding myself by making time for myself.  And now I have a new incentive to do so being I just got my Marvel and DC Comics encyclopedias from Amazon.com on Friday.  There’s a reason they put a big smile on their boxes!  And they should keep me preoccupied until something else comes along!

I don’t know what the deal is, but for some odd reason I cannot meet a dependable woman.  I guess it’s a good thing I’m not looking for a relationship, but living alone gets lonely and it’s good to have a woman’s companionship from time to time.  Anyways, it seems like every time I turn around I run into a female that either stands me up with no phone call or simply doesn’t do what they say they will.  And, if I do speak to them again, there is almost always some outrageous excuse like, say, they got their phone stolen by a pack of rabid ferrets or some crap like that and they expect you to buy it.  God forbid you call them out on it, because they’ll get defensive and try to make you believe you’re the most selfish and inconsiderate bastard that ever walked the Earth.

I am truly sick of it!  And it’s been happening to me as far back as high school!  Why do they do it?  What is the motivation here?  What do they have to gain by pulling these stunts?  Is it some crazed power trip they try to have over men?  I mean if you don’t want to have anything to do with a guy, why not just tell him?  I mean I can handle upfront outright rejection over getting led on.  Gentlemen, why do we put up with this?  Ladies, what’s your deal?

Ideally, relationships are meant to bring the best out of two people.  However, in many cases, the opposite is true.  Most, if not all, of us at one point or another, meet someone that brings the worst out of us.  Many of us meet several in our lifetimes.  I am certainly no exception.

In college, I met a girl from Florida named Elena whose parents were from Puerto Rico.  We hit it off immediately and got along great…..for a whole weekend.  She being a college freshman (I being a sophomore at the time) she wanted to date around which was understandable - except for the fact she kept going after my friends and then ran back to me after getting shot down.  This went on for a whole semester with her last pursuit being my first cousin and bandmate Ray.  This was too much for me to handle but still I wanted her.

Christmas break came and we went back home - me to Greenville and Elena to Florida.  She began writing me like every other day (this was just before the internet and email took off) and she’d ask about Ray.  At this time was when Ray and his now wife Erin began dating.  Needless to say Elena was crushed, but bounced back by claiming to have ‘come to her senses’ and realizing that she only wanted me.  Of course, to me at that time, this was wonderful news!

So, when we returned to Winthrop the next semester, we began our hot ‘n’ heavy relationship with the both of us quickly losing our virginities (yes, I was a virgin until I was 19).  However, it wasn’t just our passion that was hot ‘n’ heavy - our fighting became quite notorious as we would sometimes fight clear across campus.  That woman pulled elements out of me that no other woman ever has (and hopefully never will).

After dating for three semesters (roughly a year and a half), Elena broke up with me during summer break while she was taking summer classes at Winthrop to, again, pursue other relationships.  So our relationship had come full circle and my heart was severely broken.  Was she worth my time in the first place?  Surely not, but that didn’t matter because my heart often overrides the functions of my brain.  That and my libido!

The only other person to have ever caused as much grief and heartache would be my most recent ex-girlfriend Rebecca.  When I first met her, she was living in Savannah so I kept my distance because I’ve had enough bad experiences with long distance relationships.  We kept in touch through MySpace although she dodged any proposal of meeting up.  Finally one day she actually called me and we began talking and I learned that she was moving back to Greenville.

She was in town for a couple of weeks prior to her actual move and we went out and hit it off…..for about a month.  Hey, I admit, that was longer than Elena!  We started dating officially after only a week and then she was back in Savannah.  Almost immediately after our first date, her ‘best friend’ which also happened to be her ex-boyfriend, started in trying to sabotage the relationship by pulling various stunts.  Rebecca, of course, just tried to dismiss his actions because she valued him as a friend even to the point of it jeopardizing our relationship.

At first, I rolled with it as best I could because I really felt Rebecca and I had real potential.  However, their relationship obviously made me very insecure in our relationship and, after about a month, it started to take its toll.  Over the next six months, she broke up with me at least half a dozen times.

To make matters worse, when she returned to Greenville and bought her first house, I would drop by to see her to find her ex there - and sometimes at late hours!  I would walk in and nothing would be going on, but Rebecca would be visibly startled to see me and then be quick to get defensive when I made my accusatory conclusions.  Do I think there was anything going on?  Actually no, I really do believe that Rebecca is just too nice a person to see the harm in certain things and certain people.  To this day I don’t believe she sees her ex for who he really is.

Late last year, I did some probing and found some inappropriate things, not necessarily physical, about their relationship and brought it to her attention.  That encounter did not go well at all, but I think it actually sobered the girl up just a bit.  Over the holidays we slowly patched things up and took our last run of the relationship after the new year.  She put her friendship with her ex aside and we had a fairly decent run for a few months.

Back in March, we took our first (and consequently only) vacation together as we went to Savannah for St. Patty’s Day weekend and then went down to Orlando.  During that time, it became painfully obvious to me that I was growing tired of the relationship largely due to our lack of communication.  I still loved her very much, but, despite all the time we were spending together, we never really talked.  Obviously I am open about EVERYTHING!  Rebecca, on the other hand, is not.  She is content with letting things slide instead of addressing them.  I am much more confrontational.  I love to talk.  She prefers to just sit quietly with her significant other and say very little.

Granted, there is nothing wrong with either trait, but those traits make our personalities almost irreversibly incompatible.  So, at Spring Fling this year, we had our final fight as a couple.  She had a friend pick her up in Spartanburg and we officially ended the relationship that night.  After being together off and on for right at a year, neither of us wanted to just say goodbye.  Of course, Rebecca is obviously used to being friends with her exes in the first place.

So, we tried seeing each other as friends.  Well, I probably wouldn’t be writing this blog right now had that plan worked out.  As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure Rebecca is not going to be happy that this blog is being written as I am sure she will be reading it.  However, I am actually not doing this for the sheer intent of upsetting her in any way though I’d be lying if I said I had not the slightest bit of ill will.

The fact is that Rebecca has a good heart and I truly believe that.  However, my friend Mikey summed it very well in saying that she has her priorities straight when it comes to her job and finances but tends to let her friends come at a distant second.  This consequently makes her somewhat unreliable as she rarely does what she says she will do - well at least in the time frame she says she will.  Me, I am punctual and prompt in nearly every way - at least when it counts considering I am late to the office almost every day but, hey, I get the job done!

Again, this difference in traits has made it virtually impossible for us to coexist as friends.  At least as close as we had been until recently.  Her inability to do as she promises to had finally reached the breaking point for me.  So I demanded the key to my apartment back after telling her off.

Instead of giving it to me in person, she took it upon herself to enter my apartment yesterday while I was making my weekly visit to see my mom and aunt, took her bridesmaid dress she had left after a wedding and slid the key back under the door after locking up.  Needless to say, I was furious when I got home at the fact that she had entered my apartment after I had told her to return my key.  Being an assistant manager at an apartment community, she knew that there was nothing I could do legally, but how does reflect upon her especially considering her profession?

I am honestly baffled by her recent actions as they do not seem to come from the same person I have cared about for so long.  Ultimately, that is the inspiration for writing this blog as it makes me reflect upon not only this relationship which was doomed from the beginning, but all of my doomed relationships in the past, only one of which I spotlighted for relevance.  It is also the reason I have made a new blog category called “Words of Twisdom” as I am hoping to share the lessons I have learned in the past.  Hell, who am I kidding, I just hope I learn from my past mistakes!  If you gained any insight from this or have something to share yourself, feel free to leave your own thoughts - granted they’re not as ‘twisted’ as mine!

And since I’m talking about doomed relationships, you can see just how ‘bad’ your girlfriend is by taking the “Bad Girlfriend” survey here.

…and I’ll bitch if I want to!  Especially since my birthday had to fall on a Monday!  Damn leap year!  I didn’t want to get out of bed as usual, but I did and, as I was getting ready and brushing my hair, I noticed the bald spot in the back of my head felt bigger.  I took a pic with my camera phone raised over my head and, sure enough, it is!  I have to find some sort of solution or shave my head!  I love my hair!  I don’t want to lose it all at 32!

Then, I get to work and discover that most, if not all, of Upstate Unsigned somehow got lost and did not air last night.  That was really disheartening because I put a lot of work into that show each week using up a good part of my weekends!  Hopefully this day will get better as I am on the air now!

This weekend, however, was pretty good as I spent a good part of it celebrating my upcoming birthday.  I took it easy for the most part Friday, but rushed home after work Saturday to clean my apartment before guests started arriving for my birthday party.  Rebecca got there first as she was coordinating the fiesta and brought the Jell-O shots and various liquors.  She also helped me put the finishing touches on straightening my apartment and vacuumed for me. 

My brother Anthony showed up while Becca was out getting snacks for the party.  I was in the shower and he let himself in which scared the crap outta me when I heard someone in my apartment!  At least he made up for startling me by hooking up my DVD player in the spare bedroom and discovering that I have extended cable - and apparently have the whole year I’ve lived there!  The turnout was great and Rebecca was an excellent hostess as she always is!  I knew there was a reason I kept her around after we broke up!  LOL!!!

Sunday I tried unsuccessfully to sleep in, so I got up and enjoyed my newly discovered world of cable television since I had been going on DVDs for over a year!  At three, I met my mom, Aunt Pat and Anthony at Cracker Barrel where I had their awesome blueberry pancakes being that was all I could stomach as I was feeling some adverse effects from the party.  We then went and caught the 4:40 showing of The Dark Knight at Hollywood 20.

Afterwards, I ran back to the station to put Upstate Unsigned together with one of my Twisted Toddy co-hosts, Jessica.  Of course, we all know how futile that was!  Oh well, technical difficulties do arise!  What can you do other than roll with it?

Well, let’s see, what’s new?  Friday was a full day which started in my hometown of Simpsonville as I was at Wal-Mart for our annual Rock ‘N’ Roll Up Your Sleeve blood drive.  My dear Aunt Pat was there to see her beloved nephew and to keep me in line as she likes to do to me on the air!  Greg and I were fighting with the Planet ape’s big ass as the concrete buckets kept falling over and my aunt had the genius idea of tying the ape to a couple of sign posts which already grounded in the asphalt.  Way to go, Aunt Pat!

The drive was a HUGE success as, not only was I busy for the two hours I was out at the Simpsonville Wal-Mart (which faces my alma mater Hillcrest High School on the other side of I-385), but apparently all our donor locations were as well as we brought in 575 units of blood compared to 560 last year.  And, for those wondering, we should be drawing for the DROWNING POOL autographed guitar and the PROJECT REVOLUTION tickets over the course of the day as well as picking our photographer for the show.

Friday night, Rebecca and I went out to pay tribute to Uncle Jim at the Jim Minchow Memorial Concert at Ground Zero.  We enjoyed sets from WHISKEY MOUNTAIN MACHINE, BOOLOW and got to see GHOST IN THE MACHINE for the first time as a five-piece since the addition of a second guitarist.  They ended their set with “Down for the Last Time” with guest backing vocals from Jay and J-Bird formerly of EVERY MANS ENEMY.  Afterwards, Jay confirmed the strong possibility of an EME reunion!  At that point, Becca and I were both beat and had to leave and miss HEADSNAP’s set being she had to work in the morning.

Saturday, I stepped out to feed and run a few errands, but, outside of that, I stayed in and vegged on the couch and did pretty much the same on Sunday.  Becca did come over so we could watch Dan in Real Life with Steve Carell.  The movie was actually pretty entertaining considering I am not big on indy comedies.  However, Steve Carell can pull them off as he did with Little Miss Sunshine.  Bill Murray, on the other hand, does not as I did not care for Rushmore nor Lost in Translation.

Dan in Real Life  \m/ \m/ \m/ \n

Yesterday, Paige and Nine made the HUGE announcement of the line-up for BIRTHDAY BASH XII!  Granted, they had to do it since Skip and Matt were both (and still are) sick with vacation coming for them next week (I will say no more).  So, the ticket blitz IS ON!!!  Listen all week as we will giving away tickets to see AVENGED SEVENFOLD, BUCKCHERRY, SHINEDOWN and SAVING ABEL at Clemson’s Littlejohn Coliseum on September 30th before you can buy them on Friday (P1s, you can buy yours on Thursday)!

While on the air yesterday, I checked out Best Buy’s website to see if there was anything worth picking up on DVD since all the decent movies have been confined to theaters this summer.  Being tight in the wallet, I really couldn’t have done much spending, but Best Buy happens to be running a killer sale of $5 DVDs!  I zipped over there immediately after getting off the air and picked up Clerks II, Grandma’s Boy and Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle all for five bucks a pop!  Needless to say, I spent last night laughing my ass off watching the movies in their respective order as I have listed them but only making it halfway through the second one before calling it a night.  I did, at least, make it through Grandma making tea out of Alex’s pot and the huge party that stems from the ‘herbal’ tea!  “My grandma drank all my pot!”  Classic!

So, go pick up some killer cheap DVDs and tell them Twisted Todd sent ya since I used to work there!  Who says you can’t buy happiness?!

You know, I’m really not sure what happened to my weekend!  All I know is that I kept going all weekend yet I have nothing much to speak of except for yesterday.

Friday I had my best friend Kenny, who was in town from Atlanta for a couple of days, take me to pick up my car from Big O Dodge after getting the front windshield molding reset.  We hung out for a few as he was heading out to meet more friends at Gottrocks and I was heading over to Mikey’s new apartment where he was having a birthday party for his new lady friend, Kelly.  After only two hours or so, the cops came out because of noise complaints so the party disbursed with some going out to another party while Mikey, Kelly and others headed to Gottrocks.  I would have loved to have gone and hung out with Kenny some more since I rarely get to see him, but I was beat so I went home and passed out shortly after midnight.

I didn’t see the light of day until damn near noon Saturday!  I then came to the station to work on the local show while I was on the air.  Afterwards, I went to Beacon Ridge, the apartment complex Rebecca works at to do a little swimming with her co-workers and scarf down some grilled hot dogs!  We parted ways to change into dry clothes and then Becca came over to my apartment and we watched We Own the Night with Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg.  As I expected, it was a great movie with a lot of tense moments and some partial nudity from the lovely Eva Mendes!

We Own the Night  \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/

Yesterday, my cousin Ray and his wife Erin had a baby shower for their soon-to-be firstborn son.  Family and friends were out in droves!  I hung out and had some finger sandwiches, fruit, cake and punch - the only justifiable parts for a guy like me to show up to such events!  I then had to take off and head to Spindale, NC and host Sunday Night Live at the Foundation Performing Arts Center with Christian rockers DISCIPLE.  Before introducing the band, I sat in the back of the auditorium watching skits and commercial parodies while waiting to go backstage.  When intermission came, I got a call from Kris, one of the singers from my old band DEAD AT DAWN.  I answered and he asked where I was so I told him I was at the DISCIPLE show in NC to which he replied, “I know, but where are you?”.  At this point it dawned on me that he was there so we played Where’s Waldo for a few minutes until we found each other.  Shannon, the drummer from DEAD AT DAWN was with him as well being the two work together at Coca-Cola so we caught up for a few minutes before I had to go backstage and introduce the band.

I had always heard that DISCIPLE puts on an amazing and energetic show and they, by no means, disappointed me.  After the show, I joined Shannon, Kris and others for a little late dinner at the nearest McDonald’s and then headed home.  Rebecca called me while at the show and wanted me to stop by being she missed the baby shower due to some allergic reaction she had earlier that day and had passed out from the Benadryl she took.  I agreed, but only if I could challenge her to another round of Battleship since she had beat me the night before.  Lo and behold, she kicked my ass again!  I have never understood this, because my ex-girlfriend Sara used to beat me at the game all the time!  What gives?  I guess women are just naturally gifted at blowing things out of the water!  LOL!!!