Slim's 10th Anniversary

After seeing The Yayhoos last night in a smoke-free environment, I wasn't gonna go see them again tonight at Slim's, where the smoke is stupid thick. But after meeting my buddy Foy at the Falls Tap Room for a couple of beers and dinner, that's exactly where we wound up. Now, if I could just find my hearing – cuz I've damn sure lost it…

By the way, Slim's is Raleigh's rock n' roll bar. All the bartenders are musicians, they have a killer jukebox, and they book awesome bands. Whenever I have roadie buddies passing through Raleigh, Slim's is where I always take them for a good time.

I can't wait for the anti-smoking law to get passed here, because then Slim's becomes not just the best rock bar in town, but one of the best bars, period.

The Yayhoos

My buddy Terry Anderson plays in a couple of different bands, including one "supergroup" called The Yayhoos. The band is Terry (former drummer for the Fabulous Knobs and The Woods), Dan Baird and Keith Christopher (both former members of the Georgia Satellites), and Eric "Roscoe" Ambel (original guitarist for Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, also played in the Del Lords).

The Yayhoos are playing Slim's 10th Anniversary party tomorrow night, and tonight, for shits & giggles (and rehearsal), they played out in Bunn, NC (where Terry lives) at Joey & Alicia's house (friends of Terry's). Joey threw a pig-picking (ask if you don't know), and about 50 people were invited.

It's not often you get to see a band of that calibre set up and play in the great room of someone's home. The house was a-rockin'…

So Much For That...

Got a phone call today that sucked. Guns N' Roses, who I'm supposed to work for this year, have shut down rehearsals in LA. The crew was loading out today, and everyone was being sent home. Beginning tour dates are now pushed back to late August.

Needless to say, I'll soon begin looking for other work…

Pastry Competition

Today was Wake Tech's Annual Pastry Show & Competition, part of the school's Baking and Pastry Arts curriculum. My friend and former neighbor (who also found my house for me) Charlene had several entries and won an assortment of ribbons for her handiwork. If you're in the market for cakes or pastries for any occasion, drop me a line at bd58@aol.com and I'll put you in touch with her. Her work is amazing.

Hard to believe, but this piece is made out of BREAD. Wild! This one got her a third-place ribbon.

A better shot with more detail. Seriously, click on this photo and check it out.

Charlene with another ribbon winner of hers.

As you can see, it's a cake with a scene of a baker making cakes. Too funny. It even has a Charlene Mini-me as the baker.

This one wasn't Charlene's, but it has a (Dr. Seuss) Whoville theme, so I liked it.

Last year, for my 50th birthday party, Charlene made a cake version of one of my pinball machines.

It even had a Mini-me, holding a Bud can.

After a couple of hours at the show, Paige and I went and sat outside at The Raleigh Times and had a nice dinner...

Ossie's 40th Birthday

We celebrated Ossie's 40th tonight at El Rodeo Grill. Ossie is a great guy and he's my buddy Greg's partner at 3 Monkeys Amps, a killer guitar amp company based here in Raleigh. You can check them out here: 3 Monkeys Amps

A few photos from the dinner gathering:

The Amp Cake:

Ossie with his cake:

Me and Lisa:

Beth and me:

Jack and Beth:

Jeff and Kim:

Ossie with his Hannah Montana presents (evidently, he's a HUGE fan):

Paige and Ossie:

Paige with a birthday weapon:


Terry and Paige:

Ossie's coolest gift, the hot sauce bong, in simulated use:

Somehow, Amy and Ian managed to avoid having their pictures taken. Hmmm…suspicious of having their souls taken, maybe?

Accidental Tulips

If you're looking for a guy with a green thumb, I would be at the absolute bottom of that list.

But under one of the dogwood trees in my front yard, these lovelies have recently brought a splash of color to my world…

It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's...

No, actually, it's a tire. And it's up in a tree, about 30-32 feet above the greenway. Which puts it about 40-some-odd feet above Crabtree Creek on a normal day. Now, there ain't no way in hell that the creek has ever flooded high enough for this to have floated up there, not even back on September 6, 1996, when Hurricane Fran clobbered Raleigh.

So how the heck did it get there?

Ah-CHOO!!!

Anyone who has ever lived around these parts will probably recognize this crud.

This first shot is one I took the other day following a brief morning rain shower.

This one was taken a bit later, after a bunch of that stuff had dried out. Nasty!

It's that time of year – the time when all the pine trees, which we have in NC in great abundance, release all of their pollen. It's all over my porch, my deck, my car. Hell, it's all over everything. It's so bad you can't open your windows for ventilation or the interior of your whole house will be covered in it.

I am soooo grateful that I'm not allergic to that stuff. I know a lot of folks who are miserable from it. And just as soon as the first massive wave of pine pollen has been released, the oak pollen follows it. Again, no problem for me, but others suffer greatly.

I don't know how it is that I’m not allergic to anything (or at least anything I've been exposed to yet), but I sure ain't complaining.

And I think I'd kill myself if I was allergic to red wine!

Blog #700

Hey, I can't believe it either, but there's a little counter doohickey on my Blogger Dashboard that tells me how many entries I've posted. And the one you're reading right now is number 700.

My first post was May 25th, 2005. I was on a European tour with the band System Of A Down at the time, sitting in Lisbon, Portugal, and obviously bored enough to figure out how to create a blog. No way I would have believed I'd be doing it for this long.

There must be something therapeutic about it…

Cute Little Inchworms

There's a quarter-mile stretch of the greenway where there must be 200-300 inchworms hanging down on silky threads from the trees over the trail. I think inchworms are about the cutest little boogers ever and I love having one sit on my hand and do his little inchworm crawl.

What I DON'T love is constantly walking into the little bastards. Or worse, running or bicycling face-first into them, sometimes not seeing them in time to change course.

All this week, I've been coming home from my walks, runs and rides covered in them. And yes, I even got one square in my open mouth while panting for breath during a run. Lucky for me (and for him), I spit him out.

My buddy Foy called mid-afternoon and we decided to meet up at the Falls Tap Room up near his house for a few late-afternoon brewski's on their patio. I'd never been there before. It was cool, I'll be going back.

After a few there, we dropped by a few of our usual haunts – Northside Billiards, High Park Grill, etc. No big haps tonight, just good beer and good times.

Crazy People Driving Me Crazy

Man, I tell ya what, some folks really should not have a damn driver's license. I nearly got creamed today by an idiot talking on a mobile phone.

Here in North Carolina, the state legislature is on the verge of passing a law prohibiting texting while driving. I wish they'd take that thought to its logical conclusion and ban the use of any portable device while operating a motor vehicle. I'm pretty sure it's already illegal for anyone under 18 to use a cell phone, but it should really cover people of ALL ages.

No shit, I really think that the world is full of much worse drivers than it was 20 years ago…

Doctors Orders

It's so good to read the truth at last. I love this Doctor!

Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?

A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it. Don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer -- that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.


Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?

A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.


Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?

A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!


Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?

A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies your ratio is two to one, etc.


Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?

A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain...Good!


Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?

A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!! Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?


Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?

A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.


Q: Is chocolate bad for me?

A: Are you crazy? HELLO, cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!! It's the best feel good food around!


Q: Is swimming good for your figure?

A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.


Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?

A: Hey! "Round" is a shape!


Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets. And remember:

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Chardonnay in one hand, chocolate in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO, what a ride!"

AND…

For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you…

I Can Relate...

Ya ever have days like this?

House Hunting

I finally got around to looking for the two cool houses I see from the greenway on my bike ride all the time. Had to spend a few minutes driving around in a neighborhood I wasn't familiar with, but it was worth the time.

Here's the backside of the one I posted back on March 20th:

And here's what it looks like from the street side:

I love the seating area up on the roof, accessible via the way-cool spiral staircase and by what I think is an elevator in the rooftop structure. Click on the photo to enlarge it and let me know if you agree.

This next house, I couldn't get a good shot of from the greenway due to the thickness of the foliage. I had no clue whatsoever that it would be as cool as this:

I was gonna watch the NCAA Championship game tonight at home on my own big ol' TV, but my friend Lisa called and asked if I wanted to meet her at High Park (the sports bar a block from my house) and watch it there with her. OK, I can't say no to a pretty girl, so that's what I did. That is, right after I set my DVR to record the game. You know, in case I got distracted for whatever reason.

When I got there, about 45 minutes before game time, pretty much all the tables were taken, but there were 2 primo stools available at the bar, with plenty of bigscreen action over and behind the bar.

There was a guy 2 seats over to my left (with his date sitting between us), who was a-hootin' and a-hollering like crazy as soon as the game started. I nearly fell off my damn stool laughing when I looked over at him. This clown was wearing a button-down collar, Carolina blue dress shirt and a bowtie. OK, in and of itself, nothing to alert the Fashion Police about (admission – I’m a total slob, myself). But he also had on seersucker shorts. I've never seen seersucker short pants in my life. Seersucker is a weird enough fabric to begin with, but shorts? WTF? To put his outfit totally over-the-top (from the bottom), he also had on a pair of 99-cent drugstore flip-flops.

To recap, dress shirt, bowtie, seersucker shorts, flip-flops. You'd have been laughing, too, right? Or maybe I was just being mean…

Anyway, Carolina won by a wide margin and a good time was had by all.

OK, except for maybe the four Michigan State Fans who were there…

OK, I Suck, I Get That...

Sorry I'm such a slackass. Until I put a counter on this blog, I had no idea so many people checked it out every day. I will try to get it caught up soon, I promise...

There were days this past week when there were as many as 75 hits in a single day. I'm curious as to who my readers might be. Can y'all stand up and count off?

Or at least send me an email to: bd58@aol.com and claim credit for being bored enough to read this shit?

Hahahahahahahaha...

I love this:

Not A Pretty Day...

Went out with my friend Laura last night to see a friend of hers who plays in a Bluegrass band. They were playing at Horniblow's Tavern, the retail bar for the Big Boss Brewery, which is located about a half-mile from my house. Never had dinner and the Belgium Blonde I was drinking was over 7% alcohol. Kicked my ass! I'm talking sleeping until the afternoon, then crawling to the couch and feeling like hell the rest of the day.

Watershed, from Columbus, OH, one of my favorite bands ever, was playing tonight at Slim's and I felt too lousy to go see them. I'm pissed at myself. No more high-alcohol brews for me…

Some Folks Just Ain't Right...

Somebody emailed this to me today. I think it's pretty self-explanatory…