Friday, November 18, 2005

The OBB IV

Kids the date has been set for the OBB IV for August 12th, 2006. So mark you calendars and get ready for yet another crazy day of boozing. In case you were wondering how many days were left until this glorious day, check the countdown to your left.

Farmer Jack, where were you when I was 16,
Farmer Jack, life was dull 'til you came on the scene.

Friday, November 04, 2005

Viva La Vegoose

Well I just got back from Vegas for the first and hopefully annual Vegoose Music Festival. It was quite unbelievable. Lots of good tunes to groove to, lots of alcohol to booze to, lots of blackjack to lose to, and plenty of strippers to...well you know.

We headed out Thursday night from Dulles and by the time we hit the Vegas strip the drinks from the flight had kicked in quite nicely. We made it to the Riveria where we were staying and headed for the tables. The Riveria is one of the last old breed casinos in Las Vegas but at least our room was nice and clean. Neither the craps table or the blackjack table was doing us any good so we did what any single 20 something males would do in the city of Sin. STRIP CLUB. We grabbed a cab and told the cabbie to take us to the finest establishment the town had to offer. His suggestion, the Spearmint Rhino.

Upon paying the cover charge and looking out across the widely open club, I could see why this was the premier "Gentleman's Club". I swear I have never seen so many hot woman in one place in my life (and topless at that). They were from all over the damn place. I guess there is some truth in strippers working to pay for school. If you are ever in Vegas, I recommend you stop by.

On Friday, we did the touristy thing. We walked down the strip and checked out all the things that were going on in them. The mall in Caesar's was nuts. In one part of the ceiling is all cloud covered at night with the moon out. It was real trippy.

We eventually got tired and like true alcoholics that we are, we settled down at a good outside bar to relax. Not that really matters. You can drink wherever you want on the strip. It really is like Cousin Eddie from Vegas Vacation walking around with 24oz cans of Budweiser.

After doing that for a while, we decided to check out the Hard Rock. It was definitely one of the coolest places of the whole trip. They had good tunes playing and a really chill atmosphere. We had some drinks and played some blackjack and craps in hopes that our luck would turn. It eventually did and we all walked out of the Hard Rock in much better moods than we we had at our own casino the night before.

By the time we had finished up at the Hard Rock it was time for the first of many concerts we would see that weekend. We headed to the Alladin to see of my favorites, Dave Matthews + Tim Reynolds. They played a pretty decent set overall. You could tell they were a bit rusty, having not played together for quite some time. Highlights for me were Typical, Stay Or Leave, Warehouse, Billies, and Save Me. Unfortunately, Dave decided to play some of the songs off Stand Up, DMB's latest shit album. Had it not been for those 3 wasted songs, the setlist could have been much better. Hopefully, they will make up for it by having a spring Dave + Tim tour.

More to come later...

Come as melody
Come as energy
Come as memories
Come at all...

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Presidential Prayer

My sister sent me a link to the Presidential Prayer Kids site. This site is hilarious. Yet another a site for religious nutjobs and their brainwashed kids.

Look at some of the shit they want kids to pray for:

So it is the perfect time to pray that President and Mrs. Bush will have a terrific time at their ranch ... and ask God to help them have fun!

or this:

Pray for America's new Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton. Ambassador Bolton started his job this week after a rough time with Senate confirmation hearings. President Bush appointed him while Congress was in recess this week -that's a way of bypassing the final approval from the Senate. The President said that Mr. Bolton had the approval of a majority of senators, so he felt it was good to allow him to get to work!

That last line about the President having the approval of a majority of the senators is the best. If that were the case, then why didn't that jackass Bolton get confirmed?

Shouldn't kids be praying that the President come clean with America about the War in Iraq or for the President to keep his promise to fire anyone who leaked a CIA operative's name to the press? Perhaps they should pray for the President to stop making such an ass of out of himself everytime he speaks.

These people need to stop drinking the Kool-Aid.

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Vegoose...

Well it looks like I'm heading to Vegas for a long weekend of festivities in October. That's right, my buddies Mike, Nick and myself will be heading to Vegoose. For those of you that are out of the loop, Vegoose is a Bonnaroo event. It is all going down Halloween weekend October 28-31.

Las Vegas, now that's one hell of a venue for a festival: Drinking, Gambling, Strippers, & Rock 'N' Roll. That's one mighty fine cocktail.

The lineup for this festival is looking pretty solid as well. The short list includes the following:

They are even planning late night shows throughtout the weekend, so who knows how many other bad ass shows will be going on.

I just scooped up Nickel Creek's latest cd Why Should the Fire Die?. I highly recommend it. They never cease to amaze me. Go out and get it!

I ordered tickets to see John Butler Trio when they play at 9:30 Club September 29th. This dude rips up a 12 string and gives new life to the instrument. Get tickets while you can.
Well maybe I'm crazy
But laughing out loud will make it all it all alright
But maybe we're all a little crazy
And laughing out loud will make the pain pass by

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Ben Harper 07/25/2005

Monday night I had the pleasure of seeing Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals for the 3rd time. It was the first time he has played in the DC area in 2 years (last time at Bull Run Park in June 2003).

This show was one for the record books. Ben played for over 3 hours with 31 songs. It was definitely cool to see some of the new songs from There Will Be A Light (minus the Blind Boys) mixed in with some of my favorite older tunes. The band even threw in some new tunes that they have been playing for a few months now.

My favorites of the night were Ground on Down, Temporary Remedy, Where Could I Go, Roses From My Friends, and a new arrangement of Steal My Kisses that went into Toots' Pressure Drop.

For those that missed the show, it was a good one. Just look at the setlist.

• God Fearing Man
• Ground On Down
• Jah Work
• Brown Eyed Blues
• Wicked Man
• Everything
• Burn One Down
• She's Only Happy In The Sun
• Breakin' Down
• Temporary Remedy
• Please Bleed
• Amen Omen
• Where Could I Go
• How Many Miles Must We March?

encore 1 (solo)
• Another Lonely Day
• Widow Of A Living Man
• Number Three
• Roses From My Friends
• I Shall Not Walk Alone
• Walk Away
• There Will Be A Light
• When It's Good
• Pleasure And Pain %

encore 2
• Steal My Kisses -> Pressure Drop
• Get It Like You Like It
• Homeless Child *
• Dressed In Black *
• Gather Round The Stone *
• The Woman In You
• Ain't Too Proud To Beg
• With My Own Two Hands -> War

* w/ Charlie Musselwhite on harmonica
% w/ Tom Freund on guitar

Cause a pressure drop,
oh pressure Oh yeah pressure drop a drop on you
I say a pressure drop, oh pressure
Oh yeah pressure drop a drop on you

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

The OBB III (awww yeah)

That's right, the OBB 3 is around 3 weeks away. This year's event should be even better than the previous two. An extra keg has been added this year so this should lead to even more girls making out.

Lots of keg beer, flip cup and live music should keep this one entertaining. If you have never been before, I highly recommend attending this one. This says it all:

The OBB Logo

You gotta treat yo momma with respect

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Sharing in the Roo

I've been back from Bonnaroo III for almost a month now and feel like its time to reflect on such a great experience.

One band and one pedal-steel player highlighted my Bonnaroo 2005 experience. The John Butler Trio and Robert Randolph.

JBT, Australia's own roots rock band, reminds me a lot of Ben Harper. Apparently, he is half Aussie and half American. I finally picked up his CD last weekend and it is badass. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys good music.

Then there's Mr. Randloph, who played with almost every act (with the exception of Warren Haynes who actually did play with everyone). The man can seriously get down on any song. He rocked out with his side project The Word. He highlighted DMB's Lousiana Bayou and Watchtower performances. He even took the stage with Widespread Panic to close Sunday's action.

Actually, I really enjoyed a third band that weekend. It was Saturday afternoon and we were just walking around when I saw Karl Denson's Tiny Universe on this small stage. They completely jammed out. I need to scoop up some of their CDs. They have a great jazz groove feel to them.

The weather was actually pretty accommadating as well. It was really hot Thursday morning when we pulled up to the campground. Its hard to beat the Summer Tennessee heat. Friday ended up being partly cloudy, which by all means suited me just fine. I'm not a big fan of sweating balls all day long. Saturday was overcast before it turned to rain and basically it just drizzled all day. This of course means one thing, lots of dirty wet hippies and mud. And we all know how much hippies love mud. However, a bit of rain didn't stop the grooves, so I rocked the poncho and continued the jamming.

Since the weather was so moderate, I actually got to do some pretty decent drinking, either sitting at camp throwing down the frostys or at the shows/beer tents. It was a lot different from the Roo in '03, where it was so ungodly hot every day. That year, you could drink like 3-5 beers and start to feel good but then you would so damn hot you had to suck down like 3 bottles of water to kept from dehydrating.

The only debacle of the weekend was my excursion to Walmart to get a contact case on Friday morning. I apparently forgot mine and decided to walk to Walmart rather than have my eyes burn for the next few days. The walk should have been OK because it was around a mile away and basically the other side of the campground. I thought, no big deal right. Wrong. I decided to take the long way around. I walked 4 miles before a sheriff pulled over and gave me a lift. I have never been so happy to see a police officer in my life. That morning totally sucked ass.

For Posterity's sake, here's the breakdown of what acts I saw at Bonnaroo 2005:

Friday

Saturday
Sunday
So that was my Bonnaroo experience. Lots of relaxing, eating carnie food and listening to great tunes.

On a side note, my friend Jill sent me this link and I think its great that a Thank You has finally been said to all the Happy Hour Heroes.

I can be loud man, I can be silent
I could be young or I could be old.
I can be a gentleman, I can be violent.
I could turn hot or I can be cold.
I could be just like the calm before the storm
Waiting for all hell yeah to break loose.
I could be innocent or I could be guilty
Doesn't mean that I man believe in no noose

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

The Roo

The 2005 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival is a mere few days away and its going to be one hell of a time. It will be nice to get away for a few days and do nothing but relax and jam for 4 straight days.

I'm thinkin about checking out the following shows for the weekend:

Friday


Saturday

Sunday

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Old Dominon Beer Fest

Well the Old Dominion Beer Festival is fast approaching. Hopefully this year will be as wild and crazy as last year's. I just can't say no to $2 beers all day long and the drunken servers who usually let you drink for free after they get sloppy drunk.

Mark your calendars kids, June 24-26 is fast approaching.

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Talking Jesus Dolls <- this is great

Hey kids! Come get your Talking Jesus, Mary and Moses Dolls...

I wonder which marketing genius came up with this lame "toy". It won't be long before all kinds of religious nut jobs will buy tons of them.

Monday, March 28, 2005

Marcus discusses boozing

My buddy Mark decided to start a Blog since he is so busy at work. You can check it out at Belligerent-Z. You will be able to find out what it's like to be a drunk in the metropolis of Manassas.

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

drinking convention 2005

This is the kind of convention I need to be heading to. It's called the Modern Drunkard Convention and it is in Denver of all places. A weekend of heavy drinking at high altitude make for one hell of a train wreck. The booze fest is sponsored by Modern Drunkard Magazine.

Holes in my shoes
At least there's a hole in my head to fill me with booze

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Congress kills free speech

What I hate more than anything is censorship. This is a great article that talks about how we are loosing our freedom and I couldn't agree more with the author. You can find it here: http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2003/

We are "promoting freedom" all around the world and while taking it away in our own country at the same time. When will our government regulate something that matters?

He who dares not offend cannot be honest.
- Thomas Paine

Sunday, March 06, 2005

In the cool shade of the banana tree

It's been a few weeks since the last update so I'll fill you in on what's been happening: Owens moves out of his parent's house and my first trip to Atlantic City.

Owens' new house
After a long stint at his parent's house, Owens decided to move out and into this old house in Manassas. It seemed simple enough but nothing he does is simple. First off, the house was in terrible condition. The whole house was filthy, smelly, and probably hadn't been painted in over 20 years.


He takes it upon himself to clean the place up. Mike spends the first two weeks of February cleaning and painting. Luckily, his family and friends chipped and he was able to move in. [I spent a lovely Saturday night painting the trim in the living room, damn I'm a good friend.] Otherwise, I think he would still be hard at it. I'll get some pictures of the before and after just to show how bad the place looked.

Well, we get him moved in and of course what else do you do when you move in. What else do you do but throw a party? We snagged a keg after driving to every grocery store in the Hole. [Note: If you didn't know, Manassas isn't a party town.] The usual characters show up for the party: Joe the Jew, Zazz, Marcus, KT, Traci, Jill, Paradise, Emmy, the Brothers Owens (Tom and Jeff) and a few others.

Granted this wasn't a big party but a keg more than makes up for it. Sadly, we didn't finish the keg off, but that doesn't mean we didn't try. I woke up the next morning feeling like I got hit by a bus. The beer was flowing like water and apparently I thought I was stranded in the Sahara in dire thirst.

The Atlantic City trip
So last Saturday, Tim, Casey, and 7 other guys went to AC. We wanted to send our buddy Mike off on a high note before he left for the army. What better way than gambling in a casino and watching women dance naked for dollar bills.


The evening starts on a high note, Tim and I went to the Wild Wild West casino and got in on a hot craps table. [Which is a lot for me since I'm not much of a gambler.] A guy to our right was placing all kinds of bets: hard 6s, 8s, the Horn, 6, 8, 9 , 10. The guy was making a killing. Tim and I saw him pocket like $1500 and then just made other bets with his profits. Talk about a hot hand in a dice game. Well we had to meet the other guys so we cashed out. I ended up $60 and I think Tim was about even.

We head back to the Sands to meet the rest of the group and head to the strip club. Talk about a sketchy place. Its one of those BYOB joints that has a bar strategically located right beside it. [I'd imagine the owners of each establishment are pretty good buddies.] Anyways, we wait in line for about 20 minutes and finally head in.

It has all the characteristics of your typical strip joint: dim lighting, half naked women, and shitloads of drunken guys flinging dollar bills. At first, it doesn't seem to be that great of place, the girl dancing wasn't too attractive and probably wasn't in the best of shape, but what do you expect when you are in dirty ass Jersey.

Oh, Fee, you're trying to live a life
That's completely free.
You're racing with the wind
You're flirting with death
So have a cup of coffee
And catch your breath
BTW - for those that didn't notice, the countdown to the OBB3 is now located under the About Me section.

Friday, February 11, 2005

he's not on time, he's always on time

It has been a while since I updated but I doubt anyone is reading it anyways. So here's what I've been up to lately...

I have stumbled upon one of the funniest websites/blogs in a long time. If you get the chance check it out,
Tucker Max. The guy has the craziest stories about partying, boozing, hooking up with hot chicks, and all sorts of mayhem. [Note: If you are the type of person that gets offended at all, I'd advise against visiting the site.]

Last weekend, we boozed it up at McFadden's for Doug and Al's birthdays. It was one of those $20 all you can drink 8-11 things. What does that mean? I got hammered. Starting the night off with a large Beam and Coke, I realized I had to switch to beer. Needless to say this just lead to shots and car bombs. Around 1 (I think?), I had to leave the bar early because I didn't think I could stand up any longer.

The weekend before we went to the Warner Theatre downtown to a comedy show. The opening guy
Stephen Lynch was awesome. Instead of just plain stand up, he sings funny/dirty songs while playing the acoustic guitar. He was definitely the highlight of the evening. One of the highlights was a song called She's Gottta Smile, where he talks about going out to the bar and checking out a hot chick and her fat friend gets in the way. If you get a chance, check him out. The main act of the evening was Mitch Hedberg, who is a very funny comedian that spits out a bunch of one liners. Unfortunately, Mitch was shitfaced when he took the stage and his act ended up being shitty. At one point he was lying on the stage just muttering into the microphone. His performance killed the crowd and eventually our night.

Last weekend tickets for the 4th Bonnaroo went on sale and I scooped one up. It looks to be a hell of a lineup this year as compared to last year's. Acts include Dave Matthews Band, Widespread Panic, Alison Krauss, The Allman Brothers, Jack Johnson and a list too long for me to list here. Go to the
Bonnaroo site if you are interested. It should be a good time this year much like when I went to the second one.

like rain on the windshield
I'm moving through the night
roaming the time zones
filmed in black and white
you're here in my headphones
each and every mile
falling asleep with the lights on all night

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Crowing

I know it has been a while since my last post. So I'll recap Christmas, New Years, and the past week in as few sentences as possible. Here goes.

Went back to BC for Christmas and we opened gifts at midnight Christmas morning. I got an iRiver, two poker chip sets, gift cards, and Jon Stewart's America (The Book) - the book is hilarious, everyone should read it. I spent most of the day with the family which was nice since I hadn't seen most of them in a while. Then again, I think there is a reason I don't see some of them but every so often.

Well, moving on to New Years, I went to McFadden's in DC for the night. It was a good party, good music, good food, and most importantly lots of booze for a price. Did you really expect all that free? It was a pretty exhausting 3 day weekend of boozing. Going back to work that week wasn't the most exciting thing. Moving on to this past weekend...

This past weekend I had the luxury off moving into my new place. My lease isn't up yet (the 19th) but this was the only time I could move (on a weekend that is). Note to self, the night before moving, don't stay out all night and get trashed then get no sleep. That's right, I was hungover and tired all day which was lovely. With help from Tim and my sis, I was able to get most of the crap into my new room at Tim and Casey's house. And what better way to top a move day like a late night drinking. Yep, you guessed it, we went out for our buddy Jon's farewell. He wants to be a Navy Seal or something. So we all went to McFadden's and boozed it up. Nothing like a good drinking to take away my tiredness.

Well its the start of another week and I'm worn out from the past two weekends. I hope to get some sleep this coming weekend since I'll be going home to see the parents. The fam is going to see Alison Krauss + Union Station in Roanoke. It should be a good show.

Staring at a cold little hand
Reading fault lines
Of a shell of a man
You were waiting for a word from above
Wouldn't you know it
No answer ever did come