Sorry for not doing a good job of keeping this up to date...sometimes my 'fans' remind me of this!
We headed to Des Monies one weekend. We saw the Trans Siberian Orchestra performing Bethoven's Last Night. Was is overtly pretentious? Absolutely. Were some of the tech aspects nearly ridiculous for how 'bad they were? You bet. Did the occasional 'dancing hot long haired girls' make you want to gag? Naturally (it was a hard rock show after all). Was it enormously enjoyable? Bingo. They did a great job of putting on an awesome show...it is hard rock/metal after all....we need those 80's big hair elements to be there.
The next weekend we headed to Chicago. Chicago was great however the traffic into the city at rush hour on Friday sucked! I saw Porcupine tree. Incredible. Their precision in everything from the music, to the timing of the show, to the guy who had to vacuum the entire stage before they came out was spectacular. We visited the Drum Pad while we were there. I heard a Yamaha kit (I know....Yamaha is the one brand of drums I didn't think I'd ever play) that was incredible. A couple of e-bay transactions later I was the owner of a Yamaha Absolute Birch custom. They tune up differently than the Starclassics. I figured I pretty much had hard rock/prog/metal thing covered with the Starclassics so the intent of this kit is to be more of a 'praise' kit...with hard rock/prog tendencies of course!
One of the best parts of Chicago was a visit to Willow Creek. To say that it was the largest church I have ever seen would be an understatement....it's un-like any church I'd ever seen. The worship was incredible...I was literally moved to tears.
We got the hail thing well under way. The guys should be here in a couple of weeks to replace the roof, siding, stain the deck etc. I'm checking to see if they can install some lights in the kitchen to since my plans were thwarted by a firewall!
Last weekend was awesome from a weather perspective. I spent most of it outside. I got the garage organized and cleaned (must take care of the man caves) cars washed etc. Jodi and I have a new 'tradition' we are taking Sabbath bike rides. I really like them...I think Jodi can stand them.
I took over leadership of our small group at church...just starting to get going there but I really think it's a good fit for me and my 'next step' on my personal journey.
I've had a couple of jam sessions with guys from work...quite fun and refreshing to be playing with humans!
Last item....the lawn. While I may have lost the battle last year, I'd say I have the upper hand this year. I've already put down nearly two gallons of Weed-b-gone. The over seeding or the aeration or something is working because just like last year, you can easily see a distinction between my yard and others...this year the grass is greener on my side...and I actually have grass, and the grass I do have is actually green/living, and the most prominent feature is not 12-18 inch tall weeds!
