You better take care

because it's time for another Battle of the Bands, and this week it's a double event of sorts since I found so many worthy (to me) covers of Gordon Lightfoot's "Sundown". So, the original, and therefore not part of the battle (but ironically not my favorite - I know - FOR SHAME! - version) is Gordon Lightfoot's "Sundown".

The next few days

....hell, maybe even the rest of this week, promise to be a blur of activity.

I worked this morning into this afternoon, when my sons returned home from their month-long trip to their Dad's. They got here about 4pm, and since then I have:

• Attempted to jump my youngest son's car off.
• Went out for dinner with both sons and my oldest's girlfriend.
• Attempted to dry the same load of clothes for hours; it seems my dryer has quit getting warm.
• Attempted AFTER dinner to jump son's car off once more, to no avail.
• Had son remove battery from car, then we took it to O'Reilly's for testing. Dead, of course. Purchased new battery and came home.
• New battery worked. THANK GOODNESS.
• Went to get gas in son's car.
• Started doing my last minute Pre-Customs stuff for my oldest son's customs. Interrupted by an hour-long power outage.
• Out of boredom, went for a drive with my youngest son (oldest was out with gf) during the power outage, and got brought up to speed on how his summer went.
• Returned home, and spent literally HOURS doing this Customs stuff. We're still not completely done, though I have come to a point in which I can go no further tonight. Oh, and my dryer? Never heated up, and load of denim never dried. So I gave up, and threw a load of soft material in instead. Hopefully this won't be impossible.
• Made hotel reservation. Printed confirmation.
• Printed directions from our house to our hotel.
• Printed directions from our hotel to the school.
• Tried really, really hard not to panic at the rapidly-declining balance in my checking account.

On the agenda for tomorrow?

• Wake up early to apply for title and license plate for youngest son's car.
• Send oldest to health department for booster shot and copy of shot records, the most recent of which can not be found.
• Procure passenger side mirror for youngest son's car.
• Call insurance and get youngest son added to policy.
• Pack for customs trip.
• Work 5-9pm.
• Come home, grab packed bags, paperwork, and son, and head to our destination, 1.5 hours away.
• Pass out in hotel room upon arrival.

I mentioned last week how Lamb of God have had to cancel their tour due to singer Randy Blythe's continued detainment in the Czech Republic. Now there is a petition you can sign if you are so inclined. From Shelton Hank Williams III's facebook: "My Friend Randy Blythe is still In jail for no reason They have paid his bail and have jumped through all the corrupt loop holes in the czech republic.Please sign this to get the US EMBASSY to step in and do the right thing for a innocent American." That link also has a basic rundown of the situation as it stands right now.

So after all this chaos and such, it's good to tap into music to help slow it down some. It just so happens that today's 4Ms theme is "Funny Songs".


Rules:
1. You Tube, and lock & load!
2. Grab "Monday's Music Moves Me" Button.
3. SIGN LINKY, Follow us, & Rockin' comment are good!
4. Finally, Boogie down to your Fellow Rockin' Bloggers. Also, bring some back with you to join us!

Well...I had a few of these lined up to post, but since my brain is fried, only two are going to make it. And one of them is DEFINITELY RATED R!!!!!!

Andy Samberg/Justin Timberlake: "Dick in a Box". Because it just never gets old. Embedding is disabled by request, so you can watch it here if you like.

The Charlie Daniels Band: Uneasy Rider. Pretty funny!



Be sure to go over to XMas Dolly's to play along! We'd love to have you :)

As for me, I will get caught up with everyone later in the week. Too much going on till Wednesday!

All these things that I've done

....and now I'm supposed to pick just one and talk about it?

Okay, well...here goes: two weeks ago, one of the prompts for Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop was to "list 22 things you've never done," which I turned into a post about bands, artists, and tours I've never seen. The next week's prompt was to "list 22 things you HAVE done," in which I listed 22 bands and artists I HAVE been able to see live.One of the prompts for this week?

"Did you create a list of 22 things you've done in your life for last week's Writer's Workshop? This week, choose one item from your list and elaborate! We want the story."

I'm going with that one, since I've already held with the other two in previous posts. And, as you might have guessed, I'm going to pick just one artist and give you the goods on my experience at their show. This is incredibly hard on me, as most shows I've attended have been special in their own way. My favorite shows ever were in recent years and at smaller venues (except for 1985's Motley Crue shos in Memphis, which you can read about here if you choose to do so). There was the Hank III show in Huntsville in '09, which I wrote about here, and the 30 Seconds to Mars show in Atlanta from earlier this year, which I gushed about over at The Music Mamas.

And then there was the Type O Negative show in Atlanta back in 2007, which is probably my favorite of all shows, ever. Not only because they're one of my favorite bands, but because of Peter Steele's untimely passing, they sadly are no more.

I made a post about this at one of my old blogs, but it's waaaay too long to publish here. (I'll be sure to come back and link to it when I get it transferred, though!) So for post length's sake, here is the gist of it:

My friend and I got to hang out inside the venue all day (instead of having to wait in the rain), met some of the bands and crew (some of whom I still talk to!), got shout-outs from the sound board, and watched different sound checks before the shows started. We got our favorite spot along the security barricade, and of course it was right in front of Peter, who at the time was really looking and sounding good again. I enjoyed all the bands' performances, but Type O's was the best I've seen out of all the times I've seen them. And Peter seemed to really enjoy dousing the front of my shirt with water bottles throughout the night. A friend insisted that he just wanted to see me in a wet t-shirt, so I'm gonna run with that idea

So....tell me all about your favorite concert experience in the comments! I love discussing music and concerts.

For more of Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop, head on over here to read or link up!

More bands, artists, and tours

This week as part of Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop, one of the prompts was "Last week we wrote about what we have never done…this week write a list of 22 things you HAVE done."

So, in keeping with my last week's theme, where instead I posted a list of 22 bands, artists, or tours I have never seen, this week I will post 22 bands or artists that I HAVE seen:

1. 30 Seconds To Mars
2. Hank III
3. 100 Monkeys
4. Weezer
5. Blink 182
6. My Chemical Romance
7. Type O Negative
8. Motley Crue
9. North Mississippi Allstars
10. Willie Nelson
11. Ozzy Osbourne
12. Metallica (with Cliff)
13. Alice Cooper
14. Kiss
15. Bush
16. Satyricon
17. Ratt
18. Bon Jovi
19. Danzig
20. Cradle of Filth
21. Dimmu Borgir
22. Sevendust

This was actually a LOT easier than last week's prompt.  I consider myself very lucky that there really aren't very many bands that I want to see that I haven't, and that  I'll never be able to.

Head over to Mama Kat's for more Writer's Workshop.  And while you're there?  Link up your own!