Let's rock

Yesterday I went to the dollar theater in Matthews with a friend to see the movie "The School of Rock."

I was pleasently surprised. It was really funny (good for a comedy) and was smarter than many many of the so-called children's movies I have seen occasionally. Don't get me wrong, it's no "Southpark: Bigger, longer and uncut" but I did laugh outloud several times.

I am always impressed by movies like "School of rock," "Shrek" and "Toy Story" that are able to amuse children and adults at the same time on different levels. I think the formula was perfected with Bugs Bunny cartoons and hasn't changed a whole lot since then.

Another genius goes to heaven

I have always been awed by this man's photographs.

Chabon Quote

"All male friendships are essentially quixotic: they last only so long as each man is willing to polish the shaving-bowl helmet, climb on his donkey, and ride off after the other in pursuit of illusive glory and questionable adventure."

"Wonder Boys" by Michael Chabon

Not since 1984

Although I am a sports fan I am not one of them that allows sports to dominate their life. That being said I am very excited about the Carolina Panthers and their upcoming appearance in the Superduper Bowl. Not since the Tigers won the World Series in 1984 have I had a team that I consider my "home team" go this far in a playoffs in one of the major sports. You know, baseball and football.

Although I have been following the Chicago Cubs over the last few years I cannot give to them the same emotional loyalty that I can give to a team that plays their home games less than five miles from my front door. Sports may get too much attention in this country and I will probably stop following the story until a day or two before the Big Game but I say fuck it, Go Panthers!

Rock Show

This last Saturday Wendell, Walt, Walt's partner in crime,Wilson and I went and saw the Drive By Truckers play at the Visulate here in Charlotte. I hadn't been to the Visulite in almost a year and I think it may be the best venue to see a band in the city. It's a club where short people can see the band all night. I just wish they would bring in more bands I like. I'd go there all the time if they did.

The Truckers came out about 10:30 and rocked the house. They were still rocking the house when Wendell and left a little after one. It sure was fun to see a band that lives to play live.

I was surprised by the large turnout for the show. The last time I saw the Truckers in Charlotte they played at the Double Door in front of about 30 people. I was lucky that night because it was right around the time Southern Rock Opera came out they played most of it that night. That was special.

Saturday they promised to make the Visulite a regular stop on their tour schedule. I sure hope they keep that promise.

Interesting blog

This one

Got this via one of James' web log girlfriends.

Hot Diggity

Primus is coming to the Carolinas this March! I might need to attend the Greensboro and the Asheville shows. Anyone in?

Later that morning...

After mentally balancing my checking account and seeing that the tickets are $30 maybe I'll just go to the show in Asheville. Asheville is a little purtier than Greensboro. Just a tad.

DWI=DW on your goddamn cellphone!

Driving while on your goddamn cellphone should be as heavily penalized as drinking and
driving.

OK, so maybe he was fumbling for his cellphone but you get my point.

By the way, this may be my earliest post ever.

Driving

Today I had to drive down N. Tryon St to sign a document in order to get the tags for my newish car. It was something I should have signed before but the dealer messed up the paperwork. No big deal. I don't have to be in to work until noon so I got time to run down there and sign the paper. It only took a minute and I was back on the road around 11:40, cutting through town, racing the clock to the Southpark area. I lost by seven minutes. Good news, though. I was able to tie my tie in one try today. Pretty good for me.

I noticed while driving through town today how pretty the sky was. The winter sun is different here in the Piedmont. The light is weaker than it is in the summer but it has a warm quality to it. From about 11 am on today it felt like sunset was an hour away. The towers downtown caught the low angled light and stood out more than usual. I felt like I could touch them like you do with stars on a cold clear night.

My route to work took me through the older areas of Charlotte and remembered again that Charlotte is a pretty southern city if you stay away from the University area and south Charlotte.

Prediction

The Carolina Panthers are going to beat the Eagles this weekend. Of course we'll get destroyed in the super bowl by either the Colts or the Patriots but we'll be there, baby.

We are going to run all day on that weak Eagle defensive line. We don't need Stephen Davis to do that. MVP of the game? Deshaun Foster.

Here They Come

Remember the day you first played the album Frizzle Fry by Primus back in 1990? I sure do. I don't remember where I read the review that caused me to buy the cassette. It was either Creative Loafing or Rolling Stone.

As soon as I put the newly-purchased cassette in the player of my crappy Ford Tempo I was hooked. I drove around South Charlotte for over half an hour and had no desire to go home until the album ended. I had never heard anything at all like Primus before in my life. They were loud like the metal bands. They played with tempo and silence like Zeppelin. They had quirky and intelligent lyrics like Tom Waits. They were what I had been looking for.

Yesterday I went to the soon to be closed Manifest Discs and bought the new DVD/CD by Primus called "Animals should not try to act like people." It' a gold mine. It has every single video they ever made along with some amateurish documentaries, old concert footage and concert footage of a couple of songs from each album period. The CD is five new songs by the band's original lineup. All this for twenty bucks!

You gotta love this DVD stuff that allows bands to pack so much material into a small inexpensive package.