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"It seems to me what you lose in mystery, you gain in awe."
Sir Francis Crick


Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives."
--William James

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Sunday, November 9, 2008

Fall Music in the Upstate


What an awesome day of music fun yesterday here in the Upstate. Before I tell you about Saturday, let me compare it to Friday, which makes Saturday shine by comparison.

Friday started with plans for me to take the Sedona van to the dealer to get the automatic sliding doors to work, needed a switch reset. Ok, not too bad. I take the van, Tricia and the boys take the car to school. I get a ride back from the dealer while they take a look at the van. So, I'm now at home with no car. I also have no internet. Not good when you work from home via the net. So, I get AT&T on the phone (which is working) and they tell me that it might not be repaired until next Tuesday. I'm not happy because I can't go anywhere to use someone's wireless (shout out to Panera Bread). They give me a number for dial-up; but, I can't remember my password, much less the account name. So, I get the account name and they reset the password. The connection is running at 26k when I do make the connection. Please, shoot me first! I basically checked some email very slowly but I found my blackberry to be much faster on emails and basically went with that while trying to reset my password via the dial-up. I also did some reading on the couch and organized in the office. Cold Mountain is getting very interesting; but, that's off topic!

Long story short, I never got the password changed on the dial-up. So, by the time the Internet connection is restored at 4pm Friday, I can't connect because the password has been reset and I have not been able to do it via the sloth-like dial-up connection. So, back on the phone with AT&T, praying I get someone for whom English is the mother tongue. I get lucky! I get a black girl from Atlanta! The small things in life. We get the password reset but it takes a modem reset and restore, which wipes out my routing table and static IPs I had set for all of my wireless devices and laptops. Let me translate that for you, it's a lot more work for me later...

Ok, so now I have my Internet back. The van is ready and the doors working after a switch reset. The dealership comes to get me and then back home. This actually happened before the connection was restored. I am also now expecting the Direct TV installation guy to show up to install a 2nd line to run to the DVR, you can't watch something else while another channel is recording without a 2nd line. Of course, we didn't' learn that special feature until I got the DVR connected. Another $99 out of my pocket! To make the day go so smooth, the Direct TV guy is having major difficulty with some anger management and map reading skills. He was due to show up between noon and 4pm. He finally makes it around 4:30pm when Tricia and the boys get home.

The Direct TV guy spends the next 2 hours on the phone, chain smoking Marlboro Lights on my back deck, with the Direct TV support because they have my work order completely hosed and incorrect. We finally get that solved and he goes to work in the crawl space. Keller goes into the pen in the backyard, very begrudgingly too! The actual work takes no time: drill a hole, run a line and switch, done. I'm thinking, great, now we can just hang out and watch some TV and end this frustrating day. But, it was just one of those days and it had to continue. As Mr. Godsmack, aka the Direct TV guy, is walking out the door, he mentions "I smelled a lot of gas under the house in the crawl space, it was very strong." We have natural gas for the water heater, furnaces and the clothes dryer.

So, I call the gas company about the gas leak. It's now dark. Luckily, Dylan spent the night with his buddy, Samuel. It was a birthday wish for Samuel. So, we didn't have to entertain a tired 2nd grader during this fun time. Tricia and Miles went to karate practice. The gas company man shows up, finds the leak at the gas meter. It's in an area that is not their responsibility, so I have to get our HVAC company to repair the line. In the meantime, the gas gets turned off due to the leak. So, now we have no hot water or heat. I call the HVAC company and they tell me it's a $95/hr call plus parts for after hours (which includes the entire weekend). We settle on the HVAC company coming out first thing Saturday morning and decide we can deal with the lack of gas for the night. By this time, it's already 8:30pm. What a day! Keller also spent about 2 hours in the pen while the Direct TV guy and the gas service man did their work. He did manage to get in the crawl space and lick the gas service man's face before I got him out and into the pen. I was thinking he would be okay out of the pen. Silly me!

Saturday starts with the HVAC repair at 8am for $125, thank you. Luckily, the gas service man comes back afterwards and turns the gas back on and restarts the pilot on the water heater. So, it cost me but it was over and done quickly with a much better connection created. It's a gorgeous day in the Upstate with a slight chill and some wind. Miles and I take the recyclables down to the high school while Tricia takes Keller out for a walk. I spend some time getting the laptops and wireless printers back online with my home network.

Now, you can see why I was so happy to have the chance to head down to the Peace Center for the inaugural Peace Center Bluegrass Festival. I hook up with my buddy Dan Wallace from Freedom and we head on down. The drive through the back side of Taylors into Greenville is spectacular with God putting on the colors of Fall for all to shine. We stop by Horizon Records on Stone Ave, pick up some tickets for the James McMurtry show later that night at The Handlebar. I also pre-order the Rush Live DVD that is coming out on the 25th of Nov for Miles' Christmas. We then get some free weekend parking and walk over to the Peace Center. We catch some of the Al Osteen band in the Gunter Theatre and then head over to the main auditorium for the band I was most wanting to the see: The Steep Canyon Rangers. Let me tell: these guys are the real deal and this was the best bluegrass set I have ever witnessed. We got some center seats at the back of the orchestra pit. Our good friends, Martha and David from Freedom found us and sat with us in the sweet spot! The music was magical and magnificent and had so much energy and focus. It covered bluegrass instrumental classics, Celtic tones, country blues and just fun, fast and furious pickin'. Their vocal skills are masterful, with 2 gospel tunes showcasing their harmonies and ranges. Folks, if you get the chance, do not skip the Steep Canyon Rangers. My recording turned out FANTASTIC! I also spoke with the band afterwards and they are just fine with posting the recording, which should be floating around soon. Here's some pictures from the show:


After the set, we had the best BBQ sandwich outside the Peace Center where a ring of merchants were set up. It was just a perfect sandwich to follow such an incredibly moving music experience. A walk across the Falls bridge and a Starbucks latte topped it all on such a gorgeous afternoon trip downtown G'vegas. That's my kind of Saturday afternoon.

Back to home and just in time for the Florida State vs. Clemson football game. We hung in there with them and made a good game out of it; but, in the end, FSU's defense proved to be too much of a threat for Clemson much-maligned offensive line. C.J. Spiller added to the highlight reel with a couple of nice TD runs. I finished working on the home network and also gave Keller a chilly bath during half time. Of course, I got the pictures uploaded and the SCR's set cut and tracked during all the football fun too!

After some supper with the family we started observing that Miles and Tricia were starting to look and act a little sick. Miles started complaining of chills and being cold and was spending time under the covers on the couch. I had my ticket for James McMurtry and told Tricia I would probably not stay the whole night. I made a quick trip to Best Buy for some more ink cartridges (didn't I just do this?) and then headed to The Handlebar. On the way to The Handlebar, Tricia calls me and tells me that Miles' fever is around 101F. We also don't have any more Jr. Tylenol and she doesn't want to give him any Motrin since his stomach is a little queasy. It's not looking good for the home team getting pictures on Sunday as scheduled. I did get a score on Jr. chewable acetaminophen at Rite Aid, it's the small things in life.

James McMurtry topped off the night with his hard drivin' Texas folk rock blues set. He writes some slashingly observant lyrics about today's society and the folks trying to make it. In addition, his 3 piece group locked it down with some ripping guitar and tight rhythms. I thoroughly enjoyed about 1 1/2 hours of his show, I got my 2 tunes I really wanted to hear: "Choctaw Bingo" (see lyrics below for a taste of what James is all about) and "No More Buffalo". I did record that 1 1/2 hours from the sweet spot, so I will see later today how that worked out. I made it home around 12am and found Miles and Tricia not feeling well but resting quietly.

I am up early this morning, doing a little nursing and writing this blog. I am now heading to the high school to help set up for today's worship service like I do on Sunday mornings. I don't think the pictures are in the plans for today. Tricia and the boys are going to stay home from church and rest. I am thinking about taking Dylan down to the Peace Center for lunch and some more free bluegrass at the Peace Center. Well, I gotta run. Thanks for reading and stay in touch.

See ya!

Choctaw Bingo
by James McMurtry

Strap them kids in
Give 'em a little bit of vodka in a cherry coke
We're going to Oklahoma to the family reunion for the first time in years
It's up at uncle Slayton's cause he's getting on in years
You know he no longer travels but he's still pretty spry
He's not much on talking and he's just too mean to die
And they'll be comin' down from Kansas
and from west Arkansas
It'll be one great big old party like you never saw
Uncle Slayton's got his Texan pride
Back in the thickets with his Asian bride
He's got a Airstream trailer and a Holstein cow
He still makes whiskey 'cause he still knows how
He plats that Choctaw bingo every Friday night
You know he had to leave Texas but he won't say why
He owns a quarter section up by Lake Eufala
Caught a great big ol' blue cat on a driftin' jug line
Sells his hardwood timber to the shipping mill
Cooks that crystal meth because the shine don't sell
He cooks that crystal meth because the shine don't sell
You know he likes his money he don't mind the smel
lMy cousin Roscoe Slayton's oldest boy from his second marriage up in Illinois
He was raised in East St. Louis by his momma's people
Where they do things different
Thought he'd just come on down
He was going to Dallas Texas in a semi truck called from that big McDonald's
You know the one they built up on that great big ol' bridge
Across the Will Rogers Turnpike
Took the Big Cabin exit stopped and bought a couple of cartons of cigarettes
At that Indian Smoke Shop with the big neon smoke rings
In the Cherokee Nation hit Muskogee late that night
Somebody ran a stoplight at the Shawnee Bypass
Roscoe tried to miss 'em but he didn't quiteBob and Mae come up from little town
Way down by lake Texoma where he coaches football
They were two A champions now for two years running
But he says they won't be this year no they won't be this year
And he stopped off in Tushka at that "Pop's Knife and Gun" place
Bought a SKS rifle and a couple a full cases of that steel core ammo
With the berdan primers from some East bloc nation that no longer needs 'em
And a Desert Eagle that's one great big ol' pistol
I mean .50 caliber made by badass Hebrews
And some surplus tracers for that old BAR of Slayton's
Soon as it gets dark we're gonna have us a time
We're gonna have us a timeRuth Ann and Lynn come down from Baxter Springs
That's one hell raisin' town way up in Southeastern Kansas
Got a biker bar next to the lingerie store
That's got them Rolling Stones lips up there where everyone can see 'em
And they burn all night you know they burn all night you know they burn all night
Ruth Ann and Lynn they wear them cut off britches and those skinny little halters
And they're second cousins to me
Man I don't care I want to get between 'em
With a great big ol' hard on like a old bois d' arc fence post
You could hang a pipe rail gait from
Do some twisted sisters 'til the cows come home
And we'd be havin' us a time
Uncle Slayton's got his Texan pride
Back in the thickets with his Asian bride
He's cut that corner pasture into acre lots`
He sells 'em owner financed
Strictly to them that's got no kind of credit 'Cause he knows they're slackers
When they miss that payment
Then he takes it back
He plays that Choctaw Bingo every Friday night
Drinks that Johnny Walker at that Club 69
We're gonna strap them kids in give 'em a little bit o' Benadryl
And a cherry coke we're goin' to Oklahoma Gonna have us a time

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Good Lord brother............!! Tell Tricia and Miles I hope they feel better soon.

Anonymous said...

thanks for recording james McMurtry! I wasn't able to make the show.