Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Top 5 CDs of 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Christmas 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The Beacon Lube Job and Kia Lube Jobs
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Thanks Sherry
Karate and Rainy Day Blues
Karate December 2008 |
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Check-In
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Terminal Velocity: Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Then, Friday was the Christmas Jam. We made it home in the very wee hours of the morning, with the show having ended at 0420AM.
Day 1 of the Jam started around 7pm with Gov't Mule and ended with the Allman Brothers Band's blistering 3am set.
Lots of guests all over the sets:
2008 CHRISTMAS JAM - NIGHT ONE SETLIST (12.12.08)
GOV'T MULE
Brighter Days
Like Flies
Bad Little Doggie
Blind Man In The Dark
Sco-Mule w/ Tal Wilkenfeld on Bass and Robben Ford on Guitar
Fallen Down w/ Karl Denson
IVAN NEVILLE'S DUMPSTAPHUNK
Gasman
Mean While
She's Music
Livin In A World Gone Bad w/ Matt Grondin & Karl Denson
Badboy w/ Warren Haynes & Eric Krasno
Thank You Falletime Be Mice Elf w/ Tal Wilkenfeld, Eric Krasno, Warren Haynes, Danny Louis
DEL MCCOURY BAND
1952 Vincent Black Lightning
Squirrel Hunter w/ John Paul Jones
Little Georgia Rose w/ Travis Tritt
Old Kentucky Shore w/ Joan Osborne & Travis Tritt
My Love Will Not Change w/ John Paul Jones
Celebrate w/ The Lee Boys
JOAN OSBORNE
To The One I Love
Hallelujah
Cathedrals
Help Me w/ Warren Haynes
Christmas Time In New Orleans w/ Ron Holloway
TRAVIS TRITT
Homesick
Leave My Girl Alone
I Walk The Line
Pickin' At It
Anymore
Pressure is On w/ Warren Haynes
Movin On Over w/ Warren Haynes
WARREN HAYNES & JOHN PAUL JONES
Soulshine
Going To California
THE DEREK TRUCKS BAND
Down In THe Flood
These Days
Can't Sleep At Night w/ Susan Tedeschi
People
Anyday w/ Susan Tedeschi & Eric Krasno
ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND
Don't Want You
Cross To Bear
I Walk on Guilded Splinters
Statesboro Blues
Stone Me w/ JJ Grey
Who's Been Talking w/ Robben Ford & Ivan Neville
Dreams w/ Karl Denson
Liz Reed w/ Tal Wilkenfeld
The Weight w/ Ron Holloway, Danny Louis, Susan Tedeschi, Ruthie Foster
Mountain Jam Intro
Dazed & Confused w/ John Paul Jones
Mountain Jam w/ John Paul Jones
ENCORE
One Way Out w/ Roosevelt Collier & JJ Grey
Then on Saturday after a few hours of shuteye, we headed down to Sumter for the family Christmas party:
From Christmas 2008 at Nana's home |
The "potty putty" was the big hit and had all the guys laughing and the women rolling their eyes. Lots of great food and fun with the family. The boys had fireworks and a fire pit with their cousins to keep them up late into the night. They didn't go to sleep until very early in the morning on Sunday. Me, I crashed around 845pm on Saturday. Tricia stayed up watching out for the boys and laughing with Susan, Dave and Amy.
On Sunday, Amy joined myself and Tricia at Alice Drive Baptist. It's always great to be at ADBC and enjoy worship with old friends and family in Christ. Clay's sermons are always on target and bring a challenge. We went back to ADBC in the afternoon for the matinee performance of this year's Christmas pagent, The Answer. It was a spectatular production and had me missing being a part of it, as in year's past. But, I sure don't miss the set break after the performances are done. Great job, Jock and crew. We look forward to next year!
Ok, that's a quick recap of this blur of a weekend. We made it home around 930pm last night with 2 exhausted little boys. They will be sleeping quietly tonight too, I can see it in Dylan's eyes. Miles is out of focus, like he gets when he is tired. I'm sure school was rough on all 3 of them today, I know work would have been harder without my forced walk in the woods to get me going. Well, I have rambled long enough. Enjoy your week, only 10 more days to Christmas.
Now Listening (NL): Bombay Dub Orchestra (what I got with my iTunes card from Chinese gift exchange on Saturday, even if I did bring it to the party :-) )
See ya!
Friday, December 12, 2008
Christmas Jam 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
New Kitchen, finished Bush book
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Frosty the Elvis Snowman
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Oh yeah
Sunday download
Today after church (great praise music and message today and Jake even busted out the mandolin for the first time in a long time, the band sounded great and Cliff talked about checking your heart and getting it cleaned and pure for the work to be done, great message Cliff) and a nice nap on the couch, I finished the front porch Christmas lights display and then got to work on the driveway with my new pressure washer. There is something mysteriously cathartic about spending a few hours spraying away clay and dirt from cement with cold, wet toes. The driveway looks great and it was easy, glad I got the electric pressure washer instead of the gas, just couldn't stand that noise for so long. While I was working on the driveway, Amy took all of the boys down to the trail. Miles and Dylan rode their bikes and Keller and Drew tagged along. They had a great time but Dylan was just about pushed to his limits, pushing the bike back up the hill from the trail across the street. They had a great time this weekend with cousin Drew and Aunt Amy. We will see them next weekend in Sumter for my Mom's Christmas party. That's the day after the Christmas Jam on Friday night. That will be the utmost highlight of the week!
No NFL (Not For Long as in how long I stay awake watching) tonight but the Panthers are on Monday night football tomorrow, so I will watch after we get home from Miles' Christmas choir performance at Crestview. Look for a Youtube upload soon. Can you believe we only have 2 weeks from this Thursday until Christmas. Terminal velocity has us moving rapidly to 2009! Hold on!
See ya!
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Early Christmas, Go SHS Gamecocks!
Then, to top it all, Tricia and I went to Lowe's for some project stuff. We are giving each other a back splash in the kitchen as Christmas. We had a deal for some no payment/no interest at Lowe's, so we went to get the tile for the backsplash there. We also picked up the rest of the stain we needed for the fence, a much needed power spray washer and an electric chainsaw. Throw in some seed for the yard and seeding soil and you can imagine the price. Good thing I have 12 months to pay it all! I had to park on the street and load it up the driveway. Oh yeah, throw in 16 stepping stones for a path from the garage door to the back deck. It was a lot of work unloading, I promise you that! So, I have plenty of projects to work on for the next few weekends. Much needed improvements. We have already received an estimate from the man who is going to do the backsplash, we just need to schedule that for now, should be soon. What more could a man ask for in 1 day when he gets a bass pedal, a pressure washer and an electric chainsaw? I'm happy.
Just so you know, that trip to Lowe's was preceded with a trip to Starbucks with Tricia. We had some coffee and just hung out together, almost like a real date. I guess if you throw in the baby sitter we had at the house with Miles and Dylan, it was! Tricia even updated her status on Facebook to say we were going on a date to Lowe's and Starbucks. That makes it official, right? The gingersnap latte had real ginger bits on the whip cream, very tasty. So was the no sugar added banana nut bread. Tricia and I also got some good couple time walking with Keller on the trail after they got home from school yesterday. A nice cool December afternoon in the woods is always a treat for us.
Today, my sister and nephew are coming up to go to the game with me and Miles in Clemson. Amy is stopping in Columbia and getting Drew for the night. Tricia and Dylan are going to hang out here and enjoy their Saturday. I am really excited to be heading over to cheer for my high school. A late suspension yesterday of 3 players from the opposing team (the Upstate champs, Byrnes) for smoking pot and skipping school may or may not have any effect on the game. It will be fun to see our friends from Sumter and cheer on the Sumter High Gamecocks!
Well, I think I have some holiday decorating or project work that is calling me. See ya! Go SHS!
Today
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Gator Bowl Bound
Keller was a playing the spoiled brat today. I let him in the office like I have been lately in the afternoons to hang with me while I work. When it was time to go back outside, he protested and pretended to hide his face. I literally had to pull him out of the office. It was funny and frustrating at the same time. We will continue to work on that! He is still enjoying his bed in the garage at nights too, no problem there.
Watching the Clemson basketball team play a tough Illinois team in the ACC/Big Ten challenge. Right now, Clemson is down and it's a fast paced game tonight, their biggest challenge so far this year. We have tickets for the 1/10/2009 game at Clemson when they play NC State. Speaking of Clemson, did I mention that we get to head to Clemson this Saturday to watch my high school play for the football state championship? It's gonna be a fun time, can't wait!
We are slowly decorating for the holidays around the home. Still working on the outside displays but have the traditional Johnson family fiber optic tree on the porch up and running with the timer. That's a must-have for our holidays! It was one of very first family trees and has hung in there for more years than I expected! Still looks great.
Did you see Jupiter and Venus beside the moon last night and tonight? Wow! It caught my eye last night and I looked on Earth and Sky and found what the planets were that were so brightly shining in the sky to the southeast of the crescent moon. I tried to take a few shots, see below.
Well, that's all for today. Hope you are enjoying this cold weather as much as I am, my walks in the morning are cold but very enjoyable. Keller is still getting in the creek, even with ice patches in the water. It's usually at the end of the run, not the beginning like in the summer. So, he does feel the coldness, I'm sure!
See ya!
Monday, December 1, 2008
Cold and Wet
It was a slow moving start for the Crestview gang this morning, hard to get going after the long weekend and holiday. We enjoyed our visit from Nana, Pete and Aunt Amy over the weekend. We really had a blast watching Clemson dismantle the swagger of the USC Gamecocks. I am really proud of how our team got together and made something out of the season despite all the setbacks and coaching drama. It was a great way to bring it all together for the Seniors. I am excited today to see if we get the announcement for Dabo to be the new head coach. I have some concerns about how some of the fans may set their expectations on his performance but I know his heart and soul has been poured into those boys and I think we could do a lot worse. It will be a hard road for any coach but Dabo has sure proved he can handle it, even under the worse conditions. Now, we wait for our bowl game! Go Tigers!
My high school, Sumter High, will actually be playing in Clemson next Saturday for the State football championship. We are going to the game, which starts at 3pm on Saturday. What's really cool is SHS won the state when I was a senior so this would make a great 20th year gift for our class! Can't wait to cheer those Gamecocks! Yes, my high school mascot is Gamecocks but we have an authentic claim to the Gamecock mascot since General Thomas Sumter was nicknamed "The Fighting Gamecock" during the Revolutionary War. So, there!
As promised, I wanted to write a little about the fun Miles and I had in Charlotte on Friday night. I got tickets during the presale for the McGholon Theatre show (Spirit Square) way back in the summer. This venue is just about perfect for the Derek Trucks Band. It's actually the old sanctuary for 1st Baptist Church of Charlotte. The stained glass is still there as are the big wooden church doors. The venue has received some recent sound system updates and it showed. The sound was top notch and my recording really shines. Miles and I stayed at the Hampton a few blocks away (thanks to the free room from work travel) and enjoyed the services of the shuttle bus to and from the show! Very nice! We had dinner at the Rock Bottom brewery/pub with our good friends from Greensboro, NC, Greg and Meredith Cohoon. Miles and I got a latte and mocha treat after the meal to get ready for the show. That hit the spot! We then met up with Yonrico, the drummer, and gave him some peach bread and cider for the band to enjoy (actually we gave that to Todd the bass player and Count M'butu, the percussionist). I also delivered the percussion shakers I got in Botswana for Yonrico's birthday! He was very appreciative and Miles got to say hello by the bus as well. It was a treat. We didn't get the chance to speak to Derek, Mike or Todd's wife, Brooke (with both kids in tow) but we spoke with Kofi (keyboard and flute). It's always fun to let them know how much we appreciate the music and that we are looking forward to the new album in January.
As for the show, I think the recording speaks for itself. "My Favorite Things" clocked in at 18 minutes and was a highlight as was the "For My Brother" encore. The band was in a great form and played a lot of the new CD. The crowd was relaxed and seated for the most part with dancers seen in the corners during the sets. Miles and I went up in the balcony during the 2nd set and he really enjoyed the view from up above, speaking of... "Up Above My Head" to end the 2nd set was funky! Check out the pictures here: dTb 11-28-08
Well, it's time for my Monday to get started! Have a great week and Happy December to you!!!
See ya!