Friday night after work, Rebecca and I made an appearance at Ground Zero for the Uncle Jim Memorial Show.  We got there just in time to catch GHOST IN THE MACHINE take the stage for the first time in several months.  They put on a great set playing some of their new material from their upcoming disc.  FROM TOMORROW played next and then we stayed long enough to catch a portion of STRAIGHT LINE STITCH’s set before calling it a night.

Saturday I made a return trip to Rutherford County, NC and went to see some SWA wrestling action at the armory in Forest City along with Burket and his wife Jackie.  We mingled with some folks and promoted our show coming up on the 7th since Mill Spring is just down the road.  Burket and Jackie left a little early to go check out The Ultimate Basement, the venue we are playing on the 7th while I left shortly thereafter with a couple of friends from the area and hit Denny’s in Spindale.  We rallied some folks to come out and join us and I even posted it on facebook to see who we could get to come out.

Afterwards, on my way home, I drove around Chesnee, SC trying to find one of SWA’s wrestlers Wicked’s house since he always throws killer parties after their matches.  I’ve only been once and I was riding with someone else so I couldn’t find my way!  I seriously drove around and around for an hour and a half!  And Wicked wasn’t answering his phone!  Oh well, it happens when ya party hard!

Sunday was my cousin Ray’s baby shower as he and his wife Erin are welcoming their second child (a GIRL!) in late August.  Not much to say because it was a baby shower, an event most men don’t attend but I am close with my cousin so THERE!

After work Monday I had band practice at Burket’s house since our drummer Leman is on vacation.  Afterwards, I met up with a facebook friend named Tessa I had just recently started ‘talking’ to.  We hung out until like 5 in the morning because time just seemed to melt away!  I’m excited because I haven’t connected with someone like that in quite some time!

Needless to say, I was rather exhausted due to lack of sleep but I pressed on regardless and then went out to catch the sneak preview of Dinner For Schmucks starring Steve Carell and Paul Rudd.  The movie is about a guy trying to move up in the corporate world and is invited to a dinner where a bunch of high class jerks each bring an idiot ‘friend’ to make fun of and to see who can find the biggest idiot.  The film was an absolute riot!  Definitely go!

Dinner For Schmucks   \m/  \m/  \m/  \m

What’s the next generation of moonshiner!?!  Its Bathtub Booze!!! 

Moonshining used to be done in the backwoods, but now stills are going into production in cities across the nation.  Health officials believe that the recession is one reason illegal distilling clubs and “kitchen-sink” operations are popping up.  While official figures are hard to come by, experts believe as many as a million Americans could be breaking the law by making moonshine THAT’S ALOT OF BOOZE!!! In case you were interested in firing up your own moonshine still, you’ll face a fine of up to $15,000 and up to five years in prison if you’re convicted. Hmmmm that’s a buzz kill! 

 We’ll see you next week for another night of the

Summer Beer Games! Be ready this Saturday night at 10pm!!!

There is not a day that  go by that I don’t hear a story like this..  It worries me a little bit… that most of these stories are coming from Spartanburg lately!!  Here’s the latest.. story!  “Woman Accused of Slashing her Boyfriend..”  You would think she went off because he was breaking it off but As I read it, she called him up and said she was done with him and when she come to the house to talk to him.  She threw a bottle at him and then as he goes to call 911 she starts slashin’ him with a knife!!  Dude is gonna be ok but here’s the full story on WYFF.com.  CLICK HERE FOR IT!!!

Ya I’m sure if you are a farmer you already know about cows with windows in them but this is news to me!!! FREAKS ME OUT WOW!!!

TRY PRIVATE NINJA LESSONS!!!!  That’s right learn how to be a ninja bitches!!

A teacher in NYC who has full Shidoshi status teaches “effective methods of self-protection using elusive timing, control of distance and subtle angling, i.e. like how to avoid the assault of a sword.” 

Think of all the things you could do with this knowledge!  Next time your boss tries to give you work last minute you can evade him and sneek out before he even notices or just throw a ninja star at his face and problem solved! Think your girl is cheating?  She won’t be after you do some quick sword work on the other lover! Blam!  And how much for all of this you ask?  195 per lesson!  SOOOo worth it haha Granted the dude is based out of NYC but here’s the link for more info! Cloud9Living.com

Just in case you need some more convincing here’s that video of tyler taking on a ninja!

Ok, it’s been more than two weeks since my last blog so I’ve got a LOT of ground to cover!  Two weeks ago today, P1 Lauren and I went to Greenville Zoo for “Brew at the Zoo” as I splurged from my ‘water diet’ to sample some tasty brews at the zoo….yeah….  Anyways so afterwards we hit Jimmy John’s in downtown Greenville for some chow and then went and rented Hot Tub Time Machine.

Hot Tub Time Machine was frickin’ hilarious!  I was so relieved to see John Cusack finally do another comedy that’s NOT a chick flick!  Definitely go check it out!

Hot Tub Time Machine  \m/  \m/  \m/  \n

I went back to Blockbuster the next day to rent The Crazies because I wanted to watch it again since seeing it in the theaters.  Great horror flick remake though I admit I haven’t seen the original!

The Crazies  \m/  \m/  \m/  \n

Last Thursday I started my ’staycation’ and ended up getting up early and went up to see DETHRO TULL’s Capt. Toenail McGutty Cutty (Mike Burket to the humans) to work on some tunes and to introduce him to Metalocalypse!  I followed the same routine the next day so we could pan out material for our upcoming show at the Ultimate Basement up in Mill Spring, NC on August 7th.

Saturday was the long awaited Carnival of Madness show featuring SHINEDOWN, CHEVELLE, PUDDLE OF MUDD, SEVENDUST and 10 YEARS.  I got to go back to the Backstage Barbecue and get autographs from all the bands which is always a plus!

I spent most of the show in the shade of the VIP tent because I’m a pasty ass white boy that only fries in the sun without the benefit of tanning!  I did, however, come out on stage to announce PUDDLE OF MUDD along with Dex and then CHEVELLE with The Rise Guys.

As the sun’s rays started to subside, I ran out onto the lawn and met a TON of Planet listeners and even posed for a few pictures!  I have yet to see any of those pics so I’d say it’s safe to assume my ugly ass broke their cameras!  Ha!

I took it easy the remaining days of my staycation with the only active activities being jamming with the TULL Monday and Wednesday night as we are solidifying our set list for the 7th!

I did manage to take in a movie Tuesday and went and saw Despicable Me featuring the voices of Steve Carell, Jason Segel and Russell Brand.  Very cute movie that was very funny and entertaining for the whole family….and my loser ass went solo!

Despicable Me  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m

Today on the show we were talking about women drivers.  Matt said that he always drives. He doesn’t think a man should let a woman drive.  I disagreed with him, because the last time I let my Fiance’ drive my car, he wrecked it.  An insurance agent once told me that women get in 70% less accidents than men do. That is why men pay higher rates until they are 25.  Men generally take more risks and drive more powerful cars. As a whole they are more aggressive drivers.  It’s almost inevitable.  97% of dangerous driving offences and 94% of accidents causing death or bodily harm are caused by men. On average, men committed nine times as many traffic offences as women. But, men may come out worse because of differences that skew the statistics. More men drive, and those that do cover more miles than the average woman, so they simply have more opportunities to crash. Car accidents involving men tend to be worse because the speed of the impact is higher. Men are well known to take more risks and that applies when they are behind the wheel as much as anywhere else. Couple that natural tendency with the fact that men tend to drive more powerful cars. Therefore, accidents involving men tend to be worse because the speed of the impact is higher. Psychologically speaking, there could be a mixture of differences in hormones, brain structure, and cultural pressures between men and women. Overall, females aren’t the wonderfully attentive and careful drivers the figures might suggest, though.  If you correct for mileage, you find that females have a similar number of accidents, but they happen at lower speeds.

Dirty Thursday with Jeff Lewis will be daring.  The question is will Jeff become sick from ingesting old liquid.  From what I have been reading drinking old beer might make you vomit, but it won’t make you ill. It tastes stale.  Soft drinks on the other hand could make you sick. Old soft drinks taste like old rusty water.  Unless, a can has been damaged or altered- only the taste would be affected, the contents will not make you sick.

However, be weary of old soft drinks and energy drinks. Benzene has been link cancer and leukemia.  Many drinks today have that in it.   Old soft drinks can be dangerous.  It has a metallic taste to it. The dangerous part about drinking an older diet drink are the ingredients. Aspartame, which is in artificial sweeteners, breaks down into formaldehyde into a liquid solution.

In conclusion, it is not a great idea to drink anything past the born on date.  If it doesn’t smell good or look good, don’t ingest it.     Jeff is a brave man!