A couple of our sister Entercom stations were having a premiere of the new J.J. Abrams/Steven Spielberg flick Super 8 at the Great Escape 14 IMAX theater in Simpsonville on Tuesday night so, of course, I had to go!  Tessa was called off work that day so she was able to join me.

Once again, Spielberg presents another alien movie only this one seems like The Goonies meets a pissed off E.T. with the kids making a low budget zombie flick as opposed to seeking buried treasure.  The film was well made and had one of the best train wreck scenes in a film – one that makes the one in The Fugitive look like the special effects from the silent film era!

Super 8  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m

After the screening was over, Tessa and I grabbed dinner at Ruby Tuesday’s then went to the Simpsonville and Woodruff Road Walmarts trying to find the Limited Collector’s Edition Blu-ray of AC/DC’s Let There Be Rock, the concert video that influenced me heavily in my early days as a budding adolescent metalhead.  I was excited because it was the first day the 1979 concert of the band in Paris had been available in digital form.

Unfortunately, we could not find the limited edition at Walmart despite the fact it was on their website whereas it was not on Best Buy’s.  However, it turned out that Best Buy was, indeed, the place we found it despite the product’s absence from their website.  Regardless, I now own it and got to watch it last night since I could not attend RUSH’s Time Machine Tour which kicked off at the BI-LO Center in Greenville.  Hate I missed it but I got to enjoy a killer show right in my own living room!

AC/DC: Let There Be Rock (Limited Collector’s Edition/Blu-ray + DVD)  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m/

Wow!  It has been a great time for some great films both on Blu-ray AND in the theaters!  Last Tuesday Tessa and I went out to Best Buy to pick up Despicable Me and The A-Team on Blu-ray for a fun double feature at home!  We played Despicable Me first because I knew Tessa would love it!  Her expectations were not very high so she was quite impressed because I loved the film myself and I am normally a naysayer of computer-animated films not made by Pixar.

Despicable Me  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m

Tessa wasn’t as thrilled with The A-Team since she’s not a big action movie buff (neither am I, truth be told unless they’re well done) but managed to find it entertaining nonetheless!

The A-Team  \m/  \m/  \m/  \n

Saturday night I met Tessa and her mom in Spartanburg to go see the latest Narnia movie, The Voyage of the Dawn Trader.  I was a little disappointed with Prince Caspian so I didn’t know what to expect with the third film in the series.  However, I was pleasantly surprised because the film was fantastic!  Great action and wonderful special effects!

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Trader  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m/

After Tessa got back home from her mom’s on Sunday, we went out to Olive Garden, rode through Roper Mountain Holiday Lights and went to catch a late showing of TRON: Legacy.  We decided to go the extra mile and watch it in RPX (Regal Premium Experience).  Although the screen wasn’t nearly as large as IMAX, the sound was very impressive and was the loudest I have heard since the heyday of the THX Theater Program!  And the film itself was visually stunning as I am sure the original was to moviegoers back in 1982.  Honestly, I was never a big fan of the original although I have massive respect for its pioneering use of early CGI technology.  The long awaited sequel certainly lives up to its predecessor and I was pleasantly surprised to catch the appearance of one of my favorite character actors, Michael Sheen in the film!  Phenomenal!

TRON: Legacy  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m/  \n

If you’re wondering the title means, the answer is simple: this weekend marked the fourth time seeing TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA as well as the fourth time seeing SKILLET!

Before I get to all that, I will start with my crazy girlfriend’s bright idea to go ahead and open some Christmas gifts on Friday night.  So I agreed and gave her the heels I got her with skulls on them that she had been wanting and she gave me a Garmin Nuvi GPS unit and a LEGO Star Wars AT-AT.  I feverishly began working on the LEGOs and got about half of the project finished before going to bed.

We slept in on Saturday then cleaned up the apartment and finished decorating the Christmas tree – except for the star since we were not pleased with the one we had bought.  Then Tessa went to get her mother while I tied up a few loose ends and got ready for the TSO show.  My mother then met us at the apartment and we left for the Bi-Lo Center.  Mom had never seen the show so it was a treat to take her for her first TSO experience as they were amazing as always!

After taking her mom to her car, Tessa and I grabbed some Waffle House chow and then ran to Wal-Mart to grab a new star for the Christmas tree and she picked up Eclipse on Blu-ray.

When we got home, Tessa put the star on the tree while I put the finishing touches on my LEGO AT-AT!

After we finished, we started watching Eclipse but I had to throw in the towel halfway through because I was bushed!

When we got up on Sunday, we got ready to go to the Greer Christmas Parade where I was judging some of the floats for the Greer Jaycees.  Tessa and I froze our asses off since it was quite windy and bitterly cold.  Needless to say, we couldn’t wait for the parade to be over so we could go get warm.

From there, we ran a few errands, grabbed some food and went back to the Bi-Lo Center for the Winter Wonder Slam presents the Awake Tonight Tour with TOBYMAC and SKILLET.  Some new Christian rapper opened the show and then SKILLET followed almost immediately.  Even though it was my fourth time seeing the band overall, it was my first time seeing them use pyro even though two other times I have seen them headline.  During “Monster”, bassist/vocalist John Cooper climbed up into a huge Punisher-looking metal skull with awesome red and green lights!  Their set was fantastic as always and we stayed for a couple of TOBYMAC songs and then bolted.

When we got home, we finished watching Eclipse which I have to say is by far the best of the Twilight Saga thus far!  Much more action than the last installment New Moon.  Still not a big fan but I do enjoy the films as a casual viewer.

Eclipse  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m/

Since Tessa has been exposing me to the Twilight films (although I saw the first two films before we started dating), I decided to make her watch a Star Wars film.  And what better episode than The Empire Strikes Back?!  She seemed to enjoy it but was a bit lost as to what they were fighting for since we skipped A New Hope.  However, she is now willing to go back and watch the films and see if she likes them!  The force is strong with this one!

Well last weekend was fairly uneventful and thankfully so!  I swear I just wish life would slow down sometimes!  I mean who has time to stop and smell the roses?  At least I don’t seem to have the time anyways!  However, being busy can be a good thing!  No ‘idle hands’ here!

Last night though, Tessa and I went out to Longhorn Steakhouse after I got off work and then did some grocery shopping and rented the new Adam Sandler comedy Grown Ups on Blu-ray.  The movie wasn’t very good as far as a story goes but it did have some pretty funny material in the film which redeemed it.  Not bad.  Definitely worth a rental.

Grown Ups  \m/  \m/  \m/

And that’s all I got for now!  I’m working on something good in the realm of mistaken identity!

This weekend was a great chance for me and Tessa to spend some time together as well as with some of our friends and family.  Friday night we went out to Gottrocks to catch SIX AND TWENTY, GHOST IN THE MACHINE and RED X.

When the show was over, we wound down by watching Trick R Treat since I had finally bought it again on Blu-ray since it was stolen when my apartment was broken into last December.

Saturday we went to Hollywood 20 to catch the new Jackass movie in 3D!  The film was hilarious but still didn’t top the second installment in the Jackass film series which is still my favorite.  However, the 3D spin is killer!

Jackass 3D  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m

After the movie, we went up to Spartanburg to join the rest of the boys in DETHRO TULL and their families at Fuddruckers.  We were all treated to the meal by the father of our youngest member Jesse Tesh (aptly nicknamed “The Kid”).

Afterwards, Tessa and I followed Blake (aka “Bogie”) and his wife and daughter to Halloween Express to look around and give Burket (aka “Captain Toenail McGutty Cutty”) and his wife Jackie time to go home and prepare for a little board game action as we played their copy of the Alice in Wonderland board game based on the Tim Burton film and had some tasty beverages both adult and virgin.  It was a good time and a great bonding experience for all of us especially Tessa who is fairly new to the circle.

When we got home, we watched Dreamworks’ How to Train Your Dragon which I bought on Blu-ray for Tessa who had really been wanting to see it.  I fell asleep during the film which was a change since Tessa is usually the one falling asleep during movies.  What I saw of the movie was really good, but I don’t feel qualified to rate it since I slept during a good portion of the film.

The next morning we got up and met up with my mom, brother and Aunt Pat and drove into NC to meet up with Tessa’s mom and then went to Chimney Rock.  We stopped in Lake Lure to have a nice little picnic lunch and then we drove into Chimney Rock and split up so Aunt Pat, my mom and Tessa’s mom could go shopping while Anthony, Tessa and I went into Chimney Rock State Park and took the elevator up to the top of the mountain for some sightseeing.

After we left the mountains (or foothills, rather) behind, Tessa and I did some much needed grocery shopping and took it easy the rest of the evening and just enjoyed each other’s company before we had to go our separate ways for the work week.

This weekend I went up to NC to see Tessa since she had to work Friday night and then again Sunday morning.  On Saturday we went to her local Verizon store to cash in on the buy one, get any phone free with the purchase on the new Droid Fascinate.  She had just switched to Verizon just the day before and purchased the new phone by Samsung and wanted me to get one since I could get it free.  Granted I had to change my phone number but that’s a small price to pay for such a fascinating phone with killer apps!

Yesterday, Tessa came into town after working all night and we went out to grab a copy of Iron Man 2 on Blu-ray as well as pizza and other various munchies.  I was a little disappointed with the film the second time around partially because I saw it in IMAX the first time and also because I realized it actually did not quite live up to the original.  Still not a bad sequel by any means and it serves as a focal point for the build up for The Avengers.

Iron Man 2  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m/

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

Friday was the release of yet another remake of a classic horror film as Jackie Earle Haley (“Rorschach” in Watchmen) took over the role of the infamous Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street.  Personally, I love horror movie remakes but in rare instances are they actually better than the original as was last year’s remake of another Wes Craven classic The Last House on the Left.  The updated version of Nightmare, however, wasn’t nearly as good as the 1984 film but it did have a lot of strengths and was a fairly enjoyable film.  For one, it really gave Freddy a stronger background than the original (although all the crappy sequels took care of that on down the road) and did it in such a way as to actually make Krueger even more menacing!  Be afraid to sleep again!

A Nightmare on Elm Street  \m/  \m/  \m/  \

Friday night I ran to Blockbuster with Rebecca who was in town for the week and we rented New Moon and The Fourth Kind on Blu-ray.  New Moon wasn’t bad but kinda drug on through most of the film until towards the end when it got kinda interesting and builds up to the events to take place in Eclipse which actually looks fairly decent.  I by no means am a fan of the Twilight series but I will watch them and get a mild amount of enjoyment out of them.  I still think modern vampires are GEIGH!!!!

New Moon  \m/  \m/  \m

I made it about a third of the way through The Fourth Kind before becoming too exhausted to finish the film so I watched the rest of the movie first thing Saturday.  The film is based on actual events and includes actual footage and audio from various interviews, hypnotism sessions and police cameras documenting alien abduction cases with some of them actually capturing alleged alien voices and paranormal activity.  The validity of the cases is questionable but quite remarkable nonetheless.

The Fourth Kind  \m/  \m/  \m/

It’s been a while since my last blog considering the past couple of weeks have been rather uneventful except for some friends visiting from out of town.  This past weekend, however, gave me a few things to talk about.  On Friday, which was Good Friday for fellow believers, I caught an early showing of Clash of the Titans, the remake of the 1981 fantasy classic I as well as many fellow geeks grew up on.  The special effects of the remake were spectacular and I even liked some of the overall plot change but the acting was a bit cheesy as I was expecting as I think Sam Worthington is anything but a good actor.  I enjoyed the ‘cameo’ of the robotic owl, BooBo from the original but the Kraken could have used a little more screen time earlier in the film as it did in the original.  Definitely a popcorn movie!

Clash of the Titans  \m/  \m/  \m/  \n

That night after work, I ran to Blockbuster to rent a couple of Blu-rays and selected Sherlock Holmes and 2012.  I popped Sherlock Holmes in first as I am a fan of Robert Downey, Jr. and cannot wait until Iron Man 2 hits the theaters (btw, the new trailer looks awesome and ran before Clash of the Titans)!  However, the film was a little hard to follow, at least for me being it didn’t hold my attention.  By no means was it a bad film, I guess it just wasn’t what I was expecting.

Sherlock Holmes  \m/  \m/  \m/

After sleeping in Saturday morning (I had intended to go to Yoga class but haven’t had the discipline since the first class I went to a couple of weeks back which wasn’t bad by any means and I have been keeping up with my other workout routines), I got up and put on 2012 which was entertaining despite being extremely preposterous!  The action and special effects were continuously over-the-top to the point the film almost becomes a parody or spoof disaster film within itself.  However, I couldn’t help but to enjoy it.

2012  \m/  \m/  \m/  \

Later that day I made my way to the gym and then hit the shower and went out to the Cazbah in downtown Greenville to meet my friend Olivia and some of her friends as she was in town for the weekend for her birthday.  When I got there, I was the first to arrive and then Olivia showed up with two of her female friends.  At first everything was cool as I kept up in the conversation despite the lack of balance of fellow testosterone.  Then, sure enough, the girls amped up their estrogen-filled ramblings and I soon got ousted and had to flag someone down to get a word in.  Finally a couple showed up so I attempted to engage the male member in a side conversation only to find that he was unresponsive and rather mopey despite having long hair and tattoos.  So, needless to say, I soon paid my bill and got the hell outta Dodge and returned to my mancave.

Sunday morning, being Easter Sunday and arguably the holiest of all Holy Days, I went to church and did the best I could to keep the spirit of the holiday.  Afterwards, Aunt Pat and I went down to Clinton, SC to visit my brother Anthony.  After that I was done for the weekend and laid low and watched TV.  Celebrity Apprentice rocks!

I regret to report that, no sooner had I written my last blog, I found myself flirting with someone on facebook who had obviously found me because of being on the Planet staff because of our mutual friends Dex and Intern Tyler (the latter of whom has also had an unfortunate run-in with this crazy individual who we will call Spam, Spamela Wain).  It started out innocent enough as I was just making funny comments on her status which was talking about her wanting to beat Adam Lambert’s gay emo ass.  Well comments turned to messaging and the rest is history.

Well, we made plans to meet on Friday and go out or just chill but then she contacts me on facebook on Thursday telling me her car has broken down in Anderson so I agree to ‘rescue the damsel in distress’ when i got off work later that evening.  So I go and pick her up and we go hang out at my place.  Now, over the years I’ve learned to pick up on certain signs from women and, when she sat down on my couch, she sat in a spot that left just enough room for me to sit right next to her so our legs were touching.  So I got cozy with her as we watched Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story with Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn.  As we watched the movie (which we both have seen), she confided in me that she has trust issues with men.  Respecting that I didn’t try too many smooth moves so not to set her off.  I did, however, ask if I could kiss her once the movie was over and she said I could.  So we started making out for a few seconds then she started freaking out.  I pulled back but she continued on a tirade so I took her home giving her my two cents worth on the way.

When we pulled up at her place, we sat in the car and talked for an hour or so and somewhat cleared the air.  I then walked her to the door and managed another quick kiss as we said goodnight.

The next day came and I texted her to see if she still wanted to go for round two despite the rocky night before and she said she did and told me to pick her up at 8:30.  Still skeptic from the first round, I dragged ass leaving to pick her ass up and arrived around 8:45 or so.  The night started out ok as we ran by Blockbuster to see Reverend Jim and rented The Hangover and Zombieland on Blu-ray and then ran by the grocery store and Wendy’s to grab some snacks and some grub.

We started with Zombieland since Spam hadn’t seen it yet and I wanted to see it a second time.  I gotta say I enjoyed just a bit more than the first time back in the theater, but the deleted scenes sucked so they were deleted for a good reason!

Zombieland  \m/  \m/  \m/  \n

Next we watched The Hangover which I hadn’t seen and she wanted to watch again (so it worked out overall).  I was skeptical about the movie because, honestly, the previews were NOT funny.  However, I have to admit the movie was pretty funny but still didn’t meet the hype.

The Hangover  \m/  \m/  \m/  \

During the movies, we got a little cozy on the couch, but as soon as the last movie was over she wanted to go home very abruptly.  Granted it was already after two but she had expressed no desire to be home at a certain time all night and was rather rudely insistent on going home so, instead of fighting with her, I hopped up and got ready to leave with as much urgency as her to go – only mockingly as I was obviously perturbed.

On the way back to her place, I remained fairly silent as she went on and on about random crap I honestly no longer cared about.  Finally sensing my agitation, she started on this lecture about how she’s too busy for relationships with her upcoming schoolwork and that I obviously was too because she knew I had just put in a 55 hour work week.  Refusing to let her try and pull a fast one on me I asked her what she was trying to say and pointed out what she undoubtedly already knew: I didn’t care!  Irked by the fact she was trying to get the upper hand on me, I told her it would probably be better if she never called me again and let her know how rude I thought she was to accept my courtesy and then so quickly throw such an icy shoulder.  She agreed that she was rude but showed little or no true remorse and, as she got out of the car she unconvincingly said she was sorry to which I replied, “No you’re not!  F#%k off!” and sped off.  Outside off sending a few pissy text messages later that night, I haven’t heard from her since.  Good riddance to bad rubbish!