When I was a kid I had an irrational fear of tornadoes. Well… when I was a kid and now, I guess. ‘Cause I watched this video today, and broke out in a clammy sweat and started breathing funny — all these years later. Sweet sainted mother of Don DeFore!
West Virginia isn’t exactly in the middle of Tornado Alley, but when I was a youngling the authorities were all-the-time issuing tornado watches, and sometimes full-blown warnings. And I didn’t much care for any of it. I had visions of a twister bouncing around those mountains like a pinball, and one of us being decapitated by an airborne Z from a Pizza Hut sign, or whatever.
I’ve written about the storm we endured in Myrtle Beach when I was a kid, which might have been a tornado. I didn’t see a funnel cloud that day, possibly because I was fully hysterical and in need of a straitjacket and hot water bottle. But it certainly felt like one was bearing down on us. The weird color in the sky… the menacing calmness… the sense that Very Bad Things were fixin’ to happen… It was terrifying.
And when I was in Atlanta we experienced something similar, while we were at work one afternoon. It was the same green color, and a feeling that an impossible power was silently building. Toney and I were in the parking lot for some reason, and watched funnel clouds drop down, almost reach the ground, then go back up. I don’t think my sphincter released for a week.
Maybe it was the Wizard of Oz that triggered my life-long fear of tornadoes, I don’t know. Other extreme weather events don’t bother me at all, but just a tiny chance of a tornado puts me on edge. Even now. And I don’t know why.
Have you lived through any hellish storms of one sort or another? Please tell us about it, won’t you? Use the comments link below. Also, what do you think about the guy who recorded that video? Is he ballsy or crazy? (Heh, ballsy or nuts?) You probably know my answer…
This is another quickie, but I need to start signing books and getting them to the post office. And speaking of the book, check out what was posted at TheWVSR Facebook page last night:
Your book rocked. Can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard. I recommended it to many friends and had to restrain myself from sending texts quoting portions so as not to ruin it for them. Only question is – when is the next book? You have earned a fan.
That one’s especially satisfying, because it’s from a reader who is unfamiliar with the Surf Report, and all that’s come before. I like knowing that Crossroads Road works as a standalone project. It gives me hope.
I’ll see you guys again on Sunday or Monday.
Have a great weekend!
Now playing in the bunker
Read Jeff’s first novel, Crossroads Road
Dammit, not again!
“Fraid so!
You poofter!
The Pooftiest. At least you didn’t almost get brained by a treetop crashing out of the tornader sky this morning while running.
I am a survivor of Hurricane Alicia which hit Baytown, TX sometime in the early 80’s when I was merely 4. In fact, one of my first memories was of that event. I remember lying down on the floor, sucking my two fingers (I know, I know), wrapped in a blanket my grandmother had made for me, watching Sesame Street or somesuchshit & hearing my parents frettin’ in the other room. I heard my mom say, ‘Jeff, I have the important stuff & clothes packed. Go in the living room, grab the kids & let’s go. Get the kids!’ all urgently. Then I remember my dad rushing in the living room where I was, unplugging the TV I was watching & carry it outside & load it in the car. THEN he came back upstairs, grabbed me & my brother & loaded us in. My mom was PISSED. She still, to this day, will say things like ‘I can’t BELIEVE you grabbed the TV first, before your own children!’ and his response is always, ‘Hey, we had just bought that damn thing & I wasn’t gonna let some wind cloud toss it around!’. He was kinda right though, because our apartment complex was blasted to smithereens in that hurricane. Apparently it touched down where we were like 20 mins after we hauled ass to San Antonio where my grandparents live. Heh.
I want to thank everyone for their kind words of support yesterday for my interview tomorrow. It’s at 9 am PST. If you happen to see the time & know it’s near, send some High-Pay Juju Vibes my way. I’d appreciate it & will hoist a golden one in everyone’s honor around 10 am if all goes well. I’ll keep ya posted. Love you guys! 🙂
I will mentally ‘cheers’ you at 10 am. 🙂
Hoist while you’re ON the interview! Just kidding – that makes it noon for me so I’ll be sending out great vibes to you!
Oh, and I love you back! Good luck!
So, it’s 3:15pm EST. How did it go?
Concentrate Bill.
If Bill and WB take thier show on the Road, God help the Road.
jtb
It’s tomorrow, Bill. 🙂
By 3:15 EST tomorrow you will surely know.
Ah, technicalities, technicalities. So, how’d it go?
Good luck!
Melissa…
I’m thinking it might be 9:00 pDt. Anyway, you’ve probably already sprung ahead. You’ll do well. Have fun.
jtb
Fingers crossed! Good luck!
Xenia, Ohio-1974. I had just turned eight years old then and I remember it like it was yesterday. We were almost 10 miles from Xenia, and the destruction was almost apocalyptic. It’s a miracle that only 33 people died there that day.
So, needless to say, when the warnings go off–so do I! I go into full panic mode. The kids think it is funny, but I don’t think it’s funny one little ol’ bit. When it’s raining and hailing sideways, then the sky turns that strange green color, then the winds and rain stops and you get that eerie stillness–you better be under something heavy, ’cause brother, it’s coming!
Oh, and anybody who wants to see a tornado or tape it needs to have their head checked out. I’m kinda fond of living, personally speaking.
I’m sending up a little prayer for the folks down south because I heard that the records of the 1974 Super Outbreak have finally been broken. That’s one record that could have been left alone!
I wasn’t alive but being from Ohio I know all about it. Screw that.
I believe at least one airliner crashed during that period due to windshear.
I never understood storm chasing, and I certainly don’t after yesterday. I got to enjoy Jeff’s clip in person. Yesterday was awful.
I spent a night camping along the Shenandoah River when the most fantastic thunderstorm I’ve ever witnessed rolled up the river for about three hours. I’m pretty sure I burrowed into the ground ducking those lightning strikes. Damned scary.
I was a few miles away from the tornado that hit Oklahoma City in 1999. I was in the library studying for finals and there was a lot of commotion on the 3rd floor. Took the elevator down saw the news report, took the elevator back up and the power flicker stopping the elevator. I ignored my fear of the elevator cutting me in half and opened the doors and climbed out.
There was nothing but sprinkles outside but many classmates lost their stuff.
That was an F-5 wasn’t it?
Second worse thing to come out of Moore. The first is Toby Keith.
Sing it Sister.
Yeah that was the F-5, I think it’s still the most destructive one (though don’t know after the one in Bama). I played golf at the OU course two weeks later and the highway was still full of rubberneckers on the way down.
WHOA there t-boy….I happen to love Toby Keith. Country? Yes. Hillbilly? Yes. Hot as fuck….? YES. I’d do him under the Christmas tree in Macy’s window.
PSh – he’s your typical OU fan. Never went there and obnoxious when they’re winning.
There is only one OU and that’s in Ohio, same for OSU.
I pashaw that statement. There’s OSU and there’s THE Ohio State (and probably something in Oregon).
In MN, when the sky turns green, and the sirens go off, we go outside. I’ve even been through a tornado – I was trapped in the bathroom because I couldn’t close the window and the door was sucked shut, and I STILL go outside to watch the weather. Never said I was smart….
I remember when I was in elementary school, we used to have tornado drills. Similar to drills for “the bomb”. Out in the hallway, hands covering our heads. Yep, that’ll keep the roof off us.
I have never been through a tornado disaster like the one’s we are having, what seems like everyday, now. I always remember my dad telling us that when the sky turns green, the rain and hail quit, and you hear a freight train coming, get in the bath tub or basement immediately.
I can’t recall being in the path of Mother Nature’s rath…at least in that capacity….knock on wood. Although, the storm we had a few weeks ago where it hailed cantalopes was pretty scary. I was right in the middle of it. That’s how the world is going to end you know….the weather is gonna knock us the fuck out.
The Bunker Cam: Funnelpants??
How’d he get through the door onto the plane?
If the guy wants to fly, he should have someone nail a crate around him and get forklifted into the cargo hold. It’s really not fair to require others to squeeze their full bladders past him on the way to the head.
I want to know how in the hell did they get the food service cart down the aisle? I suppose he had to “inconvenience” that poor bastard sitting next to him for a minute. Excuse me, can I lay a roll of lard in your lap?
I lived through the flooding here in Atlanta back in September 2009. It didn’t really affect me though, aside from a small roof leak.
The worst storm that I actually “survived” in any way was the Blizzard of 1993… I was 13 at the time, and I was a member of a Boy Scout troop up in Pennsylvania.
We were supposed to go for a backpacking trip that weekend on some segment of the Appalachian Trail in PA. But because meteorologists were forecasting a huge snowstorm, we changed plans last minute and headed down to West Virginia. It was already warm there, so obviously we wouldn’t get hit by snow.
Big mistake, because the snowstorm blew further south than expected. WV got slammed, and PA was mostly clear. We went to sleep Friday night to clear skies, and we woke up Saturday morning with roughly four feet of snow on the ground.
Miraculously, one of the dads in our group actually had a cell phone (it was 1993), and we were able to reach 911. They told us to hike five miles down the mountain, where a fire truck met us on some access road.
They took us back to their fire station, and we waited for a couple of days until the snow had mostly cleared. While we waited there, we ate a bunch of venison burgers and watched all of the Star Trek movies non-stop.
Thanks West Virginia!
And immediately after posting, I looked on Google for a map of the Appalachian Trail… apparently it’s only in WV for about four miles. We were probably in East Virginia then.
North Virginia!
Almost Heaven, Wet Vagina.
I lost my house to Hurricane Jeanne (’04), or more specifically to her aftermath. I have emails that I sent to my Dad saying it wasn’t much…few limbs down and what not…just hours before losing the house to an electrical fire from when the power came back on. The power surge was too much for the old wires, and we were asleep. By the time I woke up 1/3 of the house was ablaze…walls glowing orange and shit (thank God it was a block house!). Obviously I got outta there, and I got my kids out too, but we lost everything else, including our pets and my car. Needless to say, I’m not a big fan of hurricane season anymore…and I turn my circuit breaker OFF if we ever lose power for any reason (even though I live in a much newer house with much more reliable wiring). I’ll be home AND awake the next time the power comes back online, thank you very much! Oh, and I’ll ONLY live in block or brick housing now too. As my best friend says, I’ve got a bazaar fetish about it now.
You wear a fez and go shopping during hurricanes?
Sorry about you pets 🙁
Well, hurricanes are relative…they are the best natural disaster really. Generally you have about three days notice if one is headed in your direction, and you have a likely indication of how strong they’ll be too. Jeanne itself wasn’t a big deal, it came within 30 miles of us, and was only about a “1” when it passed…we had about 24 hours between when she passed and when we lost the house. The interim was filled with warm, sunny weather and no viable threats…but that’s the tricky part. It’s not over until it’s over. And that means when infrastructure has been restored and the streets are clear of debris. Sure, we ventured out, bought bottled water and ice, stocked up on gas, etc. It could have been days before the power was back up…but it turned out to be almost 24 hours exactly. And we weren’t prepared. We might have saved the house if someone was awake…it burned for 2 1/2 hours before I woke up, and by then it was far too late. I grabbed a fire extinguisher and thought about trying to douse it myself for a minute…and then was grabbed by rationality…walls glowing orange was beyond the capacity of my extinguisher!
Thanks for remarking on the pets, though. That was the worst part and the hardest to recover from. Everything else was insured. But the kids and I still miss the pets and lament their passing…wish I could have saved them too…
I lost power in an ice storm in Tulsa, OK for 10 days and was in a panic when they announced the power was coming back on. Two house in the neighborhood caught fire but mine was safe. Luckily they turned it back on at 5-ish so people could be home when they did it AND they had firetrucks on standby.
Holy shit, Monica, what an awful story.
Home AND awake. Turn off the circuit breaker! I shout that from rooftops during hurricane season. I even told that to a friend evacuating from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans the following year…turns out they had different aftermath issues. But at least her house didn’t catch fire too!
God.. My heart just ached for those poor angels you lost. Wow.
I learned something today.
Circuit breaker off.
Sorry to hear about your pets:( 🙁 🙁
I stood and faced the full force of Hurricane Andrew in Miami.
Well, OK, I was kneeling because I was at a neighbor’s house drinking Hurricanes [that’s what you do in Florida during a hurricane!] and was having a hard time walking home that drunk in 120mph winds, but you get the idea.
We were coming back from a vacation in Key West and happened to be the last flight out of Miami before Hurricane Andrew hit. The wind and rain were whipping around like crazy. Talk about a bumpy ride until we flew out of it. Funk dat. Once we got home and saw the devastation we felt very lucky to have not been stranded at the Miami airport.
I distinctly remember Hurricane Gloria but I can’t say I was really in any danger. Just very heavy rain and high winds. Long Island and the jersey Shore caught the brunt of that.
I do remember once sitting on a windowsill and I could hear the glass shaking and it felt like someone pushed me from behind. Turned out to be an earthquake – right here in New York. If we everr get “the big one” I will be fried by Indian Point before I could even lift a potassium tablet to my lips.
Dodged a tornado in 2005 in a Ford Tempo near Ravenna, Ohio. It was headed right down the road behind me and I flogged that poor tempo like none other, finally beat the storm, and the car died the next week. In 2006 got to see baseball size hail around Shelby Ohio and a funnel cloud rip a barn to shreds. I’ve tried to stay in the basement during inclement weather after those two experiences.
Come on back to Shelby.
I’m there every Friday and Saturday night down at the Parrot Head…it’s not like I’m too terribly far off!
Oh I forgot – I also lived through the Nor’Easter of 1992. Jumpin’ Jesus on a jaguar, I think THAT was one of the scariest weather related times I vividly remember. The FDR Drive on the East side of NYC was flooded with cars submerged under like 8 feet of water.
Growing up on Long Island, we had our share of hurricanes. We never had any real damage from any of them.
About 10 years ago in Cocoa Beach, we were on the intercoastal, when the thickest, most snot-colored clouds rolled in. Everything was a strange color green. We hightailed it out of there quickly.
Typhoon pamela on guam,170 knot winds. when the eye went over,170 knot winds from the other direction.16foot waves in the harbor.I spent the storm on a small ship at the dock and it was the noisiest,roughest time I ever had on a boat.
In Pittsfield Township, Ohio in 1965 we had a huge tornado go through town that was one many Palm Sunday tornadoes. I was very little, but I remember coming up from the basement and when we opened the door there was a tree standing in the kitchen sticking right through the roof.
It was torn out of the neigbors yard and deposited there and was at least 4 feet in diameter. The whole back of the house had to be removed and rebuilt.
Only other thing i really remember was my dad was swearing a whole lot.
Wiped out by Hurricane Katrina here in So. Miss. in ’05. (That would be the part of the region within proximity to New Orleans that was NOT extensively and excessively covered by the media.) We rode it out on the second floor of my Dad-in-law’s house instead of evacuating, because the family did the same in ’69 when Camille hit and couldn’t imagine anything worse (we now know differently). The roof held but we watched the water rise below us.
I was going to write something snarky, but realized it was tasteless and would have exposed my elemental prickness for all to see.
Although Gilbert Gottfried assured me it was “fine.”
Instead, I posted this very message you now read, because I’m an attention whore who needs love and, well, attention.
Hey, good luck, Melissa.
I’ve seen fire and I”ve seen rain
Like, live?!?
By James Fucking Taylor?!!??
Dark times indeed, my friend. Glad you made it.
And later that night when the lights went out of sight
came the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Floods bug the shit out of me.
I’ve never been directly affected by one but have almost always lived in an area that is (Ohio and Mississippi river valleys).
Just the helplessness of it all, and the murkiness.
My house in OKC is on fairly high ground, I’m not too worried here. And I have a pretty good tornada basement. And it’s brick.
Move from Tulsa to outside State College, Pa I have to laugh at the weather coverage here. It’s nothing like in Oklahoma. Their puny weather effects are nothing like Viper 5000 (or whatever they called it in OK).
Though it is nice to actually have a basement.
We don’t get much in the way of tornados over here, but I’m still really terrified of flying monkeys! Terrified!
Ha ha ha- now, that’s close to what I wanted to say. Good call.
I may even have mentioned my general wariness of pictures of Judy Garland, and, by extension, anything involving Liza Minelli. And my fear of a house landing on my girlfriend.
Just kidding. I don’t have a girlfriend.
Pills are alright, though, all depending…
My cousin used to tell me that gorilla’s could fly and that shit scared me for a few years…
Being from Nebraska I’ve became accustomed to the toranado watch’s & warnings that plague the cornhusker state each year from April thru September.
However I will never forget the early evening of June 3rd, 1980 in Grand Island, Which came to be known as “The Night of Twisters” !
Myself & a couple of my closest drinking buddies were inhaling Crown & Cokes at a bar on South Locust street and when it got to the point where I needed to relieve my swollen bladder I headed into the mens room. While in the head I heard what I thought was a bar fight on the other side of the restroom door. People were hollering & screaming. I thought “WTF” is going on out there?
After finishing my business I opened the door to see my buddies & other bar patrons hiding under the pool tables & when I looked up the roof was gone!
Then we really got drunk.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Grand_Island_tornado_outbreak
The clip is from out local station. My husband was working in downtown Tuscaloosa. So many people I know have lost all they have. Family, coworkers, friends. Luckily, no one in our life is among the dead. The tornado passed over one of the busiest intersections in town, and now it looks like a war zone. It was a horrible day, and I still feel numb. Please pray for all of us. Our death toll was 31 last I heard, but there are still many missing.
Actually, this is the news clip, on Jeff’s clip you can hear our weather guy in the background. This one is from a tower camera.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_3z8kzBIMc&sns=fb
Best wishes and heartfelt prayers, M.
Same here m God Speed.
Thanks, y’all.
m…
Very glad to hear that you and yours are safe. I pray that your community wll be able to mourn together, then rebuild. Sometimes the most terrible things will bring out the very best in a community. Please stay safe.
jtb
m….My heart goes out to you and your family and friends.
I appreciate the kind words. My family has been really lucky. A fair amount of property damage, but we are all alive and unhurt.
Here’s to earthquakes, from the Dude in California.
Having lived years 1-18 and 22-present in So Calif (I spent 4 years in Southern New England, so I do know about inclement weather, albeit without hurricanes or floods), I’ve experienced my share of earthquakes. Big and small, at all hours of the day and night. Even the small ones cause considerable consternation because one never knows whether any given quake will continue to build, how long it will last, what the ultimate strength will be, etc.
What to do in the event of an earthquake? As a kid we were told to go stand in a doorway. It turns out that that advice was bullshit–never have I seen pictures of earthquake devastation that show rubble, rubble, rubble, doorway, rubble, rubble, doorway….
I live 20 miles north of San Onofre so, like Madz, in the event of “The Big One” finding a place to avoid rubble will be the least of my worries. If I could only remember where I put those potassium iodide tablets…
I don’t now how those of you who live in tornado country keep sane at this time of year. As Monica pointed out, you know a hurricane’s coming for days in advance. But a tornado? That’s some scary shit coming out of nowhere. I’d have called U-Haul for a one-way rental long ago. But that’s just me.
That said, reading the above tales of storm-related losses has been quite sobering, to say the least. Thank you for sharing. Every once in a while I receive a dose of reality along with the comic smorgasbord here, and this dose won’t soon be forgotten.
-Dude
We usually have a few minutes’ warning, and we know ahead of time if tornadoes are a possibility. My father powered the TV with the generator (and earlier round of bad storms had knocked the power out) and we watched the weather. They can usually tell us pretty accurately where it’s headed. This does not minimize the fear, however, of huddling in a closet, basement, or outdoor storm cellar while it sounds like the world is coming to an end outside.
My boyfriend’s Aunt and Uncle were hit by a tornado in the country of our little town of Peotone, IL in Central Illinois. Tore down there entire shop, ripped the roof clean off the detached garage and put it in the driveway, and destroyed everything but the house (thankfully). It was horrible. But it was really amazing to see how many people came to help. 35-40 people all coming down the road with tractors, trailers, food, beer, etc…They were in the garage when it happened, had no idea it was even coming. If they hadn’t scooted under the truck just in time, they would’ve gotten taken away.
That’s scary! Glad they’re OK.
Yes, they were ok. Unfortunately, once the new shop went up, his Uncle ended up passing away in a work related accident inside that very shop. A year later, Aunt Joyce was diagnosed with ovarian and liver cancer. It’s been really rough for his family. His Aunt Joyce is tough is a tough girl. She’s doing good now. Luckily, they were able to catch it in time, but she still had to go through chemo. Her hair is finally growing back. Like she always says, “If I didn’t have bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all”.
Has anyone heard anything from Jason? I know he’s in AL & last night on FB he said a tornado was very close to him. That was his last message.
I was just thinking the same thing, Melissa.
I hope he and his family are OK.
Where you at, Jason?
Power outage?
He probably doesn’t have power. Over 300,000 homes are without power, and will be for a couple more days, probably. Cell service is spotty at best, and the system is overloaded. It takes forever to actually get a call through. I’m really, really lucky to still have power.
Hey m- I was effin around earlier, but seriously I hope all is well. With everybody.
btw, wasn’t effin around about Jason- hope it IS a power outage.
No problem, sometimes a little morbid humor is okay.
I was just thinking the same thing about Jason driving in to work today. Weird. I think about you guys even when I’m not logged on to this site.
So do I.
There have been tornadoes in WV before. The most well know is probably the one that came through Shinnston in 1944.
I’ve lived through more than my share of terrible weather: Nor’easters, hurricanes, tornadoes.
The latest was two weekends ago. The tornadoes that touched down in Eastern/Central NC two weeks ago literally surrounded my house. I recommend g**gling “Lowes, Sanford, NC” for pictures. That happened a mere 20 minutes from me. The others were even closer; five separate tornadoes touched down in an average 7 mile radius from my house.
Since moving to the NE coast of Oz, I have had the pleasure of meeting cyclones(hurricanes) Rona, Steve, Ingrid, Larry Monica and the latest and biggest, Yasi. Pretty lucky to have escaped unharmed so far but can’t help thinking that the longer I go without getting smashed the closer I get to getting smashed. Might be time for a sea change…
I’ve never seen a tornado, and I’m not the least bit interested in doing so. I heard weather reports today talking about tornado warnings north and south of here, but right here it just rained and blew (huh-huh) a bit.
I’ve been pretty lucky on the bad-weather front… hurricane Isabel stopped by, but that’s about it. Some of my neighbors lost cars, trees, power, but no lives. And we get the odd nor’easter every few years. I remember the blackout of 1965, but that wasn’t really a *natural* disaster.
.
Well, we escaped the Alabama shitstorm without harm or damage (thank god). But the power has been off since yesterday, and word is it’ll take at least a week before it’s back on. Fuck that. We threw our perishables in the garbage and shagged ass over to South Carolina. That’s where we are now, in a hotel. We might stay until things simmer down over at the thunderdome. We plan to watch a friend race on Saturday, which is why we came (aside from the fact that it doesn’t feel like 1850 over here).
I’m very glad to hear you and yours are safe and sound. We’ve been thinking of you guys!
Jason, I don’t know you, but you’re one funny mf and… you know the rest
Jason…
Really happy to see your comment and glad you and the family are safe.
jtb
Here Here! Glad all is as well as can be.
Glad you guys are ok. Enjoy your weekend.
=8^-)
Whew!!
Thanks for the good wishes, guys. Lots of people are dead or otherwise screwed. We just inconvenienced slightly.
But get this crap: I heard a lady call into the radio yesterday and it started out okay, “please pray for us. Many have lost everything, and lots of people were killed.” okay, that’s fine. Then she continued, “most of us don’t have power so we won’t be able to see the royal wedding.” are you fucking kidding me? People are dead, people had their houses and businesses wiped out, and she’s worried about the goddamn royal wedding? Why couldn’t this stupid bitch take a 2 x 4 to the head? Is there no justice, God?
We’re off to Charlotte this morning. Talk to you guys later.
Amen, brother. I’m so glad this wedding is finally over.
Good to hear from you, Jason. Enjoy the weekend and the race.
Glad you’re okay! My parents just found out that they might not get power until May 4. I don’t know how we lucked up and kept ours, but I’m so glad we did! The 3 or 4 that hit Tuscaloosa County seemed to split north and south of us, so our house was unscathed, and we’ve got power and phone. I know it got really rough around your area, too.
As to the idiot and the wedding, that really pisses me off. People are homeless or missing or dead, and she’s worried about watching a damn wedding? She’s probably upset that she’ll be missing The Young and the Restless, too.
In regards to yesterdays post, I am loving the lineup for this years Ottawa Bluesfest (mostly not a blues festival but the name has earned brand recognition so it stays) which includes two hour headlining sets from both Soundgarden and A Perfect Circle.
Other acts at the 2011 edition of the festival include: Buddy Guy, Bootsy Collins, Cheap Trick, John Fogerty, Steve Miller Band, Peter Frampton, Huey Lewis and the News, The Tragically Hip, The Black Keys, Tegan and Sara, Ben Harper, The Roots, Cage the Elephant, Three Days Grace, Billy Talent, Rise Against, My Morning Jacket, The Tea Party, Blue Rodeo, Death From Above 1979, Death Cab for Cutie, The Flaming Lips, Dropkick Murphys and Joe Satriani.
There is something in there for almost anyone who loves rock (and hence blues) based music…it is going to be a fun couple of weeks in Ottawa in July!
I am also a huge fan of FNL. I had to watch season 5 online because DirecTV isn’t available here in the Great White North and I was too impatient to wait for NBC to replay it. I happened to receive s4 as a gift yesterday, I only need s5 to complete the DVD set. I’ve turned at least ten friends/ coworkers on to the show and without fail every single one of them has loved it.
Good line up. The lead singer of the flaming lips drinks where I drink.
I’ve heard Wayne is super nice to fans out in public too. My buddy ran into him after the OKC UFO at the Zoo show and he stopped what he was doing and chatted with him for longer than was polite.
I’ve nodded to him in the bar, but never actually talked to him. I don’t want to talk to him just to say I’m talking to him, you know? But he seems like a pretty good guy and puts on a hell of a NYE show.
yeah my buddy just walked by him at the airport and absently said – “Hey it’s Wayne”. He turned around and started chatting with my buddy, completely unsolicited.
He’s also one of the only lead singers I call by their first name like I know the guy or something.
Never been to a NYE show but seen them at Bricktown, the Zoo, and D-Fest in Tulsa.
I plan on visiting bricktown tonight.
Thank goodness you’re alright Jason.
I just hope T. Farty McAppleass is ok as well, maybe hunkered down somewhere, watching replays of the royal wedding and masturbating violently.
Ditto on Jason. And m. I hope the other Alabamie reporters are fine as well.
And as for TFM, I’ve secretly had a mancrush on him for some time. I’m not a homosexual or anything but would do him under the Christmas tree in the Macy’s window, or something like that.
If a tornado can get a 40 penny nail out of a 2 x 12, why can’t it get a tank top off of Helen Hunt?
Bill, I think the problem is that Ms. Hunt’s topology doesn’t generate a sufficiently high drag coefficient. So to the tornado, she’s hardly there at all.
jtb
There’s rumors that T. Farty McAppleass made it through the storm but was later killed while trying to hook a generator to his breaker box. We’ll tell you more when we know more.
That’s a surprising rumor. I would have thought that the tough old sumbitch wouldn’t be bothered at all by an electric shock.
Wait a minute. Don’t I remember McAppleass bragging about how hard he was banging Jason’s wife? And wouldn’t tornado-induced confusion create the perfect opportunity for Jason to exact revenge?
Don’t talk to the gendarmes without counsel, Jason. They’ll never prove it.
We’re at the races near Camden, SC. Our buddy is getting ready to race. There’s 12 in his class, all BMW and Porche. They told me I should get into this. I could get started for about $200,000. Ha! No thanks. It feels like 10:00, but it’s 11:00 in this time zone. I’ve already started on the co’beer. I hope everyone has a great weekend.
Melissa, how’d your interview go?
It went very well. So well that they pretty much offered me the job. However, the pay is much less to start than what I make now. So, I have some decisions to make. However, they pay 100% medical, will pay me $3k/year to take work related courses & I also get the chance to win a scholarship (yearly contest) for a full ride to a nearby University.
The pay is the biggest hold up right now. I will lose about $900 a month but the advancement opportunities are great. Where I am at now I can’t advance any further & we are under constant threat of layoffs & furloughs (already losing 16 hours a month thru furloughs). So, I am leaning about 90% towards taking it. I go in Friday for a tour of the site (it’s a large place) & to finish up paperwork. I will try to negotiate an extra two dollars per hour then. So, hopefully they will accept. But, I’m sure if I penny pinched it can be done. And it is only temporary as I can move up in a year or so. But, yay for the positive vibes from them! Thanks to all for thinking of me!