Now that I have a follower. . .

I figured I better put up a post now that I have a follower. Interesting vid that I saw about a Jets fan being arrested and dragged out of the stadium in San Diego the other day. It appeared that the worst that the guy was doing was to cheer rather obnoxiously for the Jets in the midst of many rather staid San Diego fans. So. . . I am a graduate of UNC and have been a longtime fan of UNC basketball. See the pic attached of me when I was a kid with Phil Ford right after UNC won the ACC Tournament in 1975. Anyway, the reason I bring up UNC is because of an incident similar to the Jets incident that occurred at a Carolina game earlier this season. This incident has perhaps tainted the karma for the Heels for the remainder of the year. The Tar Heels were pummelling an outmanned opponent, tiny Presbyterian College of South Carolina (nickname the "Blue Hose"--for real). With about a 40 point UNCs lead with five minutes left, a Presbyterian fan yelled for a Carolina player to miss his free throw. By all account he was not profane but perhaps a little drunk. Coach Roy Williams, apparently having nothing better to do, turned around and glared at the guy. Shortly thereafter security arrived and kicked the guy out of the arena. Carolina is something like 4 and 4 since this game and I think this action by the coach does not bode well for the remainder of the year!

Wind Power

Up here in the mountains at Boone, NC. Staying on top of one of the hills. There's a windmill here for generating electricity. It seems to turn in pretty low wind. Doesn't make much noise. Don't know how much power it is generating.

Blue Ridge Parkway

Here in North Carolina we are blessed to have the Blue Ridge Parkway which was built in the depression era by the Works Project Administration. A favorite pastime of anyone who lives within a few hours off the Parkway is to drive to the mountains and drive the parkway and enjoy the view. This is done year round, weather permitting, but is most likely to be done in the fall when the leaves are changing. The Parkway was not built to get from one place to another, it was simply built for the view. What are we doing today that will resonate 70 years from now purely for the aesthetics?

Tiesto

I have a friend who is in to these DJ's who travel from city to city and seem to have their own respective followings internationally. He had wanted me to go check one out knowing that I am a huge live music fan. So on October 15 I went with him to see a guy named Tiesto at the Forum in Charlotte. It was quite a show. What is most impressive is how the DJ can feel the energy of the crowd and how he can bring that energy up, up, up and into a crescendo and then breaking it back down again. The place was extremely crowded and so you had to let go of your fear of a "Who" concert debacle and just accept the flow of the whole gig. You could find yourself literally floating across the dance floor from the energy of music and the people who were crammed next to you. An interesting experience and a lot of fun.

Historic Chicago Theatre

While in Chicago we had an opportunity to see a wonderful performance of Forever Tango at the Chicago Theatre. The Theatre is one of those artistic masterpieces from the 1920's or 1930's. The elaborate detail work sets these places apart and makes any event at such a place special. I love seeing my favorite rock bands in these venues. I saw Gov't Mule at the historic Tennesee Theater in Knoxville, a venue that is very similar to the Chicago Theatre. I also have a couple of vids from the performance up on my youtube.

Blues and Burritos

Legendary guitarists Max Drake and Rusty Barkley.
Part-Time Blues Band.

September 25, 2009 marked the 9th Annual Blues and Burritos at our law firm. This started as a small event to acknowledge and entertain our clients. It quickly grew into a party open to the entire community. Our firm underwrites the entire event with free burritos and beer for all comers and an all star lineup of blues players and singers each year. This year was unusual because the weather was not beautiful. A an odd low pressure system had settled into the southeast. We postponed the event on September 18 because it had rained and rained and it was too wet. We figured that by 9/25 the rains would be gone completely. Nonetheless, by 9/25 the system was still in town and there was a 60 percent chance of rain. It was sunny most of the day, but after we had spent the afternoon setting up, dark clouds rolled in as the event was to begin. It looked like it was going to rain buckets. Instead, it drizzled occasionally and weather cooled to a comfortable temperature. Amazingly, we were hearing that it was raining all around town except right at our event. The weather held for most of the night and we had a crowd close to 1,000 people. We ask for donations and this year our charities were the Mooresville Soup Kitchen and HealthReach Community Clinic. Folks just reach in their pockets and give what they have with them that night. We have raised well in excess of $40,000 over the years. Come see us next September.

Top Fuel Dragsters

The start.
The burnout.

Motorcycles.

The venue.

I went to the NHRA Drag Racing event at Z-Max Dragway in Concord, North Carolina today. There is nothing quite like drag racing and I recommend that anyone experience even if your stomach is turned by the concept of racing. The event is so accessible to all fans. In the garage area, all fans are welcome to watch the preparations of the cars. The sport does a great job of crossing over its marketing opportunities with the sport itself. The entire garage area is essentially mobile as it is set up in a paved area behind the track itself. As such the higher funded top fuel and funny car programs are able to have hospitality trailers next to where they prepare the cars so the sponsors can entertain their customers while allowing them to view the preparations of the race car. There are several types of cars such as the pro stock as well as motorcycles. But there is nothing like top fuel and funny cars which top out at 315 miles an hour, less than 4 seconds to cover 1000 feet. To feel the full power of these machines is to have an experience that is unanticipated and almost overwhelming. As the cars pull from the start, the noise is beyond loud and ear plugs are required. But even more shocking than the noise is almost like a wave of undefinable energy that emanates from the cars, kind of like those waves of destruction that come from a nuclear bomb on that old footage from the desert tests. It truly simply blows you away. Check it out some time.