Flashback: Concert Band, 1986

Tonight I had the distinct pleasure of watching my sophomore son in his Spring Concert. It washed over me in a fit of nostalgia which brings me to this photo:



That is the 1986 Concert Band from Statesboro High. Where in the heck did we get all those tuxedos?

Drinking Survey Results

Let me preface this post with the following. This is social experiment only. I don't know (and don't want to know) who you are in regards to this data. Before reading this post, please take the short drinking survey.



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If you've completed the survey then scroll down for the total results



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Results:

St. Patrick's Weekend: Day Two

03/19: Update: Filling in links and photos.
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When I have the occasional weekend with friends, there are some absolutes about me:

• I don't drink beer.
• I snore like a train in the hotel room.
• I'm the first one up every morning.

Well when I woke up this morning, two of those three absolutes were still true: I snored loudest and woke up first.

After the (necessary) morning showers, Bradd, Lee and I made our way over to Bad Ass Coffee. There we had exotic flavors of java and warm croissant breakfast sandwiches.



As we ate the parade came by and we were able to watch it, first from the window of the restaurant and then, from the sidewalk bustling with attendees.





As we wandered through the event we saw all manner of interesting things.






This is how close we were able to get to the stage for 3 Days Grace:



At it's peak, the place was PACKED.



After the last band played we headed back to the hotel for a short while to let the crowds thin. This was a distinct advantage over most others who had to make their way long distances back to their cars and such. After a rest and reload we headed back out for a quick dinner and then Delaney's Speakeasy. There we were able to get considerably closer to the music.



At 2am they close things up so we headed back to the hotel to crash.

• I drank a few beers (never got more than a gentle buzz.)
• I snored like a freight train in the hotel room.
• I'll be the first one up tomorrow morning.

St. Patrick's Weekend: Day One

03/19: Update: Added some links and photos.
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Blogging by phone in outline form this morning. I'll backfill it later with links and photos.

Day One set a nice pace for the rest of the weekend.

Lee and I left Atlanta mid morning and arrived at Sconyers in Augusta for lunch. Their BBQ is great but the hash with rice made the lunch exceptional.

We arrived in Columbia, SC around 3pm and made an obligatory pass through the Shandon neighborhood--the place where Lee, Matt, Mark and others lived when attending USC.

The next stop was the Claussen Inn in 5 Points, our "basecamp" for the weekend which was less hotel and more of a bed and breakfast right in the heart of the action.

Bradd arrived at the hotel and then the three of us went to Jillian's in the Vista area to meet up with Matt and Mark. The 5 of us spent a couple of hours catching up and watching NCAA basketball.

At around 6pm we made our way just up a couple of blocks to The Flying Saucer. With walls lined with decorative plates ("saucers?"), we enjoyed arguably the largest and most diverse beer menu that Columbia has to offer.

Jump to 7:30pm. Bradd arranged for us to go to the local Columbia Inferno's home hockey game against Charlotte. But that's just the beginning. We parked in a special space right next to the stadium and were escorted into a side door arriving, literally, at ring side seats right on the glass. Highlights included me getting the actual game puck from the first period! A few free beers later the game ended, unfortunately in a loss.

At around 9:30pm we made our way back to 5 Points to a great little upstairs pizza place called Village Idiot. There we enjoy great pizza, wings, jalapeño cheese fries and basketball. We left there stuffed.

At around 11pm our final destination of the night was Delaney's, an Irish style pub also right there within the walking-friendly 5 Points area. There we did a final round of beers, free shots of whiskey hand delivered by the Jameson's Girls and (seemingly) authentic Celtic music aptly performed by J.J. Smith ("OYE!")

This Car Has Seen Some Miles...

One of those neat things that I wanted to share.

The original red Volvo just hit EXACTLY 242k miles as I arrived at home just now. While nearly a quarter million miles is phenomenal, my other Volvo wagon is well over 300k miles and still going strong. I'll try to photograph that one day.

On a separate note, I will be heading off on a 3-day weekend tomorrow to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Five Points in Columbia, SC. It's an annual trip with "the fellers" where I get to remember all the silly things of my youth amongst people who know every stinking detail. Quite humbling really.

Flashback: 1984

Oh my... what is this?




Yep! That is me at 16 years old--the same age as my son is now! The caption gives the details... good times...