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Slayer, Megadeth, Testament 9-1-10 Arco Arena

Sep 2

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Two months ago, I won tickets from a local radio station to see Slayer, Megadeth, and Testament in Sacramento.

I have seen all three bands at least once before, but this is a smoking line up, and you couldn’t keep me away.

Julie and I left for the arena (my Mom watched the house and pets while we was gone…thanks Mom!) and drove down to Woodland, which is about 20 minutes from the arena. We got a room at a Motel 6, which was cheap…for a reason. Apparently, it is thug central with tons of parolee-looking crack heads hanging out. The room was small, and the AC loud and weak. The good news was we wasn’t gonna be there long.

After resting up for a bit, we had dinner at the Denny’s next door and drove down to Arco Arena. We found a park close to the doors, and sat on the tailgate and had some drinks and watched the people. The fan mix was everyone from the 8-year old to the 70+ year old. Everyone was sporting their favorite black concert tee short.

As 7pm got close, we grabbed out tickets and went in. Luckily the frisk search was cursory, and Julie was asked “is that your cell phone?” She said ‘yes, but it was our flip video camera ;)

Once inside, I went to the merch counter and got a Slayer shirt just because I could. They were $15 cheaper than the Iron Maiden shirts from last month. We found our seats…it was all general admission, but there was plenty of seating available. We was right of the stage, and just above it. We had a really good view of the bands, except the drummers were slightly obscured by a speaker set up on the corners of the stage.

Some band observations:

Testament:

It has been many years since I have seen Testament. The last time was with my friend Dean, and back then we was all long hair and right (literally) in the front row against the barriers.

Now, a bit older and in the safe seats, I was surprised at how freeking heavy testament has gotten! The singer is more of a sing/growl style, and the band shredded! One highlight was the “Wall of Death”. The singer split the crowd like Moses parting the red sea, then commanded them to collide on command…they did, and it was awesome!

Megadeth:

My favorite band of the triple bill. They played the entire Rust in Peace album, then finished with some of their hits. The band sounded spot on. Dave Mustain’s vocals sounded a bit off…almost screachy at times, but it still sounded good in the moment. It was Megadeth live fr crying out loud!! I wish I still had the partial drum stick from Nick Menza (who is no longer in the band) that I got last time I saw them (also with Dean). Me and another guy caught the drumstick, and we both had a stranglehold on it. After several long minutes, we was at a stalemate, and we agreed to break it in half (I did the breaking and got the better half with Nick’s name).

Slayer:

Wow! Slayer killed it (pun intended)!!.

I saw Slayer during the Clash of the Titans tour in 1991. The band was still super solid and sounded great. Kerry King was a monster bad ass, and shredded. I noticed that both guitarists in Slayer changed guitars after every song, while Testament’s 2 guitarists played the entire set and never changed then once. It’s good to be the headlining act!

At the concerts, there were signs posted about people caught with “illegal substances” would be ejected or arrested. They warning didn’t stop the guy sitting a couple of seats down from me. I have never seen anyone smoke as much weed as that guy. He literally chain smoked 30-35 joints throughout the 3 bands. How he was even standing up was beyond me!

We also had a Brett Michaels look-alike sit in front of us. Julie and I both did a double take, but it was just a poser, not the real thing!

After the concert, we was about to get out quick and get back to the motel room easily around midnight. In the morning, we had breakfast (again at Denny’s), and got home at 10:30.

Here are some clips we took with the flip camera:

Megadeth Montage

Slayer: South of Heaven

Some Photos:

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LIKE it? Let me know

Aug 24

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Hey look! There a new Facebook Like button below all my posts.

If you see a post you like, let your friends know and hit the LIKE button.

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Post season softball wrap-up

Jul 28

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Well, it was an anticlimactic end to my regular softball season.

Every year, I swear I won’t play, but every year I do. This season was no different…with the exception that we actually won a few games!

Last night was the final game of the regular season. We needed to win to go into the play-offs. When game time rolled around, only 6 players on my team showed up, so we had a big forfeit…eliminating us from the play-offs. What the hell??! Nothing like leaving your team high-and-dry when it’s all on the line.

So, after it was all said and done, we ended the season with 6 wins and 6 losses for an even .500 season. Not great, but better than our team normally finishes (and we very well could have made it into the play-offs if we had fielded a team and won that last game).

Will I play next year? Who knows? My wife has standing orders to kick me in the nuts if I say I’m gonna play, but I have a feeling that if I’m asked, I will say ‘yes’. Guess I have to keep my athletic cup close when Julie reads this.

I do have a week without softball then the last tournament of the season is here…maybe my team can end on a high note (if they actually show up). We will see…

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Aerosmith and Sammy Hagar 7-23-10

Jul 24

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Last week on Friday, I got a voicemail from a DJ from my local radio station (Thunder 10.7) that went something like this:

“Hey Ed, this is Lisa Kelly from Thunder 100.7 with some fantastic news; you won two tickets to see Aerosmith and Sammy Hagar in Oakland next Friday. Come by the station to get your tickets”.

Monday morning, I drove over and picked the tickets…nice! The were for the upper level, but you can complain for free tickets!

Yesterday, Julie and I left for Oakland after some appointments (thanks again Mom for watching the animals and house!).  We drove a few hours to Fairfield and got a motel room at the same place we stayed at when we saw Iron Maiden 3 weeks ago. It’s about 30 minutes out of the Bay Area and less than 3 hours from home, so it’s a good place to stay.

From there, we drove into Oakland for dinner before the concert. I have bad memories of Oakland from the last concert I saw there in 1986 (Iron maiden with my friend Dean…we got lost in the ghetto looking for the arena) and today was a full repeat. Julie and I tried to find a Chinese place to eat and the GPS took us into the crackhead, grafitti, ghetto-ist  part of town. We couldn’t get out of there fast enough, and we ended up finding a Denny’s just down the street from the arena.

After dinner we went to the arena and got a parking spot. Unlike other concerts, there was little tom-foolery in the parking lot. We had an hour to kill before the doors opened so we people watched on the tailgate. Everyone form 12 year old kids to 50+ year old groupies were waiting for the doors to open. I did notice that there wasn’t a big line. In fact, the parking lot was mostly empty.

Once inside, we got Julie a tour shirt and found our seats. We was on the 2nd deck, but still had a pretty good view of the stage.The arena was only three-quarters full when Sammy Hagar hit the stage (on time) at 7:30pm.

I won’t apologize to say I am a bigger Sammy Hagar fan than an Aerosmith fan I have like Sammy since I was 12 years old. He hit the stage and frickin’ owned it! He played a ton of hits spanning his entire career, from Montrose (Rock Candy), Solo (I can’t drive 55), Van Halen (Why Can’t This Be Love?) Wabos (Mas Tequila), and even brought out Joe Satraini for a Chickenfoot song. He put on a hell of a show!!

Aerosmith took about 30 minutes to prep their stage and rolled out just after 9pm. They also played songs covering their entire career: Sweet Emotion, Janie’s Got a Gun,Pink, Walk This Way, Ragdoll, Love in an Elevator Toys  in the Attic etc, etc, etc). It was a hit fest! Steven Tyler impressed me so much. I have seen a lot of concerts, and I have to say Steven Tyler is the 1st true rock star I have seen. He sang, danced, played harmonica, and put on a hellova show! It was a long set (they a so many hits to play!), I didn’t think it was ever going to end. It was pushing 11:30pm before we left the arena and got back to the truck.

The only negatived for the entire night was sometimes the music got super bass heavy to the point that the band was mudded. I don’t know if it was the arena or the sound guy, but occasionally the bassists (mostly Aerosmith, but Hagars bassist also) would just overpower the rest of the band.

One thing that happened that has never happened before was we got in my truck, made a right turn, then a left turn out of the lot and was on the freeway in literally 4-5 minutes. Usually getting out of the parking lot at a concert takes an hour.

Driving back to the motel that late was rough. It took about 40 minutes with late night Bay Area traffic and a toll bridge slow down. Once we got out of the bay, it only too 20-30 minutes to get back to Fairfield to the motel.

The next morning, we got up, and a quick bite at the motel and drove back to the bay area ad spend the morning at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. We shopped around a bit and ate lunch at Hooters (I hate to say it, but I think I am over Hooters…they eye candy doesn’t make up for the crappy, expensive food). We finally rolled into our driveway just before 4pm. Loooooong couple of days, but totally worth it. 2 fantastic shows that blew me away!

Next up is Megadeth, Slayer, and Testament on September 1st…that is gonna rock my face off for sure!!

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Iron Maiden 6-20-10

Jun 21

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A couple of months ago, I won tickets to see Iron Maiden (with opening act Dream Theater) in Concord, Ca. Iron Maiden was the 1st real heavy metal concert I saw back in 1986 with my friend Dean. Back then, we drove to Oakland and was blown away…it spoiled me to all other concerts. No concert had lived up to that Maiden show (and i have seen a lot of concerts).

Needless to say, I was excited to see them. A few days ago, I found the set list and found out that they were playing 95% new stuff and almost no classics. That out a damper on my excitement, since musically, I am stuck between 1982 and 1994 and am a giant fan of there older stuff.

The morning of the concert, Julie and I drove the 2 hours to the Bay Area and got a room in Fairfield (my Mom was house/pet sitting for us). We stopped in Vacaville at the Outlet stores and Julie picked up a Coach wallet (Happy Father’s Day to her).  We hung out and got dinner, when drove the 45 minutes to the outdoor amphitheater. One thing that hasn’t changed at Iron Maiden concerts was the loooong line of cars waiting to get into the venue. The last mile easily took us 30 minutes.

We had lawn seats (that means waaaay in the back…hey, they were free) and got in about 20 minutes before the  opening band, Dream Theater, hit the stage. Dream Theater was good. I’m got a fan, and know only 1 song. They played well for an hour and was well-received by the crowd.

Iron maiden hit the stage and was awesome (from what I could see from my space shuttle-distant view). Yes, most of the set was new stuff that I had never heard, and honestly, ain’t a fan of. The did play some classic songs at he end of the set, and judging by the crowd reaction, the classics (Iron maiden, Number of the beast, Run to the Hills) were more loved than the new songs too. It was a two and a half hour set.

After the concert, we finally got out of the venue after waiting nearly as long as we did to get in. It was smooth sailing until we got to the I-680 toll bridge, then hit another 20-minute traffic jam of concert fans trying to get out o the Bay Area.

We got back to the motel room about midnight, and the next morning we was home just after 11am.

Here is a short, crappy clip from Number of the Beast to give you an idea of where out seats were:

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More softball stuff

Jun 3

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Tuesday afternoon, I got a call from my softball team’s Manager, asking me to pitch the game that night (the late 9:30pm game…ewww), something I haven’t done before. I said yes, since it was his anniversary, and felt good about saying yes  until I started talking to some co-workers and teammates. “You are crazy for pitching” and “I would never stand out there like a big target” were comments that kept coming up. What did I agree to??

The night of the game, I was really nervous. My team is actually playing well this season, and I was worried I would blow the game single-handedly from the mound.

I got though the 1st inning, and didn’t walk or hit anyone, and started to breathe easier. We played really well defensively, which helped me out, and we was hitting the ball like a pro team. I went 5 for 5, and didn’t walk a single player from the other team. My team gave me the game ball for pitching so well. Pitching was fun, but my wrist, arm and shoulder are sooooo sore. Different muscles tan I usually use in my regular spot on 1st base.

We are in a 3-way tie for 1st place in my league, which is a first for us. Now I remember why I like to play ball…it’s actually fun when you win :)

Weird lip poses (aka: Duck Face)

Apr 19

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Okay, I’m gonna let you in on a pet peeve of mine…it’s girls who hold their mouths funny when posing for their Facebook or MySpace profiles.

Do they think it’s sexy to hold your mouth in a fish-lips or sideways pout? Who knows? I think it’s just weird.

Thank you to my friend’s daughter and her goofy facebook friends for providing the goofy photos

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Play Ball!

Apr 5

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My police department has two softball teams…one is better and more competitive, the second more laid back and fun.

I have played on the second team for several years, and every year I swear that it’s my last. Every year I keep coming back, full of optimism. We lose…a lot. Losing sucks (several of the players lack fundamental ball skills), the the late games in the summer heat can really wear on ya. I made my wife Julie promise to kick me in the nuts if I signed up again this year.  Unfortunately, all it took was “wanna play ball?” from the manager, and I was on the roster again. I was afraid to tell Julie…she would love to keep her promise.

I have solved all the troubles this season, though. I bought a new bat and it’s broke in and ready to play. I’m adopting a new “let it go” attitude on losing. If we lose (and I fear we will), I will now dwell on it (much). Let it go….Yeah, we suck, but at least I’m living. Play ball!

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Vancouver Washington, or bust!

Feb 17

Posted by Ed Nelson in Misc stuff | 1 Comment

Last weekend was a 4-day weekend for me, and Julie and I decided last minute to drive up to Vancouver Washington to visit her Sister and family.

We had a plan…

1) Visit the In-Laws

2) Visit some tourist traps on the trip to break up the drive

3) Visit 2 places in Portland Oregon featured on Man Vs. Food on TV

We left early in the morning and tried to enjoy the 10+ hour drive. I have an application on my iPhone that tells me where all the fun tourist traps are, so we stopped a couple of times and took our photos. I love these goofy tourist spots!

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/10926

  • Yreka, California – Metal Dragon

    • Just north of Yreka on the east side of I-5 (by the northbound lanes when you are starting your ascent of the Siskiyous) stands a large metal dragon. The dragon is about as far north of Yreka as the large metal cow is south. Fearsome looking creature!

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/search/tip

Once in Vancouver, the family all went to Portland to visit Voodoo Donuts. Voodoo Donuts is a wacky place with voodoo doll-shaped donuts, x-rated donuts, and every wacky, weird flavor you can think of (like a maple bar with bacon on top).

Check out a video clip from “man vs Food”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnVK3fdPkuo

That night, we went to Salvador Molly’s, a place we saw on TV that had a “Great Balls of Fire” challenge. Of you can eat 5 super-hot habanero fritters and salsa, you get your picture taken and posted to their “Wall of Flame”. This weekend was special because of valentine’s day…the “Love Stinks and Burns” promo was going on, so in addition to being hot, garlic and Blue cheese was cooking in the fritters to stink them up in addition to being massively hot.

1st fritter with salsa: no problem

2nd fritter: Piece of cake

3rd one: Getting hot

4th ball of fire: Crap…my mouth is on fire!

5th one: AHHHHH HOTHOTHOTHOT!!!

I ate all 5 of the habanero fritters and salsa, so the waitress took my photo and printed it out for me to sign. It’s on the wall with all the other fools who did the challenge too :)

Check out a video from the TV clip “Man vs Food:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA1nAwwwAHE

I found out that I also have relatives in the Portland area (apparently close to Salvador Molly’s, I found out later), but just couldn’t fit everything into this short trip….next time for sure! Heck, I might even do the challenge again :P

The next day was time to leave (I think my mouth had finally stopped burning by that point) and we left at 5am to beat the Portland commute traffic that we got stuck in driving up. We made it out of the area with no problems and stopped at some more tourist traps:

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/1054

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/2194

It was a fun trip, but we fit so much into a short time that it’s gonna take a week to recover.

Worth it!!

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iPhones rock!

Jan 29

Posted by Ed Nelson in Misc stuff | No Comments

Julie and I splurged, and upgraded our phones from smartphones (Blackjack IIs) to iPhones…all I can say is “WOW!”

Our phone contracts were within a month of expiring, and I had been itching for a while to get iPhones. Several coworkers have them, and I was always impressed at what they could do. The only thing holding me back was the initial cost, and the price of the calling plans, which is higher for the iPhones.

With a nice tax rebate right around the corner, we bit the bullet and got the phones. Yes, the price was a tad high ($199 plus tax, plus upgrade feels, plus accessories, etc), but the plans turned out to only be $5 more a month that I was currently paying for both phones. Now we both have unlimited texting and unlimited data plans.

Clearly, the coolest thing about iPhones are the applications (apps).  These small programs can be purchased (from free to less than $10…most are 99 cents). There are literally tens of thousands of apps to get. Here are a few that I have and REALLY like:

Facebook: Lets me get on Facebook anywhere at any time to check in with my FB friends. Send notifications right to my phone.

Flashlight: Turns your screen bright for finding the keyhole on your car door at night.

Darts: Fun little pub game for the phone.

Bejewled 2: My favorite Facebook game. I can play, and post my score to my Facebook profile.

Shazam: Hear a song and wonder who it is? Open Shazam and it will tell you the name of the song, who sings it, give you a ling to download it, read the lyrics, read the band profile, etc…The free version only lets you use it 5 times a month, so I’m upgrading soon.

Geocaching: A hobby of mine. Now I always have the info in my pocket 24/7

AppBox Lite: Contains programs such as a currency converter, calculator, countdown timer, holidays calander, tip calculator, unit converter, etc…very handy!

Koi Pond: A relaxing and super realistic Koi pond in the palm of your hand.

IMDB: The internet Movie Database has info on millions of movies. Know who starred in what movie any time you need it.

Topple: Fun little stacking game.

Blackjack: 21 for when I think I need to gamble. Cheapewr than the indian casinos.

World Tour: A game throwing paper balls into a basket. Very fun!

Yelp: resturant reviews by real people. Finds resturants around you with a click of a button.

Rotten Tomatoes: Fun MOvie reviews

Roadside: I’m a sucker for tourist traps. Click the button, and it will tell you all of the places around you. World’s Biggest Snot Ball? I’m there!

Planets: Go outside, open the program, and it will show and name the  the constillations in the sky.

Handy Level: The picture frames in my house are all straight with this bubble-leveling program

Line up free: A ‘click-3′ game. Easy and fun

Dice: Shake your phone to roll the dice. Dozens of diferent dice and games to choose from.

Sheep…free!: A game blasting a sheep into space and trying to keep him there by clicking on it when it falls.

Rope’n’ lite: A game where you swing building to building like spiderman.

DoodleJump: My favorite game at the moment. Hard to explain, fun to play.

WordPress: Lets me update this blog from my phone.

Google: More than just a mobile web search tool. Just speak what you want to search for, and it will find it. It’s amazing.

I also want to plug the Otter Box Defender protective case we keep our phones in. It’s tough and gets great reviews. I couldn’t be happier with them.

Sooooo…that’s what’s on my phone after only 4 days or so. What apps do you have that you can’t live without? Let me know!

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