So I am at the mall in Durham last weekend and I notice that Season 1 of “Flight of the Conchords,” the funniest show your’e not watching, is already on DVD. It is truly amazing the speed with which they get these shows out for us to buy. Why do you even need HBO anymore? You could probably save money just by going out and buying (or renting, even) the DVDs of shows like the Sopranos, The Wire or Sex and the City (Not me, mind you. I would never watch that show…)
Anyway, I have been a Flight of the Conchords fan for a long time. A few years before they ever got the show on HBO I saw them on a Comedy Central stand-up special and have Youtube’d them quite often ever since. It’s a duo from New Zealand. If you liked Lord of the Rings, you’ll love this!!! OK, maybe that is a stretch.
Yes, I am working on Memorial Day, which explains both my boredom (only one in the newsroom) and these two lame posts. Sorry Sanford. I’ll try harder.
In the summer of my sophomore year in high school, I heard a quirky little song on the MTV (back when MTV played videos, that is) called “Box full of Letters.” I instantly fell in love with it and rushed out to buy the album, Wilco’s A.M. But like most things when you are 15, I soon fell out of favor with it and forgot all about Wilco, figuring they were just a one hit wonder, I guess.
Other than a few weeks in Chicago in 2003, where my then girlfriend pointed out the corncob buildings that grace the album cover of “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” (she was much cooler than me, I guess. Which explains a lot. Also, Sammy Sosa and Oprah are rumored to live in these buildings…OK, I’m rambling. Sorry), I really didn’t think about them until two years ago. Upon moving into a house on Vance Street with Gordon Anderson, I rediscovered them. And I am glad that I did. This band rocks. You’ve probably know them from their various VW commercials, but they’re better than that.
Anyway, so Wilco is coming to the Koka Booth Ampitheater in Cary on August 8, and I plan to be there. I hope you will join me.
Brooke Wolfe outdid herself here. This is the best picture I have ever been in during my time at The Herald. It’s me interviewing Charlie Daniels at the Small Business Banquet a week ago.
But that’s not the cool part. Compare this with the video of me eating the cheeseburger. Aren’t I handsome!!!
So. Since Wednesday, several people have asked me when I am going to give an update on my trip to see my favorite band, Drive-By Truckers. Here it is:
In a word, the night was perfect. Not good. Not great. Perfect.
(Trust me, this is the censored version of the night’s festivities. Suffice it to say that it was the classic Rock ‘n Roll experience for yours truly.)
It started at around 6 p.m., when my best friend since 10th grade, Matt Moore, picked me up from my townhouse drinking an AMP Energy drink. I knew it was going to be a great night right then, because Matt was already getting fired up. And if there is anything cooler than Matt fired up, I haven’t seen it yet.
Anyway. We made our way up to Raleigh to meet up with Chad and Jeremy, whom I went 14 years (K-12, plus one year at State) of school with, along with Clark, whom I haven’t seen in at least a year, two other Matts I went to high school with, Nikki and Daniel. I think that is everybody.
After a few hours of Wii play (Chad and Jeremy have two of the systems. In a world where those things are more precious than gold, only Chad and Jeremy could procure two of them), several beverages and several youtube videos, we headed towards Carrboro.
It was so great to be back in God’s country. It was night, but I’m sure if it were daytime the sky would have been Carolina Blue.
The opening act was actually great – a band called The Dexateens. They were a little more mainstream than the Truckers, but their closing number, the theme from “Diff’rent Strokes” brought the house down and was apropos for the mood I was in at the time.
Then the Truckers hit the stage, and though they’re are not the same without Jason Isbell, their old guitarist who quit the band for a solo career last year, they still rocked, especially Mike Cooley’s songs. And they played a strong mix of the old songs I love and the good ones from the new album, which I felt was not their best effort.
After several hours and a long encore, along with a slight detour through Chapel Hill to drop off a new friend, we made our way home. That is all I am going to say.
Now if you read this thing, you probably wouldn’t think it was the best night of my life. It was. But if I told you the rest of the story on here, I’d probably get fired. If you run into me on the streets, I’ll fill you in.
That’ll do, pig.
Next time the Truckers are in town you’d better go. Don’t think about it. Just go. I have been to three of their concerts and two of them rank one-two on my list of great nights.
The above video is the only one I can find on youtube from the night. I am not a great fan of this song and it does not show the true greatness of the band. But it’ll have to do.
Well, sort of. If you have kept up with this blog for any significant amount of time you’ll know that I am the biggest Drive-by Truckers fan in the world.
The Truckers are coming to the Cat’s Cradle this week for two shows, and you can rest assured that I will be at one of them. The plan is to go on Wednesday for the final show.
And what had been planned to be a small outing of a couple old friends has snowballed into a full-on high school reunion of sorts. First my friend Matthew’s wife messaged me on MySpace to say they were going, then at about 1 a.m. this morning I get a text message from my best friend since Kindergarten that he and his wife are coming as well. And a few of my newer friends are coming, too. It should be a blast. I’m going to go ahead and take off Thursday right now.
If you have a free night on Tuesday or Wednesday, it would surely behoove you to head up to Carrboro for one of the shows… Here is another sample:
So last year I got a chance to take a free flying lesson with the new instructor at the Sanford/Lee County Airport and ever since I have wanted to get back in the air. Well, after careful budgeting and a little coaxing of my dad, (“Come on, daddy. When I get my license we can just take off to Talladega for the weekend!”) I have managed to work it so that I will begin lessons next week!!!
The only problem is that Ryan, the instructor who taught me on my first lesson, has left the airport. So I have to schedule lessons on nights and weekends when a part-time instructor is available. But that’s fine, because I am usually working during the day anyway.
As a kid, I wanted to be either a fighter pilot, a racecar driver or the president. I have bad eyes, so I can’t be a fighter pilot, I’m getting too old to start a race car career and I am far too honest to be president. This is the next best thing, I guess.
This is going to be awesome!!! I will update you on my progress as I make it.
I have often wondered what would have happened if Hillary Clinton had filed for divorce when Bill was caught philandering with an intern a few years back. Mainly, I just want to know if she could’ve kept the White House.
The hippies got something right. I can’t say that I am a huge Beatles fan (I like most of their songs, such as “Hey Jude” and “All my lovin’”, but I am no connoisseur.) But I did run across this gem today while surfing through clips, and thought I would share.
This is my favorite Beatles song, right now at least. The world would be a better place if we all could just “let it be” sometimes.
Jonathan Owens is the assistant editor of the Sanford Herald, a daily newspaper in the center of North Carolina. A 2003 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, his bias for all things Carolina blue knows no bounds. He also enjoy long walks on short piers and golf.
