Review of my long weekend.

My SO and I had a wonderful time this past weekend in Pittsburgh, PA. Friday night we saw Blue Oyster Cult up close and personal. We were joined by Colonel Smitty and his spouse, Katie who drove in from Washington DC. In record time I must say. Being pressed against the stage afforded us the best view and a surprise at the end. After attending a huge amount of rock concerts since my teenage years (and never having anything to show for it, albeit ticket stubs and memories) I was given the guitar pick from Buck Dharma. Mrs. Colonel also received a pick. My SO was pretty green with envy and the Colonel's brother who is a huge BOC fan will be pretty jealous as well. After the concert we made our way to a local seafood restaurant for some beers and food. The food was typical seafood fare. The fried clams were delicious, but my crab cakes were horrible. They tasted like dough. My SO commented on the fried clams as tasting like the old "HoJo's. All three of them consumed Black and Tans and I had a Sam Adams Boston Lager and two Diet Coke's. The Colonel and Katie then left for Washington, DC arriving at 3am. Smitty said he slept until 7am and then did a five mile run. Wow, now thats Army training!

On Saturday my SO and I went to Zele to the Horse Trading Days for a bit of shopping and fun. We stopped for lunch at the Z cafe and he had a fried fish sandwich and I had a Philly steak and cheese sandwich and we shared Sweet potato fries. The sandwiches were good but the fries made me a bit sick. I think they used poor grade cooking oil, who knows, what made me a bit sick. OK, I know, TMI. It could have been the hot and humid sunny weather. I probably should have consumed more water. We both slept like bears that night, and I didn't snore that much, well I think I didn't.

On Sunday, we both slept in. We had breakfast and then went to Borders and did some shopping. I was on the hunt for a winter Penguins coat, but had no luck. I did however buy a cap and T-shirt. We both went back to his house and I finished packing and left for home. The drive was fine up until the monsoon rains. The temperature went from 92 degrees to 71 in a matter of five seconds. I must have hit a huge cold front. It went from bright sunshine to black skies which lasted a good 45 minutes of treacherous driving.

For your viewing pleasure I present several photos of the BOC concert, myself and Mrs Colonel, showing our Buck Dharma guitar picks. (Please scroll down further to view.)

The song list :

This Ain't The Summer of Love
Before The Kiss
Burning For you
Shooting Shark
The Vigil
ME 262
Cities on Flame
Buck's Boogie
Black Blade
The Last Days of May
Godzilla
Don't Fear The Reaper

The Colonel and Katie have invited my SO and yours truly to the BOC concert in Lancaster, sometime in September. Lancaster is a long way to drive from Mentor,OH, so I'm not 100% sure I can drive there. I also have an Iced Earth concert the same week, and I purchased the VIP package and took the following workday off. I don't think I'll be able to get another day off from work. But, I can try, won't cost a thing to try. My SO is a professor at a small liberal arts college in Pittsburgh, and sadly he won't be able to attend Iced Earth, due to his class schedule. He is a huge IE fan. BOC also played Erie,PA Saturday night and someplace near Canton,OH last night. I wish I would have had more energy to see those shows.

Somehow while editing I deleted the paragraph on how well my dear daughter, Chelsea took care of the Cosmo this past weekend. I am very proud of her as she was able to tear herself away from myspace to care for Cosmo. She even bathed Cosmo and he smelled oh so clean until I took him out for his walkee and he managed to pick the bare dirt filled spot in the lawn to roll around and deposit his scent. He is continuing to improve on the leash and really tries to sit on command. However, even with the improvements, I think it's off to puppy school pretty soon. Cosmo is just one of those puppies you fall in love. He is so chipper especially when I come home from a stressed out day at work, which lately has been pretty frequent. He makes me forget about my problems.

Well, I am back at my desk now, at work, of course. I showed off my "Pick of destiny" to all my friends and they are a bit taken aback, asking me what I had to do to get the pick. Well, they have heard stories about rock stars and groupies. I reassured them I didn't have to do anything to get the pick. Like, they really believed that one!

Blue Oyster Cult 071808

A few random photos

I'm trying to find some spare time at the end of my stressed out day to edit some photos that are trapped on my hard drive. I hear them yelling at me, let me out of here! I have added the Willoughby Lost Nation Air Show from last weekend, The National Aviary in Pittsburgh in June 08, and a few from Las Vegas in May 08. Also, Blue Oyster Cult from the Mahoning Valley Rib Burn-off June 08. My daughter Chelsea and I were in Red Rock Canyon when this photo was shot by a friend of ours who lives there and was most gracious to show us the city in her beautiful red convertible. The curly ram creatures were in a public park grazing on the grass. We were on our way back from the Hoover Dam (see photo) and stopped for a perfect Kodak moment. The creatures were totally oblivious to us and could care less who was watching them. The dancing fountains were just across the street from Planet Hollywood (where we stayed), and yes, that is the Bellagio. The weird plant life is located in Red Rock Canyon. The two colorful birds were co-stars of a flight in motion show which was quite entertaining. The bald eagle is an injured bird and does not fly and was viewed through protective glass. We shared the company of the Klingon at Quarks Bar in the Las Vegas Hilton after being blown away during the two Star Trek ride attractions. However, he didn't have a lot of kind words about Worf from the Next Gen.

It's only Thursday.

My last day at work this week, I'll be in Pittsburgh tomorrow visiting my SO and attending the free BOC concert. My SO's good friend from the military will meet us at the concert. I know he has a very busy schedule and it is a long drive from Washington, DC. Saturday will be spent visiting the Horse Trading Days festival in Zele and a promised ride on the incline, the one (they have two) I didn't ride last year, plus a walk around Mt. Washington. Albeit cooperation from the weather. On Sunday the usual visit to Squirrel Hill for the requisite falafel sandwich and some culture. I was also told by my SO about the availability of purchasing a Pens winter jacket, as I can't find one on the NHL website to my liking. Yea, I'm from the Cleveland area, but I am a huge Pittsburgh Penguins fan. I really wish they won the Stanley Cup, they were totally awesome this past year. Go Crosby and Malkin! It looks even better for the coming year, as they re-signed most of their players. Detroit just had a more experience team, and most of their players were nearing retirement. My SO just referred to them as a bunch of "old Swedes" wanting to win the Cup one last time. No offense to the Red Wings or the Sweds. "Geno" Malkin I was told had the flu most of the playoffs, correct me if I am wrong. But he was still a threat to be dealt with. I was able to follow some of the games on the VS cable station. With luck I'll be able to see a few games at Mellon arena. I hear a new arena is in the works, but who knows how long it will take to complete.

I'm still waiting for the shopping list from my daughter to appear in my in box. I'll go to the store after work and visit the "money god" so she has some spending money for the weekend. My daughter has been eating way too much junk food and then she complains that nothing fits her. Oh well! Heaven forbid she gets a job and spends her own money. I have no doubt she will be very busy taking care of Cosmo this weekend. Cosmo is turning out to be such a "mensch". My parents haven't met Cosmo, but I'm sure they will soon.