I've been tagged.

by Inn of the Last Home

note** Rexwilder and I are answering these together, so take note of who is who.

7 Answers to 7 Questions

7 things I plan to do before I die

1. See the Pyramids. (The Beast)
2. Have children. (The Beast)
3. Learn Spanish (Rexwilder)
4. Set the world's record for riding The Blazing Fury (The Beast)
5. Get my graduate degrees. (The Beast)
6. Defeat James Aaron in the Epic Battle (Rexwilder)
7. Meet Hulk Hogan (The Beast)

7 things I can do

1. Play guitar (The Beast)
2. Play my noseaphone (Rexwilder)
3. Public Speaking (The Beast)
4. Pose for roller coaster photos (Rexwilder)
5. Recite verbatim the JAWS! script on the JAWS! ride at Universal. (The Beast)
6. Drive 14 hours without stopping (The Beast)
7. Bounce a tennis ball 2 inches off the ground at super speed. (Rexwilder)

7 Things I Cannot Do

1. Roller Skate backwards (The Beast)
2. Roller Skate backwards (Rexwilder)
3. Play soccer (The Beast)
4. Play the drums (Rexwilder)
5. Cook (The Beast)
6. Fake accents (Rexwilder)
7. Shoot a deer (The Beast)

7 Celebrity Crushes
**These are from years past, for me**

1. Dolly Parton (The Beast)
2. Kim Richards (Rexwilder)
3. Dawn Wells (Rexwilder)
4. Lea Thompson (Rexwilder)
5. Kate Capshaw (The Beast)
6. Kelly LeBrock (The Beast)
7. Betty Cooper (Rexwilder)

7 Things I Say the Most

1. That is a beast (The Beast)
2. Yo Yo Yo MTV Raps (The Beast)
3. You got that right (The Beast)
4. Hmmmm Beeeeeaaaar (The Beast)
5. I love you Andi (The Beast)
6. I'm surrounded by %#&$ (Rexwilder)
7. Lordy, Lordy Don Depew is 40 (The Beast)

well, I only answered 6 of the questions, oh well!

Marriage, Devil's Dice, and Headlights

This will be my last blog for over a week, as I am getting married Saturday and will be honeymooning the following week. I am so excited I can't stand it! I am so blessed, it is ridiculous. I won't even try to explain how amazing Andi is. A blog would be a lame attempt to describe her.

Devil's Dice, the single from Judah First's recent album, is now being played on nationwide radio, primarily on college radio and late night rock shows. This is obviously a big deal for us, and stations seem to be adding the song every week. Pretty cool.

I received another ticket for having a headlight out. Let me tell you something, if you drive in Nashville and have a missing headlight, get it fixed immediately. Cops are all over this traffic violation! It didn't help that I also did not have my registration in my car, and my tags came back as a Ford Windstar instead of a Chevy Vandura. I am still trying to figure out how I am not in jail.

Sorry. . . .

for the delay in posts, I am just swamped at the moment. JF had a performance in the VA Beach area and Andi and I have moved into our new apartment this week (YAY). So, needless to say, lots of things are going on. I'll be back soon.

The World of Illusions

It is old, cheesy, out-dated and downright silly. And it's one of my favorite places on Earth. In case you don't know what I am talking about, The World of Illusions is a museum in Gatlinburg, TN where you view various illusions taking place behind glass walls. For instance, you view a levitation, the famous Houdini Chinese Water Torture Trick, Dracula turn into a bat, etc. Why do I like it? Well, for one reason, I am a sucker for dark museums, especially ones that are kind of spooky and have tricks in them. But there is just something about the place that rocks beyond measure. I will definitely be dragging Andi there during our honeymoon. Can't wait!

Back on the Road

JF is gearing up to hit the road again this weekend. We will be traveling from Nashville to Virginia Beach, back to east TN and finally back to Nashville. We will travel well over 1500 miles in 2 days.

I also just got back from Orlando for a quick 2 day trip to Universal Studios with Andi, Rex, and two of my sister-in-laws. The trip was fun, except for me getting sick the last day and spending the entire time in bed. I am now on Biaxin, which is apparently some kind of medicine. For all I know, I am taking flintstone vitamins.

High protein is my new friend

After a 25 minute discussion with a random guy in a GNC store, I understood even more that a high intake of protein was essential for my weight gain journey that I am currently undergoing. I want to gain 10 pounds. I say that I understand it even more because the Dr. Rosenrosin (of JF) has been eating protein bars for the last couple of years. He has been preaching this stuff to the band for a while, of course no one listens because we are idiots who don't care about a healthy lifestyle. But, that has changed for me, and in the past three days I have increased my protein intake to around 175-200 grams a day. That is harder to do than you might think. I will keep you updated on the progress.

The Beast Review: Red Eye

Somehow I had missed that Wes Craven had directed another film that was in the theatres. As soon as I heard one of his movies was showing, Andi and I headed over to the theatre to catch the matinee. I love matinee movies.

There were several aspects of the film I was pleased with. First of all, it is not a hijacking film, which is good news. I hate hijacking films. The plot revolves around a hotel manager who is on a flight and gets summoned by a terrorist to make a call to the hotel and change rooms for the homeland security director who will be staying at the hotel. In other words, the assassin's need him to be in this other room in order to successfully make the hit. The catch is that if she doesn't make the call, her unexpecting father gets killed himself. The last 10 minutes of the picture are classic Craven, with sudden scares and tense, edge of your seat moments. A few times as Cillian Murphy would make his move through a door or jump out, you would swear that you were looking at Freddie Krueger.

On the negative side, the film seemed slow at the beginning, and I had a real problem with the efforts Rachel McAdams made to avoid making the call. With her father's life on the line, it seems a simple phone call would have been made in order to save her fathers life. However, once she learned that the entire family was going to be hit, even the children, then her resistance makes more sense. Also, these professional hit men used a freakin' missile launcher to take out basically an entire floor of the motel. Are you kidding me? That seemed a little stupid to me. Why waste time getting him into another room if you going to blast him with a missile. Just fire that baby up when his car pulls up in front the hotel, taking out a city block along with him. A lot easier.

Overall, I was pleased with the film, just some points of silliness here and there. But, what else is Hollywood for?

The Beast Grade: B

Don't Give Me This Roger Federer Stuff

I can't believe I am hearing it. "Is Roger Federer the greatest ever?" This guy still has some work to do to overcome my record on the tennis court.

I played competitive tennis for 11 years, from junior tennis to high school through college. I then taught tennis for several years, and finally just got burned out. Completely. For over 6 years, since I graduated from Belmont in 1998, I have cared less about the sport. I haven't played, watched or even kept up with the players. But, some of that is starting to change. I am getting the itch to get back in shape and compete at a level that will make it fun again. Plus, I have been enjoying watching the US Open this year, which is refreshing for me. I love the sport and am glad to find myself getting interested again.

Back to my original problem. Federer is a great player who has great potential to be an all time great. But we are getting all too quick to announce people as "the greatest" in sports these days. Not just tennis, but all sports. The list is so ridiculously long of people who are in front of Federer that the topic should not even come up. Yet.

Having said that, I want to draw attention to two players.

1. Ivan Lendl. I remain perplexed as to how this guy never gets mentioned in tennis dialogue. EVER! Unless it is in a negative light. Not only does this guy blow past Sampras as number of career titles, but he is 2nd only to Jimmy Connors with 94 career titles. He was won 8 Grand Slam events and was #1 in the world for 157 straight weeks. That means he was #1 from 1985-1988. Again, only Jimmy Connors beats that record. The only reason he gets so much flack is because he never won Wimbledon, which is a problem, but not to the extent of what he has suffered. Plus, he just wasn't a memorable player in terms of style. But who cares? The guy was unbeatable for like 4 straight years. He is in the top 4 or 5 of all time.

2. Jimmy Connors. Since Sampras and Agassi came along (really Sampras), we have forgotten how many records Connors holds. I know Bjorg won 5 straight Wimbledon titles. I know some still hold Laver as The Greatest ever. But Connors' name always comes up when looking at records. He holds the record for the longest consecutive weeks at #1. He holds the record for the number of singles titles at 109. He was a finalist 54 times. He owns 8 grand slam victories, including 5 US Open victories. He is the #1 all time wins leader in both the US Open and Wimbledon gram slam events. Just incredible. Although Sampras may truly be the greatest ever with 14 grand slam titles, Connors gets shrugged off way too easily these days. The guy still rocks.

By the way, for you rookies out there, the picture above is Ivan Lendl, not Federer.