Ok, so a bunch of stuff has happened since I last blogged.

I got the top on my car fixed, Brian and Andrea came to visit again, I attended my Grandmother's 100th birthday, met Zombie in person for the first time attended my second GWAR concert, took a pleasant but unexpected road trip and managed to wrap it up by being a big jerk yet again.

Lets take them one at a time.

My car had this vinyl top on it and it had been obvious for some time that there had been rust collecting under it. It's actually the second vinyl top that had been on it. We replaced the first one 20 years ago or so when we had it repainted, as the original wasn't in such great shape. Well I'd put off tearing this top off for fear of what I'd find under it. Well I took a look when part of it sort of caved in.

What I found was too horrific to take pictures of and even if I could have taken them I couldn't post them here. It was nothing but rust and holes. Absolutely none of the remaining steel was salvageable, so I finally took everyone's advice and went to my Uncle's sheet metal shop to see if someone there could weld some new steel in there. Apparently it was so bad they couldn't do it on site, but he told me where to go to get it fixed and he'd cover it, which he didn't have to do, but it was damn nice of him since it ended up costing a LOT more than I thought it was going to.

Anyways, I got real lucky and found a 1970 Maverick at a local junkyard for $150And they used it to replace EVERYTHING between the windshield and back glass. I got lucky again that they didn't have to cut off the parts over the doors because it would have taken longer and cost a lot more. It took them a week and I got it back last Friday.



I don't remember what I did Saturday. Now that I see that in print it's starting to bother me. Surely it was something of vital importance. That or I got kidnapped by aliens or something. I do remember that night I got a phone call from Brian, whom I didn't know was in town, asking if I wanted to go to breakfast in the morning. Apart from that, nothing.

Fucking aliens.

So Sunday I wake up at like 9 AM in preparation for breakfast, which ended up being at 1 PM. Saw Brian and Andrea and Nate who used to co-habitate in the hell-hole here. We went to the Chinese place which might seem like an odd choice for breakfast till you realize that Chinese people eat breakfast too.

Then I went to Grandma's birthday party from 2 to 4, came back to the house, threw a bunch of random clothes in a bag (because apparently I didn't have time to do it before with the alien abduction and all) and headed for Columbus.

I arrive at Victoria's later than I'd planned, we get to the show later than I'd planned, and meet Zombie, her friend LDG (Living Dead Girl) and LDG's boyfriend (or LDG-BF) just in time to catch Kingdom of Sorrow.

Now most of you guys think I know everyone in my comics in person, but despite the fact that I met Zombie online in December 2002 this was my first time meeting her in person. And yes, she does kick as much ass in person as she does digitally. She recognized me right away, which is good because it would have been easy to get lost in that crowd, but kind of depressing in that it meant that I was as fat in her mental picture of me as I am in real life.

My insecurities aside though, Kingdom Of Sorrow was pretty good:

Derek Kerswill : Drums (Scattered Remnants, Seemless, Shadows Fall, Twelfth of Never, Unearth)
Kirk Windstein : Vocals, Guitar (Down, Valume Nob, Shell Shock, Crowbar)
Matt Brunson : Bass (Shedding Old Skin)
Jamey Jasta : Vocals (Hatebreed, Icepick)
Steve Gibb : Guitar Crowbar, (ex Black Label Society)



I didn't see Toxic Holocaust, but here they are:



But the real reason to be there was GWAR! As always I tell you all that you absolutely MUST go to a GWAR show at some point in your life. Even if you don't like their music (but really, what's not to like?) the stage show is the most incredible thing I've ever seen.

For those not acquainted with GWAR, this clip should serve as a proper introduction:



Oderus Urungus: Lead Vocals
Flattus Maximus: Lead Guitar
Balsac the Jaws of Death: Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals
Beefcake the Mighty: Bass, Backing Vocals
Jizmak Da Gusha: Drums, Percussion

And just to make things especially cool, GWAR's sometimes estranged manager Sleazy P. Martini has returned and was in attendance and he's running for president!



But unfortunately, backing vocalist and GWAR goddess Slymenstra Hymen wasn't there.



So yeah, the show was insane. Here's my shirt:



And just because I think it's funny here's Brian after we saw GWAR in 1995 or 96, I can never remember which.



It's too bad I had to censor his eyes out because he looks totally stoned in that picture.

Anyways, that's part 1. Part 2 will follow soon. Till then, here's GWAR's appearance in the Super Nintendo version of Beavis and Butthead, the video game.