A week ago, I trekked out to Crossroads Music Hall in Huntsville, AL, for the Hank III/Those Poor Bastards show. This was a huge first for me in several ways.

After calling myself a fan for several years, it was my first time to see Hank III, whom I love not only for the music and his commendable refusal to bow to the standards of corporate Nashville, but also for being so amazing by finding homes for displaced animals. Seriously, the man even has an entire photo album on his myspace page devoted to the dogs he’s found homes for, and that just rocks in so many ways!

Perhaps the biggest first for me, though, was that this was the first show I’ve ever been to where I was completely on my own.

Since this was a local show, I had forgotten to ask off from work. So, after work, kid-related errands, and then getting everyone home, fed and settled in for the night, I was still a bit reluctant to get going.

Despite looking forward to this for the past several weeks, my procrastinator tendencies had kicked in in a big way. I had put everything off till the last minute. As in, I purchased my ticket at the last minute. The ticket stated show time was 8:30 (one of these days, I will remember that those times listed on the tickets are when the doors open, NOT when the show starts!), and as of 8 pm, I was still in my comfy “home” clothes with no idea what to wear to the show. I wasn’t even worried about getting there late.

But I pulled myself together, and arrived at Crossroads on time after all. I am glad, since I really enjoyed getting to just settle into the environment and do my “people watching” while sipping a beer before the show. A bit self-conscious by nature, I was really worried that I might be miserable being there by myself. But I wasn’t. Not at all. In fact, even though the club was full of strangers, I felt quite in my element and “at home”; like I truly belonged.

Fellow fans were so friendly and approachable and interesting! Right away, I noticed a girl wearing a really cool reconstructed t shirt, and I spoke briefly with her about it. I scanned the venue for the two people I knew were coming, but to no avail. I finally settled against a support structure and just watched setup take place. I really enjoy watching people work, especially doing what they love, and seeing how all these things come together. And I still get chills when the lights dim and I hear the first beats and chords of a live show!

Shortly thereafter, Those Poor Bastards took the stage. These guys were completely unknown to me before this show, but I am so glad now that I made it to the venue in time for their set! They have to be one of the weirdest bands I’ve ever seen or heard. Consisting of Lonesome Wyatt on vocals and guitar and The Minister (Vincent Presley) on drums, they’re billed as “Prophets of country doom”. I concur. When trying to figure out how to describe their sound, the best I could come up with was that their songs sounded like gospel hymns gone wrong. I have added a few of their songs for my playlist below, if you’re interested in hearing something new and different!

(quick disclaimer: YouTube vids are NOT mine, but the photos here are. And they’re probably redundant and not that great. Belle = no photography skills whatsoever. But some of them do look better in larger sizes so to see those, just click on through to my flickr page.)

I didn’t get many photos of Those Poor Bastards, but now wish I had. As I said before, I was unfamiliar with them before the Crossroads show, and thusly had no idea what to expect from their live show. I started out with some others just standing around, kind of off and just getting into it. But the more they played, the more folks came to the floor and converged upon the stage. That’s the way to work a crowd, y’all!

Well, at some point during their set, they brought out “The Horrible Skeleton” (a.k.a. Hank III) and someone else in disguise:

(an awesome tall guy snapped this for me, since I couldn’t get a good shot on my own)

The Horrible Skeleton sang while the other one stood for the duration of the song slapping the stick into his hand repeatedly. So Hank III sounds just like his legendary grandfather, but when he sang with TPB, his voice was much deeper and reminded me a lot of his daddy’s. This youtube vid wasn’t taken at the show I attended, but should give you some idea of what, to me, was total weirdness (but awesome all the same!):

Those Poor Bastards played what seemed like a nice, long while. Then, with VERY little time between shows, Hank III and The Damn Band took the stage. For those who don’t know, Hank III shows consist of him performing three sets of different types of music: country, then a psycobilly/punk-ish set, then metal at the very end, with Assjack.

One of the disadvantages of getting older (and not starting on a rough draft of this post as soon as I got home) is that I have now forgotten which song he opened with. I do remember him warning first timers of what usually goes down in the first few rows, though!

Shelton & band(s) performed for at least two hours, never taking breaks, never really slowing down, and everyone there was having an amazing time. The energy in that place was just unbelievable. I was very happy because I had a great spot near the stage, and people were mostly respectful of others during the Damn Band’s set, at least from where I stood. In fact, one very awesome hot chick noticed me snapping pictures behind her and moved me in front briefly so I could get even more. How cool is that? Thank you, hot girl! (This never happens to me at shows. In fact, if you’ve been to many shows, you know how rude both girls and guys alike can be when clamoring for a spot close to the stage! And this evening there wasn’t even a 6-foot-plus guy right in front of me. That tends to happen a lot, too.) The country set was closed by “Not Everybody Likes Us” followed by “Dick in Dixie”, and a quick switch of guitar & hat.

Again, not my YouTube vid, and not from the Huntsville show…or even this tour. The sound quality of this one was the best I could find at this time

After that, I just wandered, taking everything in from different spots in the club. When Assjack’s set started, things got REALLY wild! And I stayed off to the side watching it all. After the show, Shelton & some of the others hung around to meet with fans, which is when I got to meet him and get the picture I posted last week. He was very nice and polite, and thanked me for coming out, as I am sure he does everyone he talks to.

I will definitely be seeing more of his shows in the future. Not even the cover bands I’ve seen in bars in the past perform for this long with virtually no breaks, and with so much energy and enthusiasm. You should check him out if you get the chance. You will DEFINITELY get your money’s worth! His fans are probably the best I’ve ever met, and I daresay he is one of the nicest, most genuine performers around.

Here are the rest of my pics from the evening. As I said before, many of them may be a bit repetitive. I am not really quick enough to catch folks right where I want them most of the time! In no particular order:

Daniel Mason:

Zach Shedd:

Andy Gibson:

Gary Lindsey:

“She” met a bad end:

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• Decisions, decisions
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• The reading list just grows and grows: Thursday 13 – Week 33

For more Wordless Wednesday, go here.

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• Weather courtesy of Claudette – WW #7

(Hank III show, 11/03/09. More on this to come later!)

For more Wordless Wednesday, go here.

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• Better late than never, right?
• Decisions, decisions

I may be able to pull off the bills from here on out without tearing my hair out (but can’t be quite sure), but I still have a lot to pay for and fix around here. Yes, a plumber’s coming, but I still need an electrician in here, to fix the master bath floor, and replace my stove and refrigerator. Taking care of these needs is going to mean a pretty cheap Christmas, and I’m already not sure I will be able to take the time off work to travel.

But I am looking forward to the challenge of finding useful things people will love, without breaking our budget. I should be able to pull this off if I manage my time properly and don’t get in a rush to complete the holiday shopping. I’d go handmade, but that’s out of the question right now. I have too much going on, and am too unorganized here to attempt that.

Maybe some other year.

Has the economy affected your budget this year? How will you be doing the holidays on your budget? I need inspiration here!

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• This house is going to get it tomorrow!
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• Didn’t take me long

Last week’s unprepared-ness cost me time, money, and sanity. As in, I spent all the grocery money and I couldn’t even tell you what I got! I still did better than I have done before, but not as good as 2-3 weeks ago. And my coupons? Gone. All of them. My P&G $120 was about out, and I see those coupons regularly in the paper, so I don’t really feel like I’ve lost anything with those. But the ones I spent hours cutting out and printing/cutting out really hurt. And my Real Simple “Refresh Your Nest” coupon booklet? Ohhhh…….I just can’t even go there. I want to cry over that one; there were so many Febreze & dishwashing liquid coupons in it, lasting through next year

Apparently they were in a Target bag which got used for trash after someone (and it could have well been myself, but I doubt it) failed to notice anything already in it. Yes, a Target bag is a bad, bad place for a ton of coupons, but they were in there with a magazine and a drink, and I meant to put them back in my coupon holder once I got home with all that stuff. I should have just crammed them into my purse. Lesson learned here? Have designated coupon holder of some sort. Use designated coupon holder, even if it means eyerolls from the people behind you in line while you carefully put the extras back in said coupon holder.

Ahem.

So yes, I am determined to make this week a better one. I still feel like crap. What’s funny is I can pretty much breathe okay, but there is still something there. My lungs are itchy, and I cough, but nothing comes up < TMI >(except a horrid taste/smell)< /TMI >. I think a trip to Urgent Medcare is in my near future. I’d go to my regular doctor, but I just can’t afford any $50 cough medicines right now, even though they do work. Urgent Medcare has a dispensary next door, and their drugs are CHEAP, even without insurance. I paid only $22 for Danny’s two prescriptions when I took him a few weeks ago. I know some meds are more expensive than others, but it’s worth a shot.

Hank III is tomorrow and I still plan on going…regardless of how I feel. And 100 Monkeys is this weekend. I definitely won’t miss that!

And….I am currently tackling this house with a frightening amount of energy. I’m sure it won’t be long till I crash and burn, but the house really needs it so I am just riding the wave out while it lasts.

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Not only that, but in other news about me (not really) I am SICK again. Two days of utter misery followed by two days of feeling decent, and now I’m feeling worse than ever. This time, it’s in my chest and throat, too, and I sound like a 100 year old chain smoker. Sessy!

But I digress. Starr and I have been busy putting together a HUGE playlist of Halloween and horror inspired songs for your listening pleasure. If you’ve been stressing over what to play at your get-togethers tonight, stress no more! We took all of the work out of it for you. We have songs from every type of music you can imagine, and we have songs about monsters (in general), werewolves, vampires, zombies, demons, devils, ghosts, witches, clowns, boogie men, gypsies, voodoo, black magic, and deranged killers. You can find it here at Music Savvy Mom.

Let me know what you think!

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• So inspired!
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I knew stress lowered your immune system and made you more susceptible to all kinds of illnesses, but I had no idea of the unrelenting extent to which you could stay that way. I don’t think I’ve had two genuinely, illness-free weeks this entire year.

I have nothing on the agenda today except Tamiflu, oj, soup, reading, sleeping, and maybe a movie or some bad tv. Or all. I have two days to recover from this nastiness before I’m due back at work.

In the meantime, here is a selection of songs we listened to during the Sunday night drive. I let the boys pick the music, and they actually played a lot of mellow stuff I like. Perfect for driving!

Featuring: All These Things That I’ve Done by The Killers, Heaven by Live, Lose Yourself by Eminem, Bitches by Hollywood Undead, Everywhere I Go by Hollywood Undead, California by Hollywood Undead, no. 5 by hollywood undead, Silent Lucidity by Queensryche, Anesthesia by Type O Negative, Mountain Song by Jane’s Addiction, 99 Problems by Jay-Z, and Let’s Get Fucked Up by Start Trouble.

They didn’t even cringe when I lapsed into a spazzy mom-dance while singing along to Jane’s Addiction’s “Mountain Song”. I have no shame! (but at least it was dark!)

And yes, I’m quite obsessed with Hollywood Undead.

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Anyhow…..I was going to see Type O. Then I wasn’t, when my friend had to back out. Then I was, when another friend wanted to go. Then I wasn’t, when she had to back out. I had pretty much decided against going, too. But I hate missing their shows. Not only do I love the band, but I have no idea how much longer they’ll continue to record and tour. If this was a show in Nashville instead of Atlanta, I would have no problem at all driving by myself. I have no problem driving to Atlanta by myself. But I am really not too fond of the idea of driving back between the hours of midnight and 4-5 AM, and unfortunately, that is what I would have to do. It’s a school night, and I need to be back home to see my kids off to school in the morning. I can’t count on them to get themselves up and ready in the morning and on a school bus, and there is no other adult I can count on to get them to school.

I’ll probably be waffling back and forth all the way up until the day of the show trying to decide whether or not to go.

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