Welcome...to my inner circle.
SEETHER!!! (AMONG OTHER THINGS...)
The SEETHER Experience: Number Six, Stories, School and Scholarships...
19 August, 2004
I made it through the Texas Tax-free weekend and a whole four days of my boyfriend being in Las Vegas just for one thing...
Okay, okay...two things.
The first was Kyle coming home, but the megahugeuber big one was the rock fest that is Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, SEETHER and EVANESCENCE.
Man...It has been quite a good while since I have seen Breaking Benjamin live...and man, did I forget how much they rocked! Duriong their set, I managed to get a pick...which I gave to Yvonne. ;) I'm a nice person, I think. :D :D I figured then that I had plenty of picks to hold me over for a good while. I met their guitar tech/roadie at the mall the night before, on Monday the 9th, and while he was on stage I yelled at him and waved. *HAHA* I got a huge smile!
Up next was 3 Days Grace. Let me just get this out right now...I think their lyrics are terrible; nothing but drinking, drugs, abuse, and sex...immature lyrics...but to see them live is like seeing a completely different band. They ROCK SO MUCH live and I couldn't help but rock ass to them. Their guitarist was right in front of us, and he kept watching me rock out. Every once in a while he would toss a pick at me which would blow off in some other random direction. After their set was over, he tried again...and again...and again to get me a pick, and finally gave up and tossed me his towel before he walked off stage! *EEW...but AWESOME!* It's still sitting in my car. :D I also eventually got a pick from 3DG...but that comes into play later. ;)
Do I have to even tell you who was next up?
What's that? *listens closely* That's right! It was SEETHER! *WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*
In between SEETHER and 3 Days Grace, my guys' new drummer, John Humphries, was standing on the side of the stage waiting to tech his own drums. (Man...I can't even tell you how much I respect rock stars that tech their own stuff... :D ) I tripped out when I saw him standing there, and I yelled out, "JOHN!" He turned around to the crowd and finally saw me waving at him wildly! I yelled out again, "You rock, man!" (Yes, I know. Probably the corniest line in the world to yell at a kick ASS drummer...but hey, I wasn't feeling creative.) Despite my idiotic yelling, John's face lit up with a huge, and I mean H-U-G-E, ear-to-ear, genuine smile. I think I made his day...and also made all of the little teeny-boppers start screaming their heads off for some reason none of them knew about! *I LOVE DOING THAT!*
Sure enough, a few minutes later, I see Amy Lee and Shaun emerge from the backstage area on my side of the Amphitheatre, with Amy holding one of the CUTEST kittens that I have ever seen! I then saw Pat and Dale step into the doorway and I felt as "giddy as a schoolgirl," as stupid as that old addage sounds. I was about to see SEETHER for the sixth time!
Before they came out to the stage, Amy nuzzled the kitten and held it out to Shaun who then kissed it! Talk about a friggen KODAK moment! I wished I had a camera. They came out and played all of their singles: "Gasoline," "Fine Again," "Driven Under" and "Broken"...WITH Amy...I swear to you all that I cried when Amy started singing...it was that breathtaking and passionate. Then they played "Hang On," two other songs that I didn't know...they must have been OLD Saron Gas-era songs, and "You Know You're Right," which Shaun said would be the last time that they would play "YKYR" in Lubbock.
All throughout the set, Dale kept watching me rock out...and once I even caught Pat's eye from all the way across the stage. :D *GO ME!* I would have had another pick from SEETHER, Shaun's this time, but for that same asshole that stole Pat's pick from me last time. He snatched it up before one of the other bouncers would hand it over. *GRR* I ALSO almost had one of John's sticks - and I SWEAR that he threw it at me since I yelled at him earlier - but some girl in the crowd snatched it in midair as it sailed my way from center stage. *BOOHOO!!!!* Derek, one of the kids that I work with, nabbed one of Shaun's water bottles and offered me a deal.
"I'll trade you the bottle for the pick," he said. I then looked at the bottle, and then the pick, and back to the bottle before handing the pick over.
I GOT AN UN-OPENED WATER BOTTLE FROM SHAUN MORGAN! *WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!* Also, I got one of the photographers to give me a pick that I thought to be Shaun's at first...but which turned out to be one from way early in the show from Breakikng Benjamin.
***YAY!!***
Then came Evanescence...Oh BOY, was it a rock fest! Damn, they were amazing! I have to admit that I felt like SUCH a fangirl while Amy was on stage! *SIGH* She is even more amazing, and more BEAUTIFUL in person. I just adore her to no end! Check out http://www.kfmx.com for LOTS of killer EVA show pics!
Now for the stories...I have been meaning forEVER to update my stories, and it seems as if maybe by some unknown chance, I may be able to do so sometime soon. I decided not to take my journalism class this semester, so I am free this semester to work on either my stories, or my other homework. I hate to say it, but my algebra homework is taking precedence over everything, so...yeah. We'll see what happens. :)
Speaking of school, I am working my ass off to pay for it this semester...and boy am I glad I am not going to Tech...I wouldn't be able to make it at all...I got rejected for a scholarship....:( :( :( So...I guess that means taking out another student loan next semester! BOO FOR ME! I don't ever want to pay them back...I wish I could get a grant. *sigh* If only my parents didn't make that much money!
Thanks for listening...
-Mandi
JIMMIE JOHNSON GETS FINED FOR...
Disrespecting his sponsor's competitor in Victory Lane?
5 August, 2004
The time has come to branch this little journal out in the direction of one of my favorite sports: NASCAR, the National Association of Stock Car Racing. Some, or mabe even all of you, might be wondering, why NASCAR? Who cares about NASCAR? Maybe, just maybe, I can find my old article about that, and I will post it up eventually. But what I have to say today is...
WHAT A CROCK!
To fully understand the direction that I am going with this, one must head on over here to this link and read what Marty Smith has written in his opinion column.
Now, in short, Jimmie Johnson has been fined $10,000 for placing a LOWE'S sign in front of a plastic Powerade bottle. Powerade is manufactured by the Coca-Cola company, while Johnson is endorsed by PepsiCo. Does anyone see anything wrong with that move?
Apparently Mike Helton, President of NASCAR, did.
What is so wrong with trying to hide a rival sponsor in victory lane? Tony Stewart has done it with a bottle of Tropicana orange juice, bottled by PepsiCo, because Stewart is endorsed by Coke. Even Jeff Gordon, Johnson's co-owner, has done this deed to the bottle of Powerade because he, too, is sponsored by PepsiCo.
This, in my opinion, is just one example of NASCAR trying too hard to expand their pocketbook and make everyone happy.
Just where does NASCAR get off on telling drivers that they have to essentially endorse their rival sponsors? It seems to me that Victory Lane should be a neutral place, free from any sort of advertisement short of the company sponsoring the race and/or the track itself. Of course, the winning driver should also be allowed to showcase his sponsors; where else would they do this?
Perhaps NASCAR is thinking that simply running a race is enough of an advertisement for the drivers' sponsors and therefore they need not trouble themselves in Victory Lane.
I, for one, liked the time where the driver would climb out of their car in Victory Lane and take a swig of either Pepsi or Coke to show off their sponsor, depending on who the driver was. Why change it?
It seems to me that this is the first step toward turning NASCAR into a laughable organization.
Wow...this little journal entry seems to have turned out more like an opinion column rather than a rant...I guess a whole two semesters of doing them has turned me into more of a journalist than I could have imagined.
Thanks for listening.
--Mandi
