Let's pretend you have a Top 5 favorite bands list that has remained unchanged since you first discovered the enjoyment of listening to music. Now imagine that two of those bands decide to go on tour together. That's what has just happened in my life with the recent announcement that Soul Asylum and Fountains of Wayne will be going on tour. It seems unbelievable and I am starting to suspect that my real life and dreams have finally started to overlap due to working overnights. Despite not coming anywhere near Charlotte and playing in no cities that I am all that interested in visiting, I plan to make it happen. I may have to do some sort of obsessive fan road trip and see a couple shows. We'll see.

This opportunity is definitely once in a lifetime for me (although I said the same thing when Butler was in the NCAA championship game for the first time). If Stroke 9 would replace Evan Dando as the supporting act, I would immediately quit my job, buy a creepy van and hit the road to follow the entire tour around the country.

Something bothering you? Better kill it.

In response to this article.

My letter to Gaston County...

Murder is not the answer to things that annoy us. Here's a few quick examples illustrating the ignorance of handling nuisances with murder.

1. I was at the pool last week and these kids kept splashing me. It was really annoying, but rather than asking the kids to move to the other side of the pool or accepting the fact that I was at a pool and would probably get splashed, I simply held their heads under the water and took care of the problem.

2. That same day, I saw this dog pee and leave a big present in my yard like he does every day. I took him out back and gassed him to death.

3. I work in Gaston County and there are many customers that I would consider a nuisance to myself and other customers, maybe Cathy Hart can come help me with these nuisances?

I obviously handled these situations in an appropriate non-lethal manner. Please let Cathy Hart know that there are preventative and non-lethal ways to deal with annoying situations. What should you do when you have a 'problem' with geese? Here's a place to start. Or perhaps the organization that had already offered their assistance, Carolina Waterfowl Rescue could offer alternatives to murder.

Why would kids think it's wrong to beat geese with sticks and bricks when the government says it's okay to kill them? Just a few months ago, kids were charged with animal cruelty for hurting geese. The government should set a better example in how they treat non-human animals. Perhaps, these government individuals should be held accountable and charged with animal cruelty as well.

It's also my understanding that there needs to be an attempt to deter the geese before taking these ridiculous actions. The park doesn't even have a "no feeding" rule. Please take action to ensure those responsible are held accountable and that this atrocity never happens again.

Thanks,
Sam Phillips


Email addresses for the County Commissioners:
chad.brown@carolina.rr.com, 
KINGSPINNACLE@aol.com, 
afraley@carolina.rr.com, 
tomkcom@aol.com,
mprice@co.gaston.nc.us,
RJasonWilliams01@gmail.com, 
tracy@tracyphilbeck.com

For the love of cards

Despite most all of my leftover belongings from childhood being gradually discarded over the years, i recently came across an assorted box of unopened packs of cards. Do you know how hard it is to not open a pack of cards when you're a young collector? It takes a lot of restraint. Initially, i was pretty excited thinking, "Wow, these cards are from the early 1990's and some even the late 1980's, they are probably worth something!" 

They're not. 

It's a random collection of packs including some standard baseball packs as well as several that I thought would be more rare/tougher to find/more valuable such as World Cup 1994 cards, Batman Returns, 1989 Panini baseball stickers, some minor league packs. All unopened, all for sale on Ebay for the exact amount of "not worth the effort to sell." So what do i do with them? Open them for the nostalgic fun of opening packs? I did open a pack of World Cup cards. So if you're looking for the Brad Friedel Stand Out Performer, Eric Wynalda, or Romario to round out your old soccer card collection, make me an offer.

Have a pleasant day of birth.

Happy Birthdays. While i certainly do hope that everyone has an enjoyable time on their day of birth, I just can't bring myself to wish happy birthdays. It is very rare that I send out Facebook official birthday wishes, and you most certainly are special if you get a phone call. Many family members don't even get a call. (Sorry Rousseau, i really meant to call.)

So why not give a quick happy birthday via Facebook? i contemplate doing it quite a bit. My worry is that what if i send a happy birthday to one person one day but miss someone else the next day who i actually care about. Then they think i'm a jerk for missing their birthday and end up having an unhappy birthday all thanks to my wasting a happy birthday on some random person that i may or may not have went to high school with.

Where do i draw the line for birthday wishes? Only people i have had real life interaction with in the past ten years? Absolutely anyone i happen to notice with Facebook's reminder? Only give happy birthdays when drinking? Only those who wished me a happy birthday the year before?

The sucky thing is that i actually appreciate happy birthday Facebook wishes on my birthday, yet i don't give them out. After my birthday last year, i decided that i would start giving out birthday wishes right away only to postpone it until the start of the new year to be fair to the birthdays i had already missed in the first half of the year. Then i forgot. Now i remembered again because someone i know is having a milestone birthday (21, 30, 40, 50, 65, 100) and i feel they deserve a birthday wish.

Sorry sweetie, it's the only birthday pic i could find.

Searching For Sugar Man

If you haven't seen the movie, Searching For Sugar Man, stop by Redbox and pick it up this week. It was recommended to me by my brother Matt, which sometimes means a movie for people with alternative taste (no offense), but I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it was one of the most enjoyable movies I've seen in quite awhile. It's a documentary about the story of a musician from the 1970's that never really took off and some distant fans search for his story. I recommend just renting the movie, don't even watch the preview. That's how I did it and it made it that much more interesting.

A little bit of Soul

Soul Asylum has consistently been in my top 5 favorite bands since the late 90's. So there was little question if i was going to take a night off of work to see them play in Charlotte. They had played a Friday night concert series show in a little outdoor venue in 2012 and the sound quality seemed a little off and overall there wasn't a huge crowd for them, so i was pretty surprised when i saw that they were returning to Charlotte.

The show last night was good, but i felt bad for the band because there just wasn't a crowd...maybe 50 people and the majority were seated, not down in the pit. The show felt a little rushed and after each song Dave Pirner would give a mockingly-sounding "You're too kind" or something similar. i don't know if my assessment is true, but in my head his comments were a reflection of his disappointment in the turnout. i was impressed that they did actually deviate from the set list to play an audience request, April Fool. With a changing in band members, it was nice to see they knew more songs than just the ones they learned to get through a show.

i never know what to expect going to a concert in Charlotte. The last show i went to at the same venue was Langhorne Slim and i didn't expect a a turnout that night, yet there was a solid crowd.

Maybe the dreary, rainy night kept some people away and my personal opinion is they priced it a tad high ($25) to get a casual fan to come out on a school night. Meanwhile, across town Flogging Molly was performing. Who knows? But it's safe to assume they won't be returning to the Queen City anytime soon. 

A few of my favorite things?

Holy shit. i hate having a terrible memory and no real opinions. 

Some banking site was asking me a few additional security questions to better protect my account in the future, but i had no idea what my answers were. The questions ranged from factual life events to preference-based options exclusive to my own personal taste buds. 

• What was the name of your boss at your first job?    No clue. It Took me a few minutes to recall what my first job was. i was a bagger at Wiseway in case i forget. 

• What is your least favorite vegetable?    i don't have one i like least and my vegetable preferences have changed drastically in the past year so how do i gauge my response? 

• What was the last name of your first girlfriend?  Define girlfriend. Is it the first peck i got on the playground, the first girl i dated more than 5 years, or the first girl that said yes when a friend asked if she would go out with me? 

It's amazing what i don't really know about myself. i'm not sure it's possible to force yourself to commit to opinions especially when it comes to small things, so for now i'll accept it.