November 14, 2007

November 14th, 2007. Garth Brooks had announced that he would be coming out of Retirement to do a show for Wal-Mart. It was to celebrate both his new 2 disc best of collection and to thank Wal-Mart for being his biggest distributor of his music. Well, one show sold out in like 15 minutes. So he decided to add another, and another and soon had NINE shows lined up for Kansas City.

They decided to do this in Kansas City, rather than Fayettville, Arkansas (Home of Wal-Mart.)

Kansas City had just built the Brand New SPRINT CENTER! I think they did this because of several comments and complaints from other artists that refused to come to play at the Kemper Arena, which was really the only place they could play for the Kansas City area. U2 had actually stated that they would not be returning to KC if they had to play at Kemper again. So we missed out on their last tour! I have missed seeing them since 93!!! Still to this day I have not seen them!! That's another story.

Anyway, The Sprint Center is AWESOME!!! There are six story escalators that hang in mid air the whole way!!! That was crazy! But it's a huge venue and Garth's people decided to use it. I think it had opened in time just for this concert! I can say, having been to both Kemper and Here, it's a 1000% improvement!

I was able to park in the Kansas City star Newspaper parking lot which was only a block away. So I walked up to the building and they already had all the Garth Swag out and started selling it. So I got Dawn some stuff. Got me a hat and was able to walk back to my car and put it away. I didn't have to carry it with me. I Did think it was funny too that when I purchased my stuff there was hardly anyone infront and I got everything I wanted with no problem. I tried to get something after the show and it was all gone. And when I got back from my car the front was filled with concertgoers!

I was able to get a ticket for the sold out show from someone on the net. It was risky but for $30 more than the actual selling price, I was fortunate. It was going to be in the top but it was close to the stage. Some people were selling a $30 ticket for outrageous prices. But I found a good guy from SMSU trying to sell his ticket. I didn't know anything about this concert until I tried to call my friend Josh to see how he was doing and when he answered his phone, I could only hear people screaming. He was at one of the earlier shows! I then started looking for tickets. And found this one. They also were planning on showing this in theaters Live across the country!

So the show started promptly at 8pm. And it was TRUE GARTH greatness. If you ever get a chance, watch the GAC ONE NIGHT, ONE CITY, ONE MAN concert (or named something like that.) That was the show I was at!!! I wish they would put that out on DVD! I watch it and totally remember all sorts of stuff.

THE SETLIST
The Fever; Two of a Kind (Workin’ On a Full House); Rodeo; Good Ride Cowboy; The Thunder Rolls; Shameless; We Shall Be Free; Unanswered Prayers; The River; Papa Loved Mama; The Beaches of Cheyenne; Callin’ Baton Rouge; More Than A Memory; Friends in Low Places; The Dance. Encore: Ain’t Goin’ Down (Til The Sun Comes Up); That Summer; Much Too Young (To Feel This Damned Old); Two Pina Coladas; medley (“Fire and Rain,” “Turn the Page,” “Unwound,” “The Fireman,” “Amarillo By Morning,” “Piano Man,” “American Pie”).

This last picture is one of my Favorites. It's one of those shots that you do and you don't realize what you have in the picture. I think it sums up the whole experience. A bunch of cowboys and gals having a great old time! And one Lone Indian in the mix! hehe. I really enjoyed the show. Got all sorts of pictures and things from it. I just said to myself, that this was the last concert I would go to by myself. I had fun but it would have been way better had Dawn been with me. And this was a bittersweet time as well. This would be the last visit to Missouri to see my Father alive. He passed away a few months after this last visit. I got to spend some time with him and Mom. They were very excited for me to see this concert.

ALRIGHT!!! 79 Days to go Until COLDPLAY!!!!

Why in the world did they have to go and sell these tickets WAY back in JUNE!? I swear that I'm gonna forget it by the time it gets here. I was scared for a second the other day. I am going to go into another manager training session in September, and it was thought to run for 8 weeks. Which would have run into the date for the Coldplay concert. But then I looked at it again and it's only a six week session. So It'll be over after the first week in November. Whew... That would have been a good lot of money wasted.
Well, 79 days isn't all that too long. But one note, supposedly that is also when the NEW U2 is coming out!!! NOVEMBER 18th!!! That's going to be a fun day!

A New Sort of Grill

My family and I went to Port Arthur over the weekend. We went to see my wife's grandfather for a little while and we went to eat out for lunch. We went to Luby's cafeteria. That was the most overrated place I'd ever gone to. The food was expensive and really didn't taste all that great. Me being the meat eater, I purchased a steak. I would have to say that Ryan's makes a better steak on Friday night than Luby's. The green beans had this weird taste to them. Like too much peper and onions. But everyone else seemed okay with the choice. We visited with the family for a little bit. My sister-in-law had to find some school supplies and we found a place on my phone that was called Mannings. There was a place in Port Arthur and another in Beaumont.
But before we went there, we went to my wife's uncle's place. They had a gas grill the weren't using anymore and asked if we wanted it. It's been well used but there is hope for it. It's going to take alot of work on it. I took it to the carwash and tried to get as much junk and caked on grease off as I could. Now I have to get into the inside of it and take off some things and get a bucket and just dig into cleaning it off. It's going to be really messy and a job. But I think we can revive it. My only concern is that the hoses and connections still work well. We'll try that in a few days and see what happens. If I had a camera, I would take a picture of it. I'll try in a few days. I'm excited to see if we can get this thing going. I've been looking at gas grills. They can never replace charcoal but it'll be neat to see how it works.
Oh, we went to IHOP in Beaumont. The food was cheaper and better than Luby's but the service was way off. You know it's all about customer service. And that place lacked that. They even got my wife's order wrong. She ate about half of it before realizing how off it was. Funny! Remember, you can never go wrong when you get the Colorado Omlette!!! Or the Monster Cheeseburger!

I DON'T LIKE DOGS!!!

What possesses an animal to poop on a person's floor? We have some dogs here in the house and they keep pooping on the floor, which then gets smashed by people's feet. Over and over again this week it's been happening. It's gross! These dogs keep going on the floor. What's bad is that they get taken out all of the time. It's not like they are stuck in the house. It's really getting gross. They just unload on the floor. And then it stinks and smells all over the place! It just lingers there. UGH!!! Then these things want your attention and climb all over you wanting it. Why would I do that? These dogs should be outside animals. Then they can unload anytime they want. Please, if you own these dogs, come get them. THEY STINK!!! Then they can poop on your floor. But they probably won't. Since they LOVE you and hate us! Then also if you come and get them, my children might actually be able to get some sleep at night, instead of being constantly woken up by these dogs barking at nothing in the middle of the night!!! They just go off. WHY??? They are psycho pooping pets!!!