Rocks longest soap opera lives on.

When I first heard that David Lee Roth was to join Van Halen, I just about fell over. I thought to myself, this will be one kick ass concert!! I love the stuff the original members did, all the way from Atomic punk to Jump. Even with the synthesizers they were the best. Little did I know it wasn't going to be the original Van Halen. They seem to have forgotten one: Michael Anthony.

How could you decide that it would be Van Halen without him. I know when they toured with Sammy Hagar, I heard the argument that it wasn't Van Halen, rather Van Hagar. I understood their point of view but I still loved the band. Even the tour they did a couple of years ago I loved. But to replace an original member with your 16 year old son? What is this? The "Van Halen family values tour" with DLR just tagging along for fun? Don't label this as a reunion unless it has ALL the members the band.
Why isn't Michael Anthony along this time? Possibly because he has toured with Sammy Hagar? I wouldn't have blamed him one bit. At least he wasn't sitting on his butt before going to rehab.

To add insult to injury, the only members of Van Halen to show up at the Rock 'n' Roll hall of fame was the two members not going out on tour this time around. That is pathetic!!!

Eddie!! Pull your head out, get over the bitterness and make it an actual reunion tour with Michael. If you don't want Sammy around. That is cool. I can understand that also but give the fans,like me, a memory to really savor. As it is right now, I have no interest in going to any of the shows.

I feel like such a redneck

I am hoping to get a picture up soon but last night I went to the Washington County Fair. It was a blast. I was able to get in to the Demolition Derby. Nothing like watching a bunch of old cars smash into each other. Besides it is even more fun to see true redneck watching the thing.
They had a couple of heats to start things out. Several cars didn't last long at all. The impact were bone rattling but worth it for me.
During the derby, they had a rock climbing competition. The coarse was set up with two telephone poles, then a space of 10 feet then you had a 20 ft long pile of boulders about 4 ft high then another 10 ft of space finished by two more telephone poles. The competition was to get over the whole track the least amount of time possible. They had several Jeeps that tried it. One actually hit the rock pile and basically jumped onto the pile. He lost his drive line but one the contest. There was another Jeep that lost a tire and came in second. Yet another Jeep pick up got up on the pile only to roll, get back up and try it again. My personal favorite was a Ford Explorer that looked like it had been in a pretty bad roll over. He hit the telephone poles, caught air and smashed head first into the pile of rocks. He promptly left. We figure he had a nice case of whiplash. I should feel bad but I don't. I just couldn't stop laughing and wanted him to try it again.
After that, there was a really nice firework display. The nice part was there was a thunderstorm in the back ground. Not to bad to finish off the weekend.

A video that I must share.

This is a homemade video my friend did in tribute to his Grandfather. It is awesome.

Today, I am celebrating a small victory. I had a bet with a coworker about who could lose the most weight in a time period. The result? I won. I dropped 11 lbs and he dropped 7. He asked for double or nothing. I agreed so I am in another competition for 6 more weeks. It is totally worth it to me just for how I am feeling. I went bike riding for an hour and a half today and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was able to ride through the Washington Fields and enjoy the evening air.

Activities

Today I decided it was time to get out at get some exercise. I have been doing good but there is always room for improvement.

The decision? To do some hiking up in the Pine Valley Mountains. We got up into the mountains and it cooled off into the 80s. That is a promising sign.
The last time I hiked up there, things didn't go so well. I ended up fatigued and basically wounded to say the very least. That is when I decided it was time to lose some weight.
This time? I have dropped 15 pounds and it made a HUGE difference. Yea, I came back stiff and sore but not wounded. On top of that, it was a harder hike so I had to do more work. In the end, I feel good.

I know I am headed in the right direction.

From Kalispell to Flagstaff in a day.

That's right. At the buttcrack of dawn I was in a plan leaving the paradise of Montana headed back home to the heat. I had only one reprieve, head to Flagstaff, Arizona. Yup. I am now in Arizona for the weekend.

How that happened was my friend had a weekend show to do in Flagstaff and he needed a roadie. I just happen to volunteer for that job so I landed in St. George, repacked my bags and hopped in to a truck and headed out. I figure I have gone about 1500 miles today. I tried to take a nap but I think I am so tired, I can't even do that. Oh well. I am making the most of this vacation and I will squeeze this for every once I can.

Fireworks made fun

Last night I went out with my Dad to check out the fireworks. The have a neighbor about a mile away that does his own private show. I have heard good things about the show from my sister. I didn't think much about it because I know how Utah treats fireworks so I kept my expectations low.

Instead of a mini show, I was treated to a spectacular event. He had all sort of wonderful explosive devices. What made it even more impressive is that you are nestled in a valley with rolling hills all around. It makes for some killer acoustics so the explosions seem to roll back and for through the valley. I was blown away(figuratively).

We are headed out to the Flathead river to raft. I am really looking forward to that. But I know that tomorrow I have to fly back to St. George and to reality.
That bites.