The final step in the Aerosmith reconciliation has apparently taken place, with four of the five band members — including previously estranged singer Steven Tyler — announcing through a video posted at their website that the band will hit the road this summer in Europe. Several of the shows had already been announced, but the video message made the Cocked, Locked And Ready To Rock trek official.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will release their first new album in eight years called Mojoin the spring and will kick off a 35-city tour in support of the album on May 6th in Charlotte, North Carolina. The tour — which as of the initial dates announced — will wrap up on August 27th in Saratoga Springs, New York — features a handful of different opening acts, including Joe Cocker, Crosby Stills, & Nash, ZZ Top, Drive-By Truckers, and My Morning Jacket.

According to the band’s press release announcing the release of Mojo, all tickets purchased online will include an MP3 download of every track on the album. Upon purchasing the tickets they will receive an email with codes entitling them to download two tracks from Mojo — “First Flash Of Freedom” and “Good Enough.” When the album is released later this spring, ticket buyers will be sent a download of the entire album. Also included with every online ticket purchase, to be delivered at the end of the 2010 tour, will be a selection of live tracks recorded during the road trek

Check out Tom’s site at http://www.tompetty.com/

I have watched the hearings into the mess with Toyota for the last two days.  Two things are painfully obvious.

1.  The egos of the assembled “representatives” are beyond comprehension.  
Honest to God, these people, both Republican and Democrat, are not worth the gunpowder it would take to blow them up.

2.  Collectively they are unable to ask a coherent question. 
The rambling, poorly constructed logic, coupled with their commitment to make a statement rather than an inquiry have made the process more of a side show than the “search for truth.”

The only person with any dignity in the process seems to have been the grandson of the founder of Toyota. Even with all the assumed guilt draped around his shoulders, he STILL came off looking better than those…representing us.  

Damn.

USA USA USA! Wow I don’t know about you but I am so stoked about the strong showing team America has made at this year’s winter games. From the downhill events on the men’s and women’s side, to speed skating, figure skating, short track speed skating, to the Hockey teams, the US has been leaving it’s mark and walking away with medal after medal. Team USA is on pace to shatter the old record for medals at the games! I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to see the American Men’s Hockey team, roll into Vancouver real off 3 straight wins, capped off by beating the home team Canadians last night! And the fact that this team actually has embraced the history of the US hockey program makes it even more fun to watch for us older guys! They wore the same jersey design the 1960 team wore, when they defeated the Canadians 50 years ago, and of course they are also inspired by the 30^th anniversary of the “miracle on ice” 1980 gold medal winning team too. It seems like the athletes in the winter games seem more connected to the history of each sport they are in and seem to have a deeper sense of pride at representing the United States and in the Team sports they seem to be willing to give up personal glory for the good of the team. I think there is no better example of that then Mens Hockey team. So as we enter the second week of the games I highly suggest you tune in and see what happens with Team America! They are inspiring in with the effort they are making and a true source of American pride at a time when our country could sure use a positive vibe!

       Oh and sometimes wishes do come true! If you remember I was just talking about how I wished hockey was coming back to Greenville. WELLLLL Pro Hockey is coming back to Greenville and I couldn’t be more excited. I want to call on all my northern transplant friends those who’ve been here as long as I and those who’ve come to the upstate since we lost our last team to come out and support this team. And for all you homegrown folks who don’t know what icing is and never whacked a biscuit between the pipes, please come out and see the game in person! You marvel at the skills of these young men and you will get the same charge you get going to a high school football game on a Friday night! This is a sport you cannot appreciate on TV, but is still one of the most exciting sports to see in person. So let’s all make plans to meet up next season at the BiLo center and support our new team we got Hockey back lets hang on to it this time, it’s worth every penny!

It was 30 years ago on today, February 19th that AC/DC’s Bon Scott was found dead in his car at the age of 33.   The Scottish-born singer was enjoying the success of the band’s sixth album, Highway To Hell, and had gone out drinking the night of the 18th in London with several friends.   One of those friends drove Scott, who passed out, home and left him to sleep it off in his car.   Scott’s lifeless body was found the next morning in the car, dead from alcohol poisoning. He was cremated in Australia a week and a half later, clad in jeans and a white T-shirt.

Scott’s hard-living persona and genuine skills as a performer and storyteller were a cornerstone of AC/DC’s early albums and classic tracks such as “Whole Lotta Rosie,” “Let There Be Rock,” “It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Want To Rock ‘N’ Roll)” and “Highway To Hell.”

Angus Young said that he and Scott got along so well because they both refused to take life too seriously, and they both had rebellious streaks: “Well, Bon was just… he was just one of those people. We have a tendency to laugh a lot about… things that go on. You know, Bon was the same. And I think if you’re playing rock and roll, there’s just a streak of rebellion in you, you know?”

This just in….The gold medal awarded to Lindsay Vonn has been stripped.

It has been determined that Barrack Obama has been going downhill fast than she has…for at least 6 months.

Bad news for Barrack.

LOL.

Earlier today while doing a commercial for Spartanburg Harley I mentioned the winter project was done and I would post some shots here on the blog.

If you don’t have any interest in motorcycles then as the same at crime scenes “move along…..nothing to see here.” 

The re-plating of a number of parts was necessary to some very bad flaking of the chrome and you just can’t have that on a Harley.  LOL

Upper tree and risers.

Todd at Spartanburg Harley set to do the test ride.

Last but not least on that same day it snowed and we got alomost 4 inches.

This is what Old Lar’s truck looked like in the midst of the snow “storm.”

Check out the flakes caught in mid air!

Spring is around the corner, is your deck ready?

Got the Post Football season blues again! I’m just not a big fan of anything else these days and it’s killing me. Yes I’m a big Hockey fan but my budget didn’t allow for the NHL network this year and besides my Detroit Red Wings are having a terrible year and in danger of not making the playoffs for the first time in like 20 years! Golf has no Tiger in it. And don’t get me started about the NBA the league has gone back to the star system and I just can’t watch that game anymore. College Basketball means nothing till March, and NASCAR I can watch but seems to not really catch my eye except for the big races and I’m sure I’ll give Daytona a chance to get my interest going this season, and well the winter Olympics’ do start this weekend and I can get into some bobsledding, downhill skiing, hockey, and believe it or not, I love curling, the regular guys sport!

     I just wish we had a local minor league hockey team again that would fill this big sports hole for me. I still miss the Grrrowl, doing the games as the announcer and just watching as our players would develop and move on and even grow into a powerhouse and win a championship. I would love to see those days return to the upstate some day! I just hope that if the chance does come our way again, to have pro hockey in Greenville, that we have a great owner who cares about the community, knows how to run a team and that all of us hockey fans, of which there many in the upstate, jump at the chance to support a new team! Pipe dream? Maybe, but I just can’t seem to give up the idea that hockey could come back and we’d all support it again!

Sad news today for the fans, like I am, of the Discovery Channel’s long running show “The Deadliest Catch”. Capitan Phil Harris of the Cornelius Marie died on Tuesday at the age of 53. He suffered what his family described as a massive stroke on Jan. 29 while the fishing vessel he captained, Cornelia Marie, was in port at St. Paul Island, Alaska and had been in an Anchorage hospital

Jake and Josh Harris left a statement on their Dad’s web site http://captainphilharris.com/

Is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our dad – Captain Phil Harris. Dad has always been a fighter and continued to be until the end. For us and the crew, he was someone who never backed down. We will remember and celebrate that strength. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers. –

Statement from Discovery – Discovery mourns the loss of dear friend and colleague Captain Phil Harris. He was more than someone on our television screen. Phil was a devoted father and loyal friend to all who knew him. We will miss his straightforward honesty, wicked sense of humor and enormous heart. We share our tremendous sadness over this loss with the millions of viewers who followed Phil’s every move. We send our thoughts and prayers to Phil’s sons Josh and Jake and the Cornelia Marie crew.