Proving yet again that anything the Beatles touched turns to gold, John Lennon’s toilet from his British Tittenhurst Park estate sold on Saturday,August 28th for a whopping $14,740. Back in the day, Lennon reportedly told builder John Hancock to keep the porcelain toilet and “use it as a plant pot.” Hancock held on to the bowl until his recent death. The auction, which featured 295 lots of Beatles memorabilia, was held in Paul McCartney and George Harrison’s old high school, which is now the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts.

One of my riends, Gator Hudson asked me to promote an event he is involved with.  When Gator askes…I jump.

On August 26, 1990, guitar prodigy Stevie Ray Vaughan opened for Eric Clapton at the Alpine Valley Music Theater in East Troy, WI. The show ended with a powerful on-stage collaboration between Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, brother Jimmie Vaughan, Buddy Guy, and Robert Cray.

In the morning hours of August 27, Stevie Ray boarded a helicopter headed for Chicago with members of Clapton’s personnel: tour manager Colin Smythe, bodyguard Nigel Browne, and agent Bobby Brooks. Just outside of East Troy, the helicopter encountered very thick fog and crashed into a mountain, killing all four men and the pilot, Jeffrey Brown. Clapton continued on with the tour, deciding that those on board the helicopter would have wanted such action.

I was filling for Fredrocks doing Middays on KY-102 in Kansas City and we didn’t know who was on board or who was dead, everyone was speculating that Clapton or Robert Cray was dead. I went next door to the WDAF-AM news room and asked Charles Grey if anything came across the wire about the crash, I remember him saying to me ” all rock and rollers die like this, why is that?” I had no f*c#kin’ clue, but that always been stuck in my head to this day.

We found out about Noon the conformation of Stevie’s death, and the members of Eric Clapton staff. Hell we had Clapton in concert the next night at Standstone Amphitheater, we thought it would be cancelled. Clapton went on as promised, and played his heart out. the only reference to the crash, was a little riff of “Pride & Joy”. It was a tough night for the band and all of in the audience, especially during “Wonderful Tonight”. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house. Twenty years ago today, damn..

****WARNING ADULT CONTENT****

Going to be a big weekend for the old man!!

Saturday from 11am – 1pm I’ll be at Gold & Silve Pawn on th Asheville Highway in Spartanburg.  Drop by, have some FREE LUNCH and then check out Gold & Silve Pawn,

Then its over to Sparranburg Harley for their Dixie Classic Poker run.  Always a great event for a great cause.

Check out all the new pics at the 2-Whell garage.  Just mosey over to the home page and click on the 2-Wheel Icon.

You know sometimes things just get wierd in life. Those unexpected things that just come out of left field and change the whole day, week or in some instances your  life! And whats even more strange is when several of those things happen in a short period of time. I think it has something to do with getting older and liking life to be a little less up and down a nice low key routine, after all you’ve have plenty of crazy up’s and downs by the time you get to my age, but like we all know life is what it is and it’s also what you make of it.We in the past few weeks I’ve had a relationship end, re-connected with some old friends, even went back and apologized for things I’d done in the past to a certain person, delt with some issues regarding work, been contacted by my X who still seems to enjoy aggravting me and make things difficult for me and my daughter, left a fast food place, and they didn’t give me the right order or my drink, went to the grocery store 3 times just for one thing and forgot that thing each time, Got a great check up from my doctor and then a week later start having hip and back problems. Hosted a bikini contest, but also got so soaked I had to ruin a good pair of shoes just to get to my truck, got to have a wonderful conversation with my Mom and Dad, my sister in England, Had our apartment complex close our pool for the whole month of August the hottest month of the year to replace the decrative tiles around the top edge of the pool while we all sit at home sweating our asses off. Realized after being charged $100 more on my cell phone bill that I had the wrong txt package and have been screwing myself for months, and get this…  I recieved a Box full of Christmas presents that had been mis-placed at the the office since December! Oh and also had this odd issue of everytime I watched the NFL network there was a buzzing sound in the back ground and the audio was several seconds behind the video, Had my alarm clock just quit on me, killed yet another spider in my apartment the size of my big toe,had somebody hack on to my facebook page. and man it’s only Thursday. I’m not really sure what my point is, other than, life really is a amazing string of strange, odd, tragic,funny,scary, happy,sad,pathetic,and beautiful things. And  It really does come down to how we deal with it. Me, well I’d still just like to get up, go to work, come home, watch TV, then get a full nights sleep and see what that felt like! Guess it does sound kind of boring.

Well just when we thought the Brett Favre saga seemd to be coming to a close, bam he’s back again. Everyone knows the story about the three team mates flying down to Mississippi to get a real answer from  there reclusive quarterback, and how after the meeting he decided to come back to the Vikings, but will we ever really know all the details of how all this drama really played out. So many people feel like Favre has been acting like a Diva these past few years with all the flip flopping and strange goings on that have become legendary throughout this strange tale. There are many who also say that it was about nothing more than money and wanting to avoid training camp for as long as he could. But for me I still see something more to all of this. I really do believe Favre has always wanted to play, but I think the ankle issue was for real. I think he just didn’t think he could be at his best at this point in time and was really going to hang the helmet up for good. I also believe that he is not as selfish a guy as people want to project him as. I think the guy really loves the game, love his team mates and truly enjoys the comaraderie of being part of a team. A close nit bunch of guys who go through all the up’s and downs and hard work to reach a common goal. I do think that the three guys who went to meet with him really did change his mind because of those reasons i just mentioned. Brett Favre strikes me as a guy who just loves being apart of a team and the whole routine of playing pro football and also really is a guy  who wants to do his part and not let his team mates down. I don’t think he is as selfish as people are saying I really think the guy feels like taking the risk and maybe reeping the rewards of  hard work and sacrifice. Look I don’t mean to say he doesn’t want to do well, be the best, and win  another super bowl, but how can he be anymore selfish than the rest of the people in the Vikings organization. From the Owner to the trainers  this whole team wants to win the Super Bowl and they would all do just about anything to do that! And I think Favre is actually proving himself to be the opposite of selfish. I mean he along with many other players are taking big risks everytime that step on the field to play and just like many of his team mates they all make the sacrifice of playing with injuries and pain just to help the TEAM reach it’s goal! So I don’t see how other than all the media hype and over analizing of this whole issue he is any different than any other player. I respected his decision to not play, and I respect his choice  to play too. It was up to him and I’m glad he’s back. Sure he could get hurt in the first game, and heck he could have a terrible year and the Vikings could lose several other players and not even make the playoffs, but all Favre is doing is what every other player has to do ever year, nothing ventured nothing gained and to keep going and fighting till your body and mind just can’t go anymore. Ands just what he’s about to do. So Good luck to him, but I hope if they do make the super bowl they play my San Diego Chargers and we send him off into the sunset with a loss!

So there you are sitting with the family…looking for something to do.

“I have an idea“, your wife says.  “Lets go to the bull fight.”

Sounds like a great idea!

ahhhh, nothing like a day out with the wife and kids!!!

It was 41 years ago today,August 18th, 1969 that the Woodstock Music and Art Fair wrapped with Jimi Hendrix’s incendiary set after more than three days of music in Bethel, New York. More than 450,000 people converged upon the small upstate town to hear rock’s biggest bands perform. Although Woodstock was neither the first nor last major festival concert, the fact that the youth of America were able to congregate in one place with no violence during one of the most turbulent years of the decade, gave birth to the notion of the “Woodstock Nation” and gave a voice — and a face — to the hippie ideal.

The first day of the festival served to ease the crowd into the music and feature folk groups. The headliner the first day was Joan Baez, who talked about her expectations during the helicopter ride to the grounds: http://blogs.wroq.com/files/2010/08/Joan…

Creedence Clearwater Revival performed on the second day of Woodstock, when the bill featured harder rock acts. CCR’s Doug Clifford recalled the feeling of the crowd at that time: http://blogs.wroq.com/files/2010/08/CCRs…

Photographer Elliott Landy was commissioned by Michael Lang, one of the festival’s organizers, to take photos of the three-day event. Chances are if you’ve seen a photo from the festival, Landy was the one who took it.

Landy said he believes that Bob Dylan had a huge influence on the transformation of the now-legendary small town in upstate New York http://blogs.wroq.com/files/2010/08/Elli…

Pete Townshend has been able to look back on the experience with the clarity that hindsight provides, and he explains what he felt then, and what he’s learned since:
 http://blogs.wroq.com/files/2010/08/cr08…

He still regards the Who’s 1969 Woodstock as a watershed event in the Who’s live career:
 http://blogs.wroq.com/files/2010/08/Pete…

Artists who performed at the legendary festival included Joan Baez, Country Joe McDonald & the Fish, Arlo Guthrie, Richie Havens, Mountain, Janis Joplin, the Who, the Band, Canned Heat, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Grateful Dead, Sly & the Family Stone, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Sha Na Na, John Sebastian, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, Joe Cocker, and many, many more.

And Jimi Hendrix!

What a great weekend.

I got to hear to very different individuals try to convince the American people that we are as stupid as they think we are.  Let’s do a quick review shall we……

Dina Lohan was on the Today show and her attempt to shovel more bull was in response to a series of “probing” questions from the male version of Mary Hart…Matt Lauer.  During the segment she was adamant in her position that there is NOTHING wrong with her daughter Lindsay.  Several arrests for DUI, several visits to rehab, several failed films, multiple images of her falling down drunk, etc,,,,blah blah blah.  Its not her its YOU, the American people. She actually said people watched her too closely and THAT’S why she has had problems most of her life. Its not Lindsay’s fault, and of course its not her mother’s fault.  You can’t blame the golden goose…it might stopped squeezing out eggs.

The next example of horses**t come from the leader of the free world, Barrack Hussein Obama.  Just before old Jughead left for ANOTHER vacation, this poor excuse of an American citizen, stood before his brethren at an Islamic Rama Don celebration….AT THE WHITE HOUSE and answered a question that wasn’t answered.    In this classic example of thinking the U.S. people are dumber than dirt, the “clown in chief” was asked about the proposed mosque near the site of the former Twin Towers.  You remember the Twin Towers don’t you…..the site where yet another bunch of Islamic party boys flew two planes into the buildings, killing close to 3,000 people.  President Obama was asked what he thought about the concern / anger over the construction of a mosque at that location.  His answer was the U.S was founded on freedom of religion.  Again, he answered a question that wasn’t asked.  B. Hussein Obama apparently assumes you won’t remember one other small detail.  The fact no one has said they can’t build the temple.  There are 23 in NYC already.  The issue is the location. You can’t build a liquor store near a school, a strip club near a church and you shouldn’t be able to build a mosque that close to the 911 site.

The President is gutless.  It doesn’t take much backbone to stand before a room of full people ALL who believe the same thing you do and take a popular position.  If he wants to show leadership he should have told them “you are welcome to build your mosque at Ground Zero….the day after you allow a Baptist church to be built in Mecca.  Or, he could have gone to New York, stood in the location of the Twin Towers, and addressed the families of those that died there and explain freedom of religion and how he supports the Islamic position.  Either one would have shown more character than he has to date.

Hmmm….. was that too harsh?

Let’s take a deep breath and check the Two Wheel Update.

Aug21: Poker Run Benefitting Crime Stoppers of Spartanburg
Registration:  9am – Harley Davidson of Spartanburg.
Last bike out – noon. 
Last bike in:  4pm – Chiefs, Wings, & Firewater – Spartanburg
$25 per hand – $15 each additional hand – $10 each riders only
MUSIC  -  GAMES  -  PRIZES  -  &  -  MORE
http://www.spartanburgharley.com/event_calendar.shtml

AUG 28: 12TH ANNUAL FRIENDS OF WHITTEN CENTER RUN. Spartanburg, SC.
Starts at Budweiser of Spartanburg, Exit 17 off I-26
Registration begins at 10 AM 
First bike out at 11 AM
Last bike out at 1 PM
First hand cost $20
Best hand wins $400

Worst wins $100

Ends at Friends in Boiling Spring on Hwy. 9

AUG 28: 5TH ANNUAL RIDE FOR HOSPICE Spartanburg Roughnecks MC
Reg 8:30 Starts/Ends @ The Mid-City Shrine Club Hwy 129 (Wellford)
$25/pp Incl: T-shirt, 1 Dr Prize tix, food.
Kickstands up 10am, Grand Marshal David Pearson.
Band: BLIND VISION
Rain Date: 9/4

Sep 4 – New Model Open House
Greenville Harley

Sep 10 – Sep12, 2010 – Thunder In The Smokies Motorcycle Rally
Come ride the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. We’re only 3 miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway. Enjoy Tour Rides, Music Concerts, Bike Builders, Bike Games, Bike Show, Prizes, Vendors, Cold Beer and much more during our three day rally! All bikes and ages welcomed.   www.handlebarcorral.com

Sep 11 – Red Cross Poker Run
Greenville Harley

Sep 21 – Harley Demo Rides
Spartanburg Harley
9am – 11am
http://www.spartanburgharley.com/event_calendar.shtml

OCT 7-9  STATE H.O.G. RALLY  
BARNETT PARK,SPARTANBURG SC. 
SPECIAL GUEST: THE MARSHALL TUCKER BAND-FRI OCT 8TH
OTHER BANDS: HELLS BELLS,DEJAVU,SILVER TRAVIS,COCONUT GROVE, AND MANY MORE
 HARLEY OWNERS GROUP ( H.O.G.) A FAMILY ORIENTED GROUP OF RIDERS.
THE HARLEY OWNERS GROUP IS THE LARGEST FACTORY – SPONSORED MOTORCYCLE CLUB IN THE WORLD.
TO ATTEND THE RALLY GO TO : WWW.SCSTATEHOGRALLY.COM AND PRE REGISTER YOU MUST BE A H.O.G. MEMBER TO ATTEND
PRICE IS 25.00 WHICH INCLUDES ALL BANDS. HOST HOTEL IS THE SPARTANBURG MARRIOTT.

October 23 – Easyriders Bike Show & Tour
1st visit to Greenville! 
Carolina First Center