Petra Discography

I've been on a bit of a Petra kick lately, since it's been hard to believe that they are retiring. I thought I'd put together a discography with a few notes attached.
The discography is as follows:

Petra (The original four: Bob Hartman, Greg Hough, John DeGroff, and Bill Glover.)
Come And Join Us (Greg X. Volz’s debut with Petra)
Washes Whiter Than (Greg became a full time member.)
Never Say Die (The first of a consistent band for a few album’s.)
More Power To Ya (My first exposure to Petra.)
Not Of This World (I caught them on this tour near St. Louis with September opening up. When I heard Bema Seat, I became a fan for life and bought the first 3 cassettes as quick as I could find them. I still have the pictures from this show.)
Beat The System (After hearing Bema Seat on the previous cassette, this was a HUGE disappointment. It is mostly all keyboards, no live drums, no live bass.)
Captured In Time And Space (This live disc put closure on the Greg Volz era.)
Back To The Street (The beginning of the John Schlitt era and a welcome return to a guitar rock sound.)
This Means War (Great continuation of Petra’s rock sound. I caught them opening night of this tour in Jefferson City, MO. They were still using the Back To The Street stage setup and merchandise arrived late. They had an after-party at a local arcade and I had the opportunity to meet the band for the first time.)
On Fire (THE BEST PETRA CD!! They finally realized the rock side I’d been waiting for since I heard the opening of Bema Seat. I still play these tunes and it just rocks!!)
Petra Praise – The Rock Cries Out (The first full disc foray into praise music. Not a bad effort, but a letdown for those of us hoping to hear the continuation of On Fire.)
Beyond Belief (Not as hard as On Fire, but a rock disc, nonetheless. Ronny Cates rocked live and was a great addition on bass. I saw this tour in Columbia, MO. I was unable to meet the band, but upset someone by asking why Petra ripped off Kiss for Seen And Not Heard. You can hear the obvious rip-off from Heaven’s On Fire by Kiss.)
Unseen Power (This one and Beyond Belief and Wake-Up Call are stylistically very similar.)
Wake-Up Call (This trilogy of discs rocks, but they took a step back from the harder leanings of On Fire.)
No Doubt (I was very disappointed in every song except Right Place. It’s actually a decent CD, but an even bigger step away from their roots rock sound. This was also the first disc without Bob Hartman as part of the touring band. I saw this version of the band live on the Salt Box Tour with WhiteHeart, Johnny Q. Public, and Grammatrain. They were tight live and I was able to meet John before the show and the rest of the band afterwards.)
Petra Praise II – We Need Jesus (A decent follow-up to the first praise disc, but fans like me see these as pandering discs instead of a progression of the band as artists with their own sound. Petra Means Rock.)
God Fixation (Another stab at “modernizing” the Petra sound. Another disc without Hartman touring and it still doesn’t truly rock.)
Double Take (A mostly acoustic spin on classic Petra songs. Not something worth buying unless you’re a hardcore fan. Nothing rocks here at all. There are some interesting spins on the songs, but there hasn’t been a truly rock disc by Petra since Wake-Up Call by this point and I’m sure fans were getting antsy. I know I was!)
Revival (This is the return of Bob Hartman to the Petra fold, so to speak. John, Louie Weaver, and Bob were required for InPop Records to sign the band and release this CD. It’s another praise disc that doesn’t add anything to Petra’s rock legacy. It’s good to see Bob back, though.)
Jekyll & Hyde (Finally, a true follow-up to On Fire! This disc clocks in at barely over 30 minutes, but it rocks from start to finish. When I heard this, I dropped what I was doing and cranked it louder!)
Farewell (This just came out and features Greg X. Volz and John Lawry on some of the older Petra songs. Great disc from the current lineup and it’s great to hear the former members. It’s just a shame they aren’t following up Jekyll And Hyde, but at least they are retiring with a bang!)

There are several Greatest Hits discs out, too, that have both of the main eras of Petra. There is little from the first two albums out anymore as the CD’s are now out of print. A few of the Greatest Hits CD's are The Early Years, Petrafied, and Petraphonics. Get what you can to support this great band!

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm working today, tomorrow, and Saturday this fine Thanksgiving season. I feel a bit weird about holidays anymore. I get my children every other Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year, of course, it's Christmas. I would have loved to have this holiday with my family, but trading days off and using PTO time for the holidays has become a little tougher on us at work. It could be a blessing in disguise since I really don't need all of that fattening, but so wonderfully delicious food. (Ok, so I guess I miss that a bit.) I will be watching Dallas beat Denver today, though. (My first experience ever seeing or knowing what football was, Dallas beat Denver in the Super Bowl on TV.) As for Atlanta and Detroit, well, who really cares, right?

I guess it really doesn't feel like Thanksgiving to me today. Growing up everyone has their family get-togethers and it really feels like the holidays. When you don't have that anymore, it just feels like another day, only with less traffic and sometimes less work. As a single parent with the smaller side of the custody situation, it can also be a lonely time unless you keep yourself busy or just think of it like any Saturday or Sunday when the kids aren't around. I honestly don't feel that much anymore, which worries me a bit.

I am thankful for many things. I'm thankful that I finally have a car that runs and is under warranty for the major things. That is a huge load off! I'm thankful for the many rock bands and artists who have put on such great shows this year. I'm thankful for a great job. I'm thankful to friends for transportation, companionship, going to concerts with me and allowing me to tag along, and everything else friends do for each other. I'm thankful that I'm semi-healthy. I'm thankful to my church and softball team for some fun times. I'm thankful for my brothers and their families and the fun times we have had this year. I'm thankful for my great parents and their support and their visits and everything else they have done for me and my girls. Most of all, I'm thankful for my two wonderful daughters who have made my life so worthwhile. We have had such a great year this year doing so many wonderful things and spending such fun time together. God has truly provided this year and all of the things I'm thankful for are due to Him.

I do hope that all of my friends and family are having a wonderful holiday!

Petra - Farewell CD Is Out!

Petra's live CD "Farewell" came out yesterday. I went to Family Christian Bookstore and they had NO copies of it, NO promotion of it, and NONE on order. I was very disappointed and let them know it. I went to Best Buy and found out that the only stores in Iowa that are carrying Petra's CD are in Sioux City and Iowa City, but NONE of the 3 Des Moines stores have it in stock or on order. I then called Wellspring in West Des Moines and they told me they had 30 copies in stock. When I arrived I saw them as part of a display and they had plenty of copies on the shelf. Thankfully, I got it there!

I became part of Petra's street team and they sent me a few album size covers to use for advertisement and a bunch of $2 Off coupons. Since the CD is listed at $11.99, I was able to get it at $9.99. I gave a stack of coupons to Wellspring so they can use them in selling the Petra CD's and I gave a stack to my church to hand out to anyone interested.

You can purchase the new Petra CD here.
Petra - Farewell

I highly recommend the CD. It is basically the set list of the concert I saw recently, which covers a lot of their career. It's the current four band members with guest appearances by Greg X. Volz and John Lawry. Greg started singing for Petra on their second album and became the full time frontman from that album to their first live album, Captured In Time And Space. Early in Greg's career REO Speedwagon had approached him to be their singer before Kevin Cronan came back to the band. Greg felt his calling to do Christian rock and turned REO down. John Lawry joined Petra for the Beat The System album and has a very popular keyboard solo on the Captured live album. Lawry stayed with the band after Greg left for a few more albums and recorded a solo album called Media Alert along the way. John had previously played in the Joe English Band, which was also called Forerunner. (Beatles fans might recognize the name Joe English as the drummer who played for Paul McCartney and the Wings.) Farewell is a great CD and a fitting tribute to the greatest Christian rock band of all time, Petra.

Tidbits

This is twice I've been on-call this year. My first year, I was just on-call once, but ended up taking one from someone else this year for some overtime. Today is the last day of this one. It's been nice getting some overtime before the holidays and I will have overtime on the next two pay periods. I'm working Thanksgiving day and the day after this week. With all the extra expenditures this time of year, more money is a good thing.

I've been playing more darts this last week. I did the near impossible two more times when playing. I threw 3 bullseye shots in one turn. One of them wrapped up a win against Derek and the other was in practice, but witnessed by Derek. I also beat him 7 out of 9 times last night. I don't say that to brag because I'm not really that good, but I have gotten better and very lucky, too.

We found out Thursday night that the place that owns our rental house is trying to sell it and the others they own on this block to pay down the debt for their business. We had the investor come take a look at the house on Friday. I'm just hoping they aren't raising the rent any time soon.

I'm also about done with the cold or whatever it is I've had the last week. It started out with a stuffy head and the other night went to fairly dry sinuses and now a cough. I've been drinking plenty of water, but it's like there is something in the throat you can't get rid of. It should be gone in the next couple of days, I hope. It's just hitting everyone this time of year.

E-Ring had a surprising two parter before last week. I just got to watch it off my DVR. The main character's girlfriend died. That was a bit of a surprise to me because there was so much potential for some great storylines since he works at the Pentagon and she worked for the CIA. It was a great two parter, but still kind of surprising for season one of this show.

My Cowboys won today! Hopefully, the Chiefs will, too. I enjoyed the Indianapolis game against Cincinnati. Just after one half it was 35-27. That's usually a final score!

I have so much cleaning to do... Well, that's a few tidbits.

Football

Just past the halfway point in football season. My Chiefs pulled one out last week in the last 5 seconds, but can't beat the Buffalo Bills. Sad. Dallas plays Philadelphia tomorrow night. I heard Jimmy Johnson say that the Cowboys would be in the Super Bowl this year. That's a nice prediction to hear and I'd love to see it happen. I think the Eagles are going to lose tomorrow.

There are some other interesting things happening around the NFL. I'm glad to see T.O. out. I believe that it takes a team to win and this guy doesn't know anything about teamwork. I don't care how talented he is, keep him benched for the season and see what kind of paycheck he gets next year. I'm betting it won't be a big one. Ricky Williams quit his team last year and hasn't done squat this year. I've read that others think he's not even a shadow of his former self. It's like he showed up just to get paid and keep out of further lawsuits.

The Patriots aren't winning like they used to. I know they are a great team, but the injuries have taken their toll this year. I'm sure they won't be down for long. The Eagles aren't winning like they did last year, either. I've never liked the Eagles and I can't say I'm sad about it. Indianapolis is still undefeated! That's a team I'd hoped to see win, just because I'm a Peyton Manning fan. The guy has talent and it's great to see his team winning. I didn't expect to see them undefeated, though. Could it be that after over 30 years we could see a second undefeated season? Should I have said that in case saying it out loud jinxes it? I'd love to see it happen!

Football is a fun sport to watch. I don't get to watch a lot of games since I try to avoid it when the girls are here. I will put on Dallas and KC on occasion. Brittany really talks like a Chiefs fan, but she really isn't that interested in watching the games. I think it's because she was born in KC and knows that I'm a fan. She even told me about a project she had in school to find articles in newspapers and do something with them. She used an article about the Chiefs in that project. She also enjoys playing our version of touch football in the yard. I am so proud of her! :) She's my football princess! Paige likes to play, too. I hope to teach them what I know about the game just so they have the opportunity to decide for themselves if they like it. Girls tend not to like football for several reasons and since I'm not an over-enthusiatic fan, I hope they give it a chance. Go Cowboys and Chiefs!!

Petra Farewell

Last night I witnessed my favorite concert of the year. It wasn't the biggest show. As a matter of fact, they only had some white lights for the stage. It wasn't the biggest crowd. There may have been 200-300 people there at the most. It wasn't the most flashy. It was just them and their instruments on stage. It was simply the best. It was intimate. It brought back memories. It was performed flawlessly.

Petra is the first rock band I really got into. Being a preacher's kid, I did hear things on the radio, but it wasn't often enough to become familiar and there was nothing that I felt I'd have as my own in music. I'd heard about Christian rock by seeing a poster in the back of our church for Servant and their opening band, Fireworks. When I asked my dad about it, he said he didn't know much but that they were a Christian rock band and they were asked to put the poster up. I didn't attend that show, but now wish I had. I soon went to a new Christian bookstore that a family in our church had just opened. When looking at the records, I asked if there were other Christian rock bands besides Servant and Fireworks. I'd been able to purchase Servant's World Of Sand (great stuff!) and was anxious to hear more. They pointed out Petra and the cool album cover for More Power To Ya made me interested. I got it on cassette and was strutting around my neighborhood with a Realistic Mono tape player thinking it was the best music I'd ever heard. And it was! I loved Stand Up, Second Wind, Run For the Prize, and then three days later purchased Never Say Die. I cranked up Angel Of Light, Chameleon, and Killing My Old Man. This was finally music I could claim as my own since I was the only one I knew that had ever heard of Petra.

Soon after that, and I have no idea how, I ended up being able to go see Petra in a suburb of St. Louis. They were playing a college gymnasium with the opener September. I thought September was great music, but when Petra came out, I was blown away! They had these small chest plates at the top of their shirts that had red lights in the shape of a sword, the same as the letter T in their logo. All you saw was some fog and these red lights on stage. This was only a few dates into the Not Of This World tour and I had no idea that this album was even out. When they introduced Bema Seat as a new song and then that guitar riff kicked in, I was floored! They ripped my freakin' head off with that riff! I knew after that I was a fan for life and I had to get the rest of their stuff and keep track of this band.

I had picked up a newsletter from that show that listed all of their cassettes and a way to purchase them. I ordered the very first one since I could get the rest at the local Christian bookstore. I could not get enough of these guys and it was great to learn more about them by finding articles in the library and in Christian music magazines.

The next album totally disappointed me. I was waiting for more Bema Seat and then they went all synth on Beat The System. It was a great batch of songs, but I was hoping for some more "melt your face" guitar and this just wasn't it. I did listen to it a lot and my brother and I got their songbooks so we could do a few songs at church. I was still a fan and hoped for more rock on the next one.

The next one was a live tape that bid farewell to Greg X. Volz, the first identifiable singer for Petra. He was going solo so Petra started looking for another singer. They found former Head East singer John Schlitt. With John's arrival was a return to more of a rock sound. More guitar and less synth. It reminded me of .38 Special. It was a great rebirth with a new singer. Pregressively after that, the sound got more rock.

I was able to see Petra again opening night of the This Means War tour in Jefferson City, MO. They still had their Back To The Street stage setup and the merchandise arrived in time to sell it after the show. There was an opening band called Xara and they all went to an arcade after the show to sign autographs and meet the people who went to the show. I got a This Means War sampler/interview tape signed that night.

The tape that really made me perk up again with Petra was On Fire! This is still my favorite one. They finally got a harder edge to their sound that I was hoping for with Bema Seat. This one rocked from start to finish and was consistent throughout.

Petra kind of backed off of that edge and had a few solid rock albums after that and then started mellowing out a bit further with Praise music and a changing of the band. Bob Hartman had decided that even though he was the only original member left, he would turn the reigns over to John to run the band on the touring side. Bob would still write songs, but he wanted to spend time with his family. Petra went through a lot of members at this point, but I still bought everything that came out.

I saw Petra again on the Beyond Belief tour and the Salt Box tour. I was fortunate enough to meet John and the band on the Salt Box tour. I asked him about doing some of the old tunes and Bema Seat and he said to pay attention and see if they played something I'd enjoy, but Bema Seat was too high for him to sing. I was in the front row and he acknowledged me when they started that medley of the old hits.

Last night was similar, but better in many ways than those previous shows. I was the first one in and on the front row. They kicked in to All About Who You Know from Jekyll & Hyde, their newest CD that was a return to the hard rocking sound of On Fire, and set the tone for the night. They were here to rock our socks off and still get their message across while pleasing long time fans.

Set List

All About Who You Know
Dance (which we did!)
Amazing Grace (rocked out, of course)
Test Of Time
Creed
Judas Kiss (Would it have been fun to see them do this like One Bad Pig covered it?)
Right Place (the best song from No Doubt)

ROCK MEDLEY:
Sight Unseen
It Is Finished
Think Twice
I Am On The Rock
Midnight Oil
Mine Field
This Means War
It Is Finished (Reprise)

Jekyll & Hyde

BALLAD MEDLEY: (acoustic with cello)
Rose Colored Stained Glass Windows
Road To Zion
More Power To Ya
For Annie
No Doubt
The Coloring Song
Love

I Am A C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N (yes, the camp tune)

Drum Solo

Beyond Belief

Guitar Solo (Bob Hartman has been back for the last couple of CD's and I'm so grateful!)

Lord I Lift Your Name On High

Encore:

He Came, He Saw, He Conquered

Bob Hartman then gave a testimony about doing our part for Feed The Hungry and also for anyone there who may not be a Christian. It wasn't preachy, but just more about his experience. I'd heard the story before, but he has a fun way of telling it. They ended the night with the song Show Your Power.

It was great to see this band do more of a rock show than the current fad of turning rock concerts into praise and worship shows. Of course, that's what is ruining Christian music in my humble opinion, but I'll rant on that another time.

I was fortunate enough to meet John before this show as he was talking outside by his bus. He wsa gracious enough to sign my Jekyll & Hyde CD cover and I heard him tell how he had a CD recorded a couple of years ago that he still hasn't released, yet. He also has some other ideas, but he wants to wait until Petra is finished so as not to interfere. I also got to visit with each member briefly after the show. They had a meet & greet and signed lots of things and took pictures. I brought my entire Petra and John Schlitt CD/cassette/LP collection and stood near the end of the line. I'd met a guy there who convinced me to bring it all in. There were a few people asking me about the stuff. The guy that I had met there turned out to be from Des Moines as was the couple behind us. Turns out that we had all been to some of the same shows, such as the Bryan Adams/Def Lep show. Anyway, I got a picture with the guys and thanked John and Bob for all the memories. I also told Bob I was hoping that he'd put out some more stuff that would "melt my face", as he put it.

This is truly their farewell tour and I know they won't be like Kiss, The Who, or the Rolling Stones and keep touring every few years making people think it's their last. This is truly it. I'm sad to see them go, but grateful that they have a live CD and DVD coming out soon to commemorate this. I'm also glad that they put a great rock album out as their last studio CD.

Farewell, Petra, and thank you for so many memories!

Recent Headlines

Intelligent Design wins in Kansas. I wish schools would stick to facts and represent all theories as theories. Evolution can't be proven as it isn't going on around us and there is no physical proof. Creation, which I believe in, can't be proven as we can't physically prove there is a Creator. They are both theories. The only facts we have are the historical writings that exist from historians of ancient ages and the physical proof of previous civilizations and people. Those are the facts. Anything before that is simply theory. Accept it. Teach it. Then you can believe what you want. If you can't 100% prove your point, say it's theory and leave it at that.

Same Sex Marriage Constitutional Ban wins in Texas. I firmly believe in the sanctity of marriage and apparently so do the majority of voters in Texas. As much as I may like watching two women get it on, it's still not natural. Just like pieces in a puzzle, men and women fit. That sounds simplistic, but it's natural. There is male and female and it takes them to reproduce. Marriage should also be something separate than a partnership. If you want to enter a partnership with someone of the same sex, sign a contract and keep it. Of course, I expect the same of a marriage. Marriage, too, is a contract. Keep your word. Marriage, though, due to the usual procreativity (granted, not in all marriages), should remain sacred and there are certain benefits that should be given to those that are married. That's my opinion and apparently many of those in Texas, too.

The Ohio voters decided that they want to continue to vote the same way they usually do. Apparently, there were some groups like MoveOn.org that sponsored some changes to the way people vote in Ohio due to some unusual claims of bad vote counts in the last major election. There hasn't been any proof of these alleged irregularities; just a lot of noise from those that lost in the election. It's good to know that most of the voters are satisfied with their friends and neighbors who set up and count their votes and that they trust them more than these outside special interest groups. I'm all for the people having control over their own destiny instead of groups trying to persuade them otherwise.

You will hear spin on the two governors races. New Jersey had a Democrat governor and elected another one. That's not news and it's not a referendum on Bush as you will hear people spin it. They just went from one Democrat to another. The same goes in Virginia with their governors election. You will also hear Republicans spin the same types of things about Bloomberg's re-election as mayor in New York, but it's not a surprise to elect the same party that was there before.

Arnold Schwarzenegger had several initiatives on the ballot in California that failed. This is no surprise as California is called the "left coast" for a reason. You will hear spin about this being against him and Bush, when in actuality it's due to the strong union support and a traditionally liberal base there. It was expected. He wants to cap state spending and give the governor more power to make budget cuts. He wants to raise teacher tenure to 5 years from 2. He would like to set up an independant panel to do any redistricting instead of allowing lawmakers to do it. He also wants to require public employee unions to get members' permission before dues could be used for political purposes. Those are all fantastic ideas! Cap spending and cut budgets? Don't we all have to live under a budget? Why shouldn't our governments? Raising tenure? How many jobs do you know that you can work 2 years and be guaranteed your job? I'm surprised he didn't ask to get rid of it altogether. Tenure is stupid and jobs, any job, should be maintained by merit and results, not how long you've been there. This should be especially true in educating our children. Redistricting done by an independant panel? Well, really, who cares? Why should a winning party get to distribute district voting lines along some pattern that sets them up to win more elections? Shouldn't this be a strict population related thing? Union dues? I'm all for getting rid of unions at this point. It used to be that unions assisted workers in getting better working conditions. Now they have long outlived their usefullness. Why are union jobs paying more than the marketplace allows? Isn't that what is driving businesses like our airlines and auto makers out of business? No wonder businesses want to go to other countries. The owners have allowed their businesses to be run by the employees and it's gotten out of hand. The same thing is going on in sports. We see these spoiled people still asking for more instead of allowing the market to determine what is fair.

Just my opinions and it happens to turn out that I'm right! :)

2005 In Concerts

By my count, I've been to 18 concerts this year. I've also missed a few that I'd have loved to see. Kip Winger and Firehouse both came to Keyster's in Des Moines this year and Naked Beggars were in Davenport. I had floor tickets to Green Day and gave them away since it was a weekend my girls were here. Def Leppard played shows in Omaha and KC and it would have been great to make those. Paul McCartney was in town and that would have been good just to say I'd seen a Beatle. Stryper could have been a go if I'd have made a trip to Mizzou. There have been others that I'm overlooking, too.

I've seen some great shows this year with Bon Jovi being the best. Def Leppard and Bryan Adams being tied with the Rock Never Stops tour (the last stop) for second. I've seen the best solo performers in Billy Idol, George Thorogood, and Ted Nugent. I've seen the worst show in my life with Jani Lane going through a very rough period. I've seen a band that I really enjoy barely pull an audience when Vixen was here. It's been quite the mixed bag, but I'm glad I saw every show and most all of the artists really gave it their all.

I've been fortunate to have met a lot of the bands, too. My favorite will always be my hero, Bret Michaels. He and Evick were very gracious and fun to meet. Kevin Dubrow and Frankie Banali were very kind and it was great to get Kevin talking about the upcoming CD. Meeting 4 of the Def Lep guys was awesome and Vivian was fun to talk music with. The guys from Firehouse were hilarious. Each person was a treat to meet even if all I got to say was how much I appreciated listening to their music and seeing their show.

I bought a lot of keychains, CD's, a bandana, and a couple of T-shirts. I had to keep it cheap, but it's fun to have a souvenir of some sort. I got a lot of pictures, autographs, set lists, and a few guitar pics.

I've met some great people from online sites and people I've just bumped into in line or at the show. I've seen some of them at multiple shows, too. It's good to know that there are still some very cool people going to these shows and helping some of these bands sell enough tickets to keep coming back.

I have one more show on my list so far. I'm going to go see Petra on Thursday. I've pretty much got it all planned out to go by myself to Waterloo. I've never been there, but I'm leaving plenty early. It's by far the cheapest show I'll have been to this year and also the only Christian rock show so far this year. I'm more anxious to see this show than any other concert I've been to all year because they are the first rock band I really connected to. It's also Petra's last tour so it's going to be a bittersweet evening as well.

There hasn't been another year like this year when it comes to concerts and I'm already looking forward to next!

Laughing So Much

I laugh a lot lately. I've been having so much fun watching political debate take place. It's wonderful seeing the education of the public in how some of the latest news items are handled. I have so much confidence in the American people that I'm loving what is going on.

Today we have the Venezualan president and a bunch of people protesting our own president and we have media that loves this and shows it off to Americans. You know, whether you like Bush or not, that's still a major disrespect to our own country. We are truly the greatest nation in the world so when I see this stuff, I just laugh knowing we have it better than them and they want the freedom we have. Protest this country all you want, but we still have more freedom. It's one thing to protest policies when you live here, but quite laughable when you want what we have and then protest us anyway.

The other funny thing is this whole Scooter Libby thing. A cover-up of a non-crime. How funny is that? They have known since January of last year that no crime was committed. There aren't even any charges for this so-called leak after 22 months of investigation. The only charges have to do with the hours upon hours spent before a grand jury with no crime to report. It was hilarious last week hearing all week long how this special prosecutor was going to come out with so many ties to Iraq and about everything else and this is all he had in his pea shooter. I just about busted my gut laughing so hard!

The stuff about the Supreme Court has been going on for a while. It was nice to see the conservatives vet Miers for Bush, in a way. We do expect more, but she wasn't a bad choice, either. I can't wait to laugh again when Alito gets in. It will be so cool having the balance tipped back to the intent of being on the Supreme Court. There are actually a couple of morons on there now who believe we should look to other country's laws in order to determine our cases when the fact is that all law is to be made by the legislative branch and the Supreme Court is to interpret that, not to make law of their own.

It's also funny to hear people gripe about keeping more of their money. This whole concept of the rich being the only ones with tax breaks when they are clearly across the board is insane. Class envy is plain stupid. We all want to be rich and take care of our families and give to charity and pay our bills and have the best health care. That's normal. Why should we penalize people that are able to do that when we want to be able to do it, too? Just because you were born, do you think you are automatically owed these things or do you think you should just have equal opportunity to earn these things. There are so many people who play the lottery and keep their other hand out just waiting for something to drop in their lap. Work for it. That's all it takes. You may not get as rich as the next guy, but you will be successful and be able to take care of you and yours. Quit the griping just because you don't have what a guy like Bill Gates or Donald Trump has. It's just jealousy and a feeling of entitlement. You aren't owed squat in this life! If you don't want your tax cut, send it to me!

The last thing I laugh about is all the doomsayers. Oh, the environment is so bad we won't make it to 2020. Oh, gas prices are going to be $5 a gallon by Spring. Oh, woe is me. I've heard that crap since I was a kid and it hasn't happened. Our economy is actually doing well and we have recovered ok from anything that has been thrown our way. Our world has recovered from everything that we've thrown in the air, too. It's so cocky and arrogant to think we really have that big of an impact on things we have only studied for just over 100 years and have gotten wrong along the way. Wasn't it global cooling that was going to end our world in the 60's? Geez, get your head out of your backside and just enjoy what you have and quit trying to predict the future. Of course, if you did, I wouldn't be getting as many laughs at your expense!

Laughter is the best medicine!

Bon Jovi in Des Moines, IA

It's obvious the midwest still loves Bon Jovi. The Have A Nice Day Tour opened up in Des Moines last night and set a building record for the Wells Fargo Arena. This was the second sold out concert at this new facility with Paul McCartney being the first.

The band hit the stage at 8:30pm and opened to Last Man Standing from their new CD. This happens to be one of my favorite Bon Jovi songs and the lyrics set the tone for the night. "No this boy don't lip sync." The set consisted of old favorites and a few surprises.

Last Man Standing
You Give Love A Bad Name
Born To Be My Baby
The Story Of My Life (I'm kind of surprised they did this considering that you can sing One Last Cigarett over the chorus.)
The Radio Saved My Life Tonight (from the box set)
Have A Nice Day
One Last Cigarette (my kids would have loved to have heard this live)
It's My Life
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night (a nice solo acoustic performance)
Love 4 Sale (Richie, Jon, and Bob? They had an extra guitarist and an extra keyboard player on the stage all night.)
Bed Of Roses
Blaze Of Glory (the guitars were all acoustic)
Lay Your Hands On Me (the version from This Left Feels Right)
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Bad Medicine
Raise Your Hands
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Livin' On A Prayer

This main set consisted of 5 new tunes to really promote the great new CD. They didn't touch anything from Boin Jovi, 7800 Fahrenheit, These Days, or Bounce. The encore was to be two songs, but they added a third at the last minute as Jon stopped the group on their way off the stage. They had to get their additional guitar player who had already made it part of the way back stage.

Bells Of Freedom
Wanted Dead Or Alive
Hey Hey Hey Hey (not really sure what the title is, but it sounded like an old 50's tune)

The set kept most everyone on their feet from start to finish and the noise was almost deafening in between the main set and the encore set. Any time someone came out toward the stage the volume level of the crowd went up a notch and even more when they knew it was the band coming back on stage. There were lighters, cell phones, and about anything that glowed in the dark up in the air. There were people in the crowd singing along with every song and the crowd carried the first part of Wanted Dead Or Alive.

The light show was just awesome. There was one main screen behind the band and four smaller ones above it. Those 4 screens moved up and down in some of the songs. There were 5 light fixtures that started at the bottom of the back of the stage, went straight up into the air and then extended out over the stage, with the center one being the longest. During Have A Nice Day these 5 fixtures had various pictures and video of the smiley face making different faces. Covering the entire back stage wall was a series of lights that looked like Christmas lights, but they would change colors and had what looked like some graphics going across them. It was enormous.

The band pretty much stayed in their area except in a few songs where Richie would join Jon at the center and the other guitarist came forward to the center mic with Jon and Richie during Love 4 Sale. The extra keyboard player was set in a riser where you could barely see he was there behind Richie's side of the stage. The extra guitar player mostly played next to Hugh, but was in the dark and barely shown on the large backdrop screen. All of this disappointed me a bit as I thought there might be more band interaction, especially coming from Richie. Jon did work the stage well and used the ramps on each side to work the crowd. He also worked the pits on each side of the stage that had radio winners who got to watch from that location through most of the show. Jon even brought several of these people on stage during part of the show. It just seemed like Jon and a backing band, though, and when I saw them on the Keep The Faith tour there seemed to be more of a band feel.

Overall, this was a great show. Was it worth a hundred bucks? Well, it was sold out and I did have a great time and the seat wasn't that bad, so I'd have to say yes. They are one band that can command it and put on a show where you feel like you got your money's worth as a fan and even a die hard fan. I'd recommend this show to everyone and the CD, too!

5 In A Row

The dart board Derek bought was a great investment. We visit more, listen to music more, and even laugh more since there is something to do as roommates. Usually what happened before was that we would all come home and head to our respective TV's and computers so this is a cool time to develop friendships when playing darts. Yea, it sounds sappy, but so what.

Anyway, after losing two out of three Cricket games against Derek on Sunday and Monday, I won 5 in a row last night. The first 4 games weren't real close, but the last one he started out opening the 20's, 18', and 17's. He had me playing catch up the whole time while scoring 204 just on the 17's. I think all I had opened that game were the 16's and Bullseye. I was about 60 points behind and finally got his stuff closed out. Then I did the impossible. For me, at least. I hit 3 bullseyes in one turn. The first two hit the outer green part of the bullseye and the third dropped in their cradle and hit the red center. One hundred points in one turn and the next turn I closed out his 18's to finish the game and get my 5th win.

I could not believe that turn. I'd hit two bullseyes in one turn before, but never even close to 3. That was an awesome feeling and neither of us had ever seen it before. We were both so amazed that I actually came back and won the game with that turn that we were laughing like crazy people. It sure felt good to say I actually did something like that in my lifetime. It reminds me of the time I was playing 8 ball with a friend at a restaurant and when I broke, I sank the 8 ball. I didn't even know what that meant and I can't really play pool very well. The friend was quite the pool shark and thought I was playing him. I could not believe what I had done.

These things take hand-eye coordination and it's fun when it comes together for just one moment.