26 May 2016: The Reverent Few @ El Mercado: Austin, Texas

“Comeback is a good word, man. “~ Mickey Rourke

Just when I thought that I was done writing about show reviews… I got blown away by something different. Something fresh. Something friggin’ AMAZING!!!

This was something unforeseen and unexpected.

Not to say that since I have not been doing show reviews in a while. Because I have.

I rolled into new and strange territory a few weeks ago along the Red River area to a place called THE MOHAWK to follow some singers that I had stumbled upon at this year’s Texas Rock Fest.

The Reverent Few rocks out at THE MOHAWK

The band that was “newest” to me was called THE REVERENT FEW.

Rooted deeply in the Blues and cranks out the rock and roll in its purest form. Just like it used to be.

I sat there listening and for me, it was fresh, it was new. And a very distant thing from the particular genre of music that I have been accustomed to for such a long time. And I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with that. However for myself, I must cleans the palate once in a while and spend time venturing out of that “comfort zone” and experience something different. And that’s what I did.

I found myself in a mystic world of heartfelt, soulful mix of anything and everything under the sun. Only BETTER!

Paige DeChausse on vocals and Nick Boettcher on guitar, these two rev it up and then blast off to the moon!! It has been a very long time since I have seen that kind of dedication and passion towards music while on stage.

But by the end of the night, I had tears in my eyes at least once and goosebumps the whole way! Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while know that once that happens I have to get in some more. And I won’t rest until I do. 

And then the resident gig at EL MERCADO.

After a long flight back home from Los Angeles, a short rest, and a long bus ride to the other side of the city, I arrived at El Mercado Restaurant. Not to mention I was attempting to beat the weather to the gig, hoping to not get rained on.

Arriving a tad early, but in time to catch a sound check. .

However when the show officially started, that’s when total awe, magic, and pure rock and roll began. The entire world and its problems disappeared completely if only for a short evening.

It didn’t take long for about 30-50 people to arrive. Friends, family, fans alike. All joined together as one with a rocking common bond.

So let me begin this review as this build up is probably killing you. (Okay, maybe not. But let’s do this.)

Is Ladiest First okay? Good.

The Reverent Few at El Mercado

Paige DeChausse obviously has the kind of voice to grab my attention. Otherwise this blog post wouldn’t be written. To try and describe Paige’s voice is like a mixture of Janis Joplin, Donna Summers, Alanis Morrisette (in some ways), Billie Holliday, and quite possibly a little bit of Adele. All strong, all vibrant, all powerful, and all influencing.

As I stated, the tears and the goosebumps came and I couldn’t stop them!

Nick Boettcher has one helluva stage presence with his guitar and backing vocals. Almost to the point where I wished I could sing like that. If you want a sound like B.B. King, Muddy Waters, and Billy Gibbons then Nick is your go-to-guy. If there’s ever an event that I am aware that needs a guitarist, I am asking him first.

Stage chemistry between the two of them is out of sight. And you’re stuck in this blissful confusion in trying to figure out which of them is causing you to move around.

I am given to understand that “home” to the two of them is actually near the Chicago, Illinois area and now they are here.

I for one, danced the ENTIRE night with The Reverent Few. But only from where I was sitting which was dark. So I doubt I have to worry about humiliating videos surfacing online of me “gettin’ down.”

By the end of the evening, there were surprise musicians from Ireland who sat in for a while, and they were just as lovely. They have a CD release party on the 1st of June at the Continental.

Yet half the room approached the stage and began dancing. I do hope that my camera flash didn’t bother any body. It is always a great idea to capture these kinds of moments.

I was met up by Nick’s mother who offered a dance and promised me that she would make it happen. She was dead serious. And I believed her. So funny!!

I had just one trick up my sleeve before everything came to a close.

If you actually research Paige DeChausse online, you’ll find something rather interesting about her musical career. I won’t say what it is, but now (at least in my eyes) she’s a celebrity, and she just happens to be local. I insisted for an autograph, she smiled kindly and obliged the request.

That’s all I am going to say about that.

When I said my farewells and departed I noticed that it was raining and raining hard. “Beat The Rain” may have lost in the first round but there was no way I was going to win on the return trip.

The restaurant staff caught me staring at the windows and doors at the rain. They asked if I had enjoyed myself with the show. And I had. Then I mentioned to all of them a comment about how hard it was raining.

I departed with these words: “At least I can say that the band got me all wet.”

Everyone who heard it was on their knees laughing as I popped open the front door and exited into the wet and stormy night.

As I waited in the storm, I was STILL dancing around, reminiscing the awesome tunes that I had just finished hearing.

It can’t be helped though. If you love to dance, THIS IS IT!!!

The Reverent Few caught me by surprise. And I cannot say that I will complain.

I’m stuck. I’m sold. They win. They have pulled me back in. Game Over. I’m going to do my best to follow their gigs and shows as much as I can. And if you love music and near the area, I encourage you to do the same.

 

https://www.facebook.com/paigeandthereverentfew/

6 August 2014: Metalachi- The Belmont

“I feel very proud to be an ambassador of Mexican music. Wherever I go, I will always bring my mariachi. It’s what I grew up with. It’s what I love the most.” ~ Alejandro Fernandez

My apologies for not writing this sooner but time has just slipped away from me that I am just now getting around to writing this post.

Metalachi was playing at The Belmont and even before they reached the stage,  I was just thrilled to the bone about the band who opened.

Yet when Metalachi hit the stage the whole place exploded into one giant party, filled with music and drink. Pretty much: Wine, Women, & Song.

Their technical difficulties led to a few minutes of comedy relief. The microphones on their violinist weren’t set up or working. So the rest of the band members kept the crowds entertained with some of their best raunchy one-liners and humor.

I had to laugh after all of that because their first song that they played was “The Final Countdown” by Europe.

I don’t believe that I mentioned this before but if you do not know who Metalachi is, its a group of five members. If you believe the folklore, these five members are all actual brothers. They all have the same mother, but maybe not the same father.

The band is an actual Mariachi band, playing Mariachi style music. However they basically COVER heavy metal tunes that we all grew up with when it was all over the place in the 1980’s and 90’s. Metalachi played tunes from AC/DC and Metallica. Upon finding them on YouTube you will find a wide variety of different songs that they sing.

Faith No More’s “Epic” and Motörhead’s “Ace Of Spades” are also tunes that they played. 

It is a very unusual and yet exciting experience to use all of your senses to take and soak everything that you are seeing and hearing. To have this band of only a violin, trumpet, guitar, and bass guitar with some excellent vocals to be able to take such famous and familiar heavy metal tunes and play them Mariachi style, you know without a doubt that there’s some awesome talent there.

When you consider that and then add their wild adult sense of humor while on stage, it makes for a very fun time.

Then they had something called “SuperSexyLoveMakingTime” and they gathered one woman from the audience and sat her down on a lawn chair and the band performed “More Than Words” by Extreme while ingratiating themselves all over her. It was a silly bid at a romance serenade. But you could really tell that the woman was totally enjoying herself while on stage. 

I think that party would have gone on all night long, but The Belmont is an outdoors venue and since the show was during the middle of the week, there was a 10:30 PM curfew.

It was sad that Metalachi couldn’t even perform an encore.

And yet I am so glad that I finally made it to one of their shows.

The band was very kind and was allowing plenty of time for photographs and autographs signed and everything in between.

Usually it seems as if when a band gets that big with fame and notoriety, that they come in… perform… and then leave.

I was glad to see that Metalachi was willing and able to get in with their fans. I’ll be making sure that whenever I hear that they are coming back to town that I get my tickets early on and make sure to wipe out the calendar because I just really enjoyed myself and cannot wait to have that much fun again.

11 March 2014: Nancy Silva Project @ The 311 Club- SXSW- Austin, TX

Nancy Silva Project

With an entire day of different acts at The 311 Club, the next band that was on stage after Poc Nation was NANCY SILVA PROJECT.

I kept seeing the name but didn’t know what or who to expect.

As I researched the band over the Internet, my curiosity was well-piqued.

Knowing that the set would be finished in plenty of time for me to get home at a decent hour, and that the bands were finishing pretty close to on time, I stuck around for this band.

Much like the rest of them, NSP was there before they were to be on stage. I kept staring at her… wondering if that was in fact the Nancy Silva that I kept reading about and hearing on the Internet.

Finally I just went over and talked to her. Duh!! Sometimes simple is best.

It was a pleasant conversation. I think she was kind of surprised to hear the words that were coming out of my mouth. But she was happy to hear that in a short amount of time that I had come to like her music.

Yay me!!! This would come out to work to my advantage in spades almost.

I would talk and talk and talk with her until there was nothing more to talk about, and even while other bands before Poc Nation were playing, being in close quarters with her was kinda cool. She had barely met me and when we parted ways so that she could go prepare, I got a hug. How freakin’ cool is that?!?!???

So I picked up her CD and a t-shirt. I was a merchandise buying mofo… I tell you what!!

Now you KNOW I am not going to pass THIS up!!

Then NSP would hit the stage after Poc Nation and I pretty much did not wander far from the stage and I kept to myself in my spot through both sets. Only to find out how rockin’ NSP really was when playing live!!

I found myself just going with the flow of it all. People around me dancing like fools. Others drunk as hell trying to get into it and keep their balance at the same time. I guess you could say that a good time was had by all.

I enjoyed it at least.

I was most impressed with a song called “Yesterday” I just really got into it.

For my first time out for NSP, I cannot complain.

She will be performing on the BIG stage this evening. I believe it is the same stage that BEAUTIFUL DISTURBANCE will be playing on this afternoon.

I plan on going for both bands. I just will have a few hours in between and probably back and forth for both shows.

And to think, NSP was playing at the Dirty Dog Bar really late Sunday night and I didn’t go. All of those possibilities lost!Oh well. I’ve made an impact it seems with Nancy Silva. And of course she’s just so darn pretty. Or so I say! 

I don’t know how all of this is going to play out today because the weather took a turn and now there’s so much wind that I feel like I am back in southwestern Kansas again.

Nothing I am not used to, just not used to it happening HERE.

I’ll follow NSP for as long as I can. They are a band from San Antonio, but I don’t drive. So, we’ll see what happens.

I was happy that I stuck around for NSP. It was a great decision as it was entertaining.

Then when after the show, I bought two more t-shirts and got a bit of a break on the prices. Thank you, Nancy!!

After that, she was gone. I thought that I would get a few more photographs with her and probably a few more hugs as she was very open to that. But she vanished. Poc Nation and her entourage was gone as well from the club. And it was getting late, so I busted out of there and took off for the designated bus stop to return home.

Only to arrive at that corner to see the exact bus that I needed to get home was right there parked.

The ramp to get on to the bus was in a weird place and I was in need of assistance, so I called aloud “Can someone please help me??” and I was surprised and both disgusted that NOBODY did a thing. Nobody moved. Finally someone jumped up and pushed me onto the ramp from the weird angle that I was in and I boarded the bus and got home by midnight.

What is wrong with people??

So now I wait around now for me to leave to go back to see BEAUTIFUL DISTURBANCE. I just kinda wished it was NOW. But patience must be had.

Expect more posts about all of these experiences soon!!

3 February 2014: Gettin’ Dirty with Casket of Cassandra

“I stare in the eyes of death.” ~ “Solitaria” by Casket of Cassandra

I was too far gone last night to be writing about this in the blog. And you’ll understand more as you read.

But last night in Austin, Texas was the battle to get into the Texas Independence Fest.

With one band in particular that I’ve come to really enjoy in the last month, Casket of Cassandra.

They originally come out of California, but have come to Austin, Texas to be closer to their current record label. This is at least what I am understanding.

So the Dirty Dog Bar was hosting this contest and on a whim, I took off running for it. I wanted to see Casket of Cassandra play live.

I wanted to see what else they had.  And I wanted to see what they could do live. And I’ve only known about them about a month. Since they very first day of 2014.

Needless to say, that I am totally addicted to their latest and greatest song, “Solitaria” which if you know me… is no surprise.

Never meeting them in person or anything before. I attempted to get to infamous Sixth Street before it got dark.

That planned failed.  The whole show got put on hold until a couple of hours later. I would learn by some of the members of Casket of Cassandra that it was because a ton of bands had bailed on the night.

And I am going to say this right now: I HATE SAN JACINTO BLVD. Who in the hell thought that was a good idea for downtown?

Very frustrating.

But once I finally got to the club, things got better. Tons better. Almost too good. 

I was finally able to meet Amanda Maddera, vocalist for Casket of Cassandra. She’s really nice and awfully sweet.

Within time, I would come to say hello to the rest of the band. It was really cool for the majority of them to just talk and hang out and laugh about whatever came up. Mainly we all giggled because I had gone into the men’s room and scribbled the name of the band and their new song on the walls of the bathroom stall and they totally thought that was a trip.

Amanda Maddera, vocalist of Casket of Cassandra

When it was time, they were all serious and by the books. They had a job to do.

I have to say that I did not know exactly what to expect from Casket of Cassandra. But I was totally blown away by their performances on stage. Everyone clicked in with one another.

Amanda has the kind of screaming vocals that will melt the skins and faces off of demons, and make Satan himself shutter while thinking… “Ohhhhhh shit!!!”

Between having a conversation with her and then seeing her on stage is the difference between winter’s night and summer’s day.

Isaac Holliday, guitarist for Casket of Cassandra

Amanda Maddera could give Angela Gossow a good run for her money, vocals wise.

I personally would not be offended if Casket of Cassandra did a cover of “We Will Rise” by Arch Enemy, just to see how well Amanda would hold up with the vocals. I mean, she is one awesome and scary mofo when that microphone is turned on and in her hands.

I was totally astonished and impressed with guitarist Isaac Holliday. It was because of his mother that I got to know the band. So I have a lot to be thankful for with her.

And still Isaac is a complete insane beast when he plays on stage. I have never seen such things more terrifying and awesome both at the same time from any guitarist.

The one thing about Isaac that made me freak out is the fact that he got up on stage barefoot and rocked the entire set until the end. And he didn’t just stay in the standing position either. He drew energy from crowd and was everywhere.

I knew that his mother was proud of him and his accomplishments and his decision to be a part of this band. And now I know WHY she is so proud.

If I started up my old band again, and was to start fresh… I’d do everything I could to get Isaac to say YES to the project. I’m hoping that Isaac will forward the photograph of the band name that was written on the bathroom wall to me soon. I wanna see how that turned out.

So the only way to describe Casket of Cassandra’s performance last night would be:

COMPLETE AND TOTAL HIGH VOLTAGE!!

And then came the end of the eargasm. A musical cockblock by staff members of the Dirty Dog. Amanda had announced that they had one more song, but they were being told to get off the stage and that they were done.

That one song… Solitaria. They intended to rock out with it at the very end, and never got a chance to play it. I was crushed. I was broken down. And of course I was pissed off. I am hoping that VERY SOON that I will catch them playing live again and that they WILL play the song.

I sat there thinking to myself that if I were them, I probably would have just gone ahead and played it, regardless. Because hey, this is heavy metal and so shove it!!!

What’s the worst they could have done? Turned off the microphones? Amanda and Riles (backing vocals and guitarist) would have just sang without the microphones and still killed the crowd. At least that is my biased opinion.

And I remember sitting there, staring at Amanda as she was breaking down the stage. I shouted “I came out into the Texas cold for this, for Solitaria. And I just threw your band’s name on the walls of the stall in the men’s room.”

The Thirsty Goat

Amanda looked at me oddly and grinned. And now, I just don’t blame her for that reaction.

Dambreaker …….. was D-R-U-N-K last night!!!!!!!!!

And it was not funny, at all.

Two of these bad boys and several shots. All of that was BEFORE Casket of Cassandra even got on stage.

For someone who doesn’t drink a lot of alcohol, and has refused all but two drinks of liquor when going to Houston to see SIX MINUTE CENTURY or any other Houston band play, the delectable amber brew was too much. And of course the sting of the Tequila.

My apartment manager loves the idea of me getting out of the house as much as possible. Particularly if it involves doing something that I enjoy– such as music. Each and every time I want to go out and see this band or that band play, he is all for it.

He knew someone who was working at the bar who goes by the name of HOLLYWOOD, and I was to introduce myself. HOLLYWOOD decided to buy shots.

On top of that, I was given some cash to enjoy a drink, courtesy of my manager. His suggestion was the Thirsty Goat.

It is SO DELICIOUS! But it is also the complete and total DEVIL!!

I’m afraid after two of those and all of that Tequila, there was no saving Dambreaker. I am surprised that I even made it home on the bus. Luckily, the men’s room at the Dirty Dog Bar are VERY KIND to the ADA community. And that was such a welcomed relief, pun intended. I think that’s what curbed off some if not most of the inebriation.

So with all of that going on, I don’t fault Amanda for her reaction at all. That was kinda stupid on my behalf. DUH!!!

And that is why there wasn’t a chance of me being able to write about this when I got home last night. Too drunk. For like the first time in …. YEARS.

I dropped the digital camera that was given to me and I’m hoping it comes back to life soon. Cement floors in bars. I hate them. But at least though I look awesome while gliding across them in my wheelchair.

I didn’t get a photograph with the entire band like I would always do. Hopefully that will come at a later time.

And this morning I learned that this entire battle last night, Casket of Cassandra actually WINS!! So that was really awesome. They are set to play a show at Emo’s in April with HUGE artists with HUGE recording labels behind them. Its going to be great for the band!!

So I sit and wait for the next show. Hoping for more. Craving Solitaria!!!

Check out the band at their Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/casketofcassandra

A Blog Nomination

Check this out!

I received a notice today that I was nominated for a Liebster Blog Award.

It was totally unexpected. And I have seen blog awards around but had no idea how in the world one receives them or wins them or whatever.

But here I am with MY FIRST nomination.

First off, thank you to the person who nominated me. The fine author over at:
http://writetolivelivetowrite.com/

So I was given ten questions to answer. And I had to answer them all for the first part. And here we go. Get your tissues and put on your big person’s undies:

1. What is the single most amazing thing you have ever tasted in your entire life? I want details people! There is this hamburger join on U.S. Highway 160 inside the city limits of Coldwater, Kansas. Their hamburgers are quite divine. But since I left the state over ten years ago, and my parents are no longer living along that route, I’ve never been back. And I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the place.

 

2. If there is one moment you could relive in your life, what would it be and why? The night that I manhandled Céline Dion’s ass………… and lived!! It was prior to her American fame exploding with “Beauty and the Beast.” I think that given that if you know who I am, the why is self-explanatory.

 

3. What is the one thing you have never tried, are beyond scared to, but want to accomplish before they put you in the ground? I’ve wanted to travel to as many European countries as possible. PBS is the devil!! But I jest. I’m afraid though that I will never make it.

 

4. Worst date you’ve ever been on? The worst date I have ever been on, was a blind date with a woman that drove 3 hours across the state to hang out with me. Our expectations were far different than one another for the night. And only after two drinks, she admitted that the male roommate that she had was in fact her boyfriend. But she wasn’t happy with him at that time. And because I wasn’t getting what I was wanting, coupled with that new piece of information, I insisted she take me home. I didn’t even bother with the formalities at the end, I slammed her car door and went running inside of the house. Only to find out that she had been arrested trying to go back home. She was swerving on the highway due to fatigue and the cop noticed something and searched her car. Her entire trunk was full of drugs. Thankfully I was gone at that point. But all the promises of desire and longing were a bunch of crap. I fell for it. Something changed her mind and I never knew what. Now she’s sitting in a woman’s prison for 25.

 

5. What do you want to be when you grow up? If you’re already grown up, what did you want to be when you were growing up? I had switched “careers” throughout my childhood and young adulthood. I wanted to be so many different things that it depends on what year of age I was. It changed every year. The last time I thought about it, I wanted to be a Sign Language Interpreter. But that never worked out for me.

 

6. What is your guilty pleasure? Cottage cheese. Shut up! Next question.

 

7. If you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and why?  Nikki Lynn to begin with.  I love her to pieces and would do anything and sacrifice whatever I had for her. Others such as Jodi Ambrose and “Lusty Biter” also have been so extremely awesome and kick ass in my life. I wouldn’t know what I would do without them.  Like the song says, I would walk across the fire for them. Celebrity-wise?? Maybe Céline Dion, Tom Hanks, Deborah Gibson, and a few others. But my focus wouldn’t really be on celebrity type people. It would be more towards the people that have made a HUGE impact to my life in some way personally.

 

8. What is your passion in life? Music. It always has been. Always will be.

 

9. If there is one thing you could say to your 13 year old self, what would it be? I will tell the 13 year old self that things are about to get really shitty for a while, but hang on because it won’t last forever.

 

10. What bores you to tears? Golf, soap operas, and watching people make the same freaking mistakes over and over and over and over again without ever learning to stop doing that.

 

My personal nominations for this award go to:

 

Sense So Common

Clantily Scad

Emily’s Blog

FogCity Musings

Life Interrupted

2BCreative

Venus Knows Best

tips4chix

Liz Jasper

A Redhead’s Guide

 

The ten question that I personally would ask are the following:

 

1. What is the most common thing you daydream about?
2. What is your top 3 short term goals in life (up to the next 10 years)
3. What would you say is your greatest personal achievement?
4. If you could have one “super power” what would it be and why?
5. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
6. If you are having a Hollywood style party name your top five VIP guests:
7. If you could plan your last meal, what would you eat and/or drink?
8. What is your favorite smell?
9. If blogging was not available, what would you be doing in your spare time instead?
10. When is your birthday?

For those ten who I have been given a nomination:

Rules! Should you decide to accept the challenge, follow these please:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and link to their blog.
2. You must answer the 10 questions given to you by the nominee before you.  (Seen above in bold.)
3. You must nominate 10 of your favorite blogs with fewer than 200 followers and notify them of their nomination.
4. You must come up with 10 questions for your nominees to answer.

Personally I thought this was kind of fun. I don’t know when or if ever I’ll win or not win. But I guess we’ll find out. I am proud of the work here and I continue to keep everything going the way things were.

Until next time!!!!!

 

 

A Landmark In Blogging

I just reached over 100 subscribers/followers to this blog.

I’ve been reaching around the blogosphere and I have found some really AWESOME people! Not to mention BEEEE-AUTIFUL people!! They have me in stitches with their content.

Ironically enough, the 100th follower is someone who writes the blog called “You’re Just A Dumbass.”

Its just really good stuff, especially if you’re the relationship type. OR if you’re the single type wanting to be the relationship type.

http://yourejustadumbass.wordpress.com/

Tell her DAMBREAKER sent you.

And now with 106,085 total views and 103 followers, I am grateful and want to take this moment to say THANK YOU SO MUCH! And I hope that you continue to read here.

For those of you who have been transplanted from the other project: Welcome. This is basically a PRIMARY blog for me. But I will do work in both. And thank you for your double duty dedication.

Until the next time, which will probably be another SIX MINUTE CENTURY post. I’m excited to have to get up in the morning and get on a bus to go rock out with my friends, and hopefully see Little Baby Froth. He’s such a cute little boy from the photographs I have been seeing on Facebook.

But thank you for helping me make this step. And I hope for many, many more.

Happy 100th Birthday, Crossword Puzzle

“People who work crossword puzzles know that if they stop making progress, they should put the puzzle down for a while.”~ Marilyn vos Savant  

This weekend is the 100th birthday of the crossword puzzle. I know that many of us, if not all, have done one of these a time or two in our lives. Some are good at it, some are great at it. And some not so much. But we’ve all given it our best shot. 

A crossword  is a word puzzle that normally takes the form of a square or a rectangular grid of white and black shaded squares. The goal is to fill the white squares with letters, forming words or phrases, by solving clues which lead to the answers. In languages that are written left-to-right, the answer words and phrases are placed in the grid from left to right and from top to bottom. The shaded squares are used to separate the words or phrases. 

Arthur Wynne, inventor of the crossword puzzle

On December 21, 1913, Arthur Wynne, a journalist from Liverpool, England, published a “word-cross” puzzle in the New York World that embodied most of the features of the genre as we know it. This puzzle is frequently cited as the first crossword puzzle, and Wynne as the inventor. Later, the name of the puzzle was changed to “crossword”. 

Crossword puzzles became a regular weekly feature in the World, and spread to other newspapers; the Boston Globe, for example was publishing them at least as early as 1917. 

And there’s your fun fact blog post. Enjoy.

500

Wow. Ladies and gentlemen, you just have no idea how impressive this number is for me.

THIS IS MY 500th BLOG POST on Dambreaker.

And to think that it came in less than two and a half years since I started it.

A lot of ups and downs and a lot of posts that didn’t make sense to a bunch of people and a few that remarkably had changed lives, unbeknownst to me at the time that it happened.

I know that I have some people who read this and they have not subscribed to this blog. To those people, I STRONGLY encourage you to do so, so that you do not miss anything.

I am amazed in the fact that in this short amount of time, I nearly 100 people who have subscribed to this blog and receive each post via e-mail every time I write.

For those of you who are silent readers and for those of you who are subscribed. And for those of you who have no problems leaving comments: I send to all of you my love and thankfulness.

Thank you for making Dambreaker what it is today!!!

 

Into The Kingdom Of The Ice Children

It is always best when you have a good day doing what you enjoy.

For the first time since last May, I was able to get on the ice and I didn’t play any hockey, but I got to skate.

My sister came by and picked me up and took me to the one and only remaining ice skating rink left. It was during public skating hours and many people were there to get out of this atrocious heat and cool off for a while.

What was probably more fun than anything was the thought of being able to skate along side my 7 year old nephew as he has been learning over the summer how to skate and also how to play hockey.

But once I got there and I was ready to go, I jumped into my sled and got dragged onto the ice. Once I hit, I took off like a jet!! I didn’t even see my nephew until after I had been on the ice for a while. And because I’m really out of practice, I was a little tired by the time he did show that it was getting to the point where I could not keep up. Okay, okay…. A LOT tired.

I was lost in time though. I had so much fun on the ice. But it didn’t come without its dangers and perils and close calls.

Because of the fact that it was a public skate session, there were a lot of bodies on the ice. Some skating, some doing spins, others just standing on the ice, and even more others hugging the walls for dear life!

There were no hockey pucks involved. The hockey nets were removed. So all I could do was skate, skate, skate.

It was just a little bit challenging to have gone in and out of lines of people, three or four deep, only to try and get around them somehow without plowing into them or into someone else with my sled.

As I did lap after lap after lap, I began to notice a group of young children who were curious. They skating along side of me for a while. Some of them asking questions about why I was in a sled. Others asked how I moved around on the ice, and some were asking me if my legs were broken. Over and over again.

After doing this for a short amount of time, I decided to skate over towards the wall and take a nice little break and give my arms a rest. When I turned around that last orange cone, the children who had been following me didn’t notice that I had broken away from the path and was up against the wall.

Children came flooding over to me. They stood there all around me, asking all sorts of questions. They wanted to see the skate blades underneath the sled. They wanted to see what kinds of sticks I was using to move across the ice. Some even asked if I played hockey.

When the questions had died down and I was rested up a little bit, I blasted off again and went back into the routine of doing laps around cones.

I heard behind me, “THERE HE GOES!!” and as I went around that first cone I noticed that all of the children who had been hanging around me were actually chasing after me and trying to catch up.

These children had to be between the ages of 7 and 10 years old. Certainly no older than 12 years of age.

I heard a few other comments like “LOOK AT THAT!” and “WATCH HIM!” and the like. There was one little girl who had for the most part hung out with me on the ice for as long as I was still on it. When I took a break, she took a break. Then some boys did the same thing.

But as time went by, things got a little crowded on the ice. There were a lot of times where I would narrowly skate right by someone’s leg as I was trying to pass them because they were either standing still or going slower than I was.

No matter where I went or where I had stopped to take a break, I had that one little girl and at least one or two more children that would be there wherever I went. And when I started up again, they wouldn’t notice that I had started skating again and they would run like mad to catch up.

Some of these older kids (I want to say probably in high school) stood there in their little herds and would never get out of the way.

I ended up taking out one little kid as I tried to stop myself from running him over. I saw that he was going to fall on top of me and I threw my arm out and broke his fall. Once he bounced off of my arm, he gracefully came down upon his knees and was not hurt. All of this had to happen because these older kids weren’t moving and I tried to go to the outside of their little pack and I nailed the poor child.

The skate guards clearly were not doing their job. Not cool.

Random question: Why couldn’t the ice be filled with good looking women? I could take them out, having them land on my lap and then they can tell me what they want for Christmas. Just saying. Don’t you think that is a really cool way to “pick up chicks”?

Once I got off the ice, I took off my gloves and helmet and got back into my wheelchair. And then the cold, harsh reality of the innocence and ignorance of children were apparent. They saw me sitting there in the wheelchair, even though they were talking with me and having fun skating. Once they got a glimpse of me sitting there, they avoided me and just stared.

Oh well. Children can’t be blamed for something like that.

And I must give props to my nephew for cutting in front of me once. It had stopped me from going forward and I simply fell over to one side. What a goober!!! I got him back good though when he was misbehaving in store afterwards and when his mother attempted to give him a swat on the backside, he defied it all by saying “That didn’t hurt.”  So I flicked him on the ear.

Yeah, I’m a mean uncle. Whatever. Shut up.

Nonetheless, I had told my sister that I was going to show some of her old co-workers something that they had never seen before. And it turned out that I had educated a lot of small children about what I do and how I can skate on the ice… just in a different way than they do it.

It was fun. Lots of fun. And yes, I am sore. But I am sure that come tomorrow, that soreness will be a lot worse than it is right at the moment. That’s just the way it is.

I’m supposed to do it all over again this Friday with the other assistant captain of the sledge hockey team. Just get out and skate and probably have to dodge people some more. Then he and I are going to talk some business about what he and I think the team should work on for the 2012-13 hockey season.

Fun times indeed!!

 

Going To the Cracker Barrel

“If you don’t like the memories you have. Go out and make new ones.”

Every second Thursday of the month, the people of my apartment complex get together for a monthly resident meeting. It is then there decided that on every second TUESDAY of every month, we would go as a group on an outing to lunch.

This month’s selection: Cracker Barrel.

The last time that I went to the Cracker Barrel to eat, it was frought with bad experiences and horrible memories. But that was actually several years ago. I thought that by going today, I would have the opportunity to make a NEW memory to replace the bad ones. That, plus I wanted to get out of the house.

It would turn out to be the funniest thing so far in 2012.

Its raining today. I thought that it could be a bad omen. I was trying to keep hopeful. But as I pulled up the back of the group, I was greeted by the employees cheerfully and one woman ended up giving me a box of three crayons and something to write on with puzzles and mazes and what not. You know, those things that they give small children.

I was approached with, “The one lady at the head of the group told me to give this to you.” And she did so honestly, seriously, and with a smile.

So I thought, “Oh how funny! Someone is messing with me. I’m gonna run with it.”

And I did. When I finally got to the table I immediately opened the box of crayons and announced, “At least I have something to do while we wait for our food. YOU ALL have to sit there and be bored.” I proceeded to use the crayons and began coloring.

A few moments later, someone nearby wanted to see what I was doing. But I covered the paper just like in grade school with my entire arm to block their view of my “masterpiece”, telling them that nobody can see it until I was done.

They didn’t like that.

Too bad!!

And then when I found out exactly WHICH ONE of them it was that pulled this prank on me, I noticed she started to refer to me as “son”, in front of everyone. So then I turned around and asked her, “If I’m your son…. are you paying for my meal??”.

Half of the people at the table laughed.

Then I started over-emphasizing a lot of things and behaving as like a child. I was asking for chocolate milk, and I wanted my dessert first, and many, many times I said that I “had to go potty”. And that I wanted a bending straw in my beverage, and I didn’t want any vegetables. And so on.

The three crayons that I had were the colors of red, yellow, and blue. I improvised with them and came up with something a little special. When I was finished, I showed everyone at the table. They were impressed!!

Yes boys and girls, yellow and blue STILL make green. Who would’ve figured?!?!?!?!? So I was able to make green for the stem in this photo.

But I continued to milk the situation, as it were.

I didn’t do anything overly foolish like intentionally knock over my drink or drop something like that though. I had to draw a line into maturity.

So then I got up from the table and passed by the woman who had given me the crayons in the first place. She asked me if I had finished with my puzzles, and I just laughed and told her that I had, and I would come by later again to show her my work. To my surprise she said, “I’m looking forward to it.” All the while, keeping a straight face.

The general store inside the Cracker Barrel was filled with wonderful items. Especially dozens of stacks of patriotic items on numerous shelves. 

But as I’ve always said when it comes to these kinds of things, that I can’t be around them without adult supervision.

So difficult to withstand the temptation to get something. But I pressed on and returned the table. I grabbed the paper that I drew the rose upon and went and showed the woman.

The only “bad thing” that happened was that when I was moving towards the cashier, I got hit on the side of the neck with a serving tray by a waitress who wasn’t paying attention to what she was doing and where she was going.

Being at a certain altitude in a wheelchair, accidents like that almost always end up in weird places. I probably should have cried bloody foul and murder. At least that way, my meal could have been free. But the waitress was paranoid and more attentive to what she was doing after that, especially if she saw me moving around from place to place.

When I showed the woman what I had done, I got another surprise. She was so impressed with it that she asked if she could KEEP IT!!!

Wow.

And then in my abilities of being a smart ass, I asked “Would you like for me to autograph it as well?”, as I pulled a pen out from my shirt pocket. She agreed to that as well.

So there she had it. An original “masterpiece” complete with autograph. Done by Dambreaker with using only three crayons.

I got back to the table and I mentioned that I shouldn’t be left alone in that general store because there were so many things in there that I would want. One of the neighbors asked me, “Did you bring your credit card?”.

I replied, “UNFORTUNATELY…. yes.”

Then the food came. And I didn’t think it was too terrible. But I didn’t eat a whole lot because I had stuffed myself with breakfast tacos only an hour and a half before. But it still was very good indeed.

When we were finished, the cashier’s table is inside that blasted general store. And I began to look around more seriously. Still wanting all of these really awesome and cool things. I grabbed a shirt that I liked, but when I saw that the price was $39.99 …. that was the end of that!! Holy crap. It was a t-shirt for crying outloud.

I found something else and I was looking for a price tag. I think it was cheaper, and then I was looking for my size, but the collective group that I was with starting making their way through the exit doors and I had no more time to find a shirt that was my size.

The lady that was working in there, kept working on me the entire time, trying to get me to buy something. She was close. But I shrugged at her as if I had the last laugh on the situation. Thinking that it was over. And as I was going through the doors I heard her say behind me, “Well, you’re just gonna have to come back. Have a great afternoon!!”.

Dang it!!!!!!!

But still, with the paper and crayons and being told that I needed to have it. And then me just taking it all in stride and running with it beyond what the original prank was intended for, made it the funniest thing that has ever happened so far in 2012.

I crack jokes, pull pranks, and make people smile. And yes, people do it to me too. But warning: I can get very crafty and devious if I decided to ONE UP you on your prank.