For the 500th time...

What’s on my mind as my ears are ringing something fierce…

1) Recently I’ve been thinking that since I’ve got a free Southwest flight to use up that maybe I should make my way over to Vegas. This always sounds like a good idea until I go to the Harrah’s casino here in town and I am reminded why I can’t stand casinos. Maybe the Venetian has a slightly different clientele than a North Kansas City casino on a Wednesday night but man, talk about the third tier of society. Now I’ll admit that is a pretty classist statement but I feel completely out of place there and this is from a guy who attends monster truck races.

2) The reason I was out there was because Soul Asylum was playing and well, it was very nearly a private performance. The lack of a crowd was really, really depressing but the show itself was very good. Some notes… A) It’s really nice to know that over the past decade Dave Pirner still hasn’t figured out how to play the opening solo to Somebody to Shove, B) Dan Murphy kept it real by bitching about the Twins and C) Dave having short hair is really, really disconcerting. The guy should be required to keep the dreadlocks going until he is in his mid-fifties or turns into the next George Clinton, one of the two.

3) One other reason why I hate the casino. Not only am I charged four bucks for a bottle of Miller Lite but I have to wait while the bartender mixes a cocktail by doing Durbin level tricks of throwing the bottles behind his back, spinning them on his head and all of those other moments of flair that might momentarily impress the girl at the bar but mainly make me psychotic because I have to wait for his act to end just so I can have a freaking beer. I swear, one of these days I’m just going to reach over and pour the beer myself.

4) (Oh, and if anyone is interested in a Vegas weekend let me know. Otherwise, I’m taking suggestions on how to use up my free flight. Austin is in the lead at the present moment.)

5) I saw the absolute best personalized license plate this evening. It simply said USETH4S. Dude, I am so getting that plate. Since it was on a Virginia plate I might have a chance. Heck, I don’t care if I have to set up a legal residence in Wyoming I am going to have that on my car. Sure, it will pretty much guarantee that I will never have a girlfriend (well, that and the “My other car is a Millennium Falcon” bumper sticker doesn’t help) but still, how sweet is that?

6) Tonight marks a big milestone here at Battling the Current. This is my 500th post to the blog meaning that we are halfway to the millennium. First of all, to everyone who reads this regularly or irregularly you all have my deepest gratitude. Seriously, you don’t know how much fun it is to check my email and see that there is a new comment. It’s really why I keep on writing. As always, the free CD samplers are still available for anyone who wants a taste of the music that I mention on the site, along with even more ramblings about music and my life. I’ll have something new to offer for the two year anniversary next month as well.

7) For those wondering, if you’ve been reading this from the beginning (or were very diligent and went through all of the archives) you have read roughly 330,000 words or the equivalent of five novels. Admittedly, five novels that contain equal parts of philosophy, drunken bar stories and in depth analysis of Lindsay Lohan’s love life. Still, if any of you have actually read every post (and to be honest I don’t know if I have and I’ve written them all) I commend you. And I owe you a lot more than a CD.