The Arrival of Summer

"It's been a long time, been a long time, been a lonely lonely lonely time" cried Robert Plant over the crunch of Jimmy Page's bombastic guitars. Yes, it has.... May 14 was the last post I wrote here. Three posts in May. I've been seriously neglecting my blog lately. The problem is that ever since the weather has been warming up, I have been OUT there. Either I've been working overtime or skulking in the woods snapping pictures of wildlife; of which has been an obsession lately. Though I have several blog thoughts floating around in my cranium, (most them wildlife photos, anybody interested?) by the time I hit the keyboard I'm too wiped out to want to even write long posts.

On the contrary, being out there didn't mean hitting the rummage sales and thrift shops. I've been saving most of my hard earned dollars for some major events coming up this summer. However, I did stop at a few rummage sales, but the pickings were few...

Chicago: Greatest Hits Vol. II
Sammy Hagar: Marching to Mars
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts: I Love Rock n' Roll (my girlfriend wanted this one)
Alan Parsons Project: Eye in the Sky
Roxy Music: Avalon

I did pick up Bruce Springsteen's latest, Wrecking Ball and thought it was pretty good-much better than Devils and Dust and the Seegar Sessions, but not as great as his classic stuff like Born to Run, Born in the USA or even Working on a Dream. Maybe I'll warm up to it over time. Then there was a Robert Plant bootleg I picked up, a show with the Band of Joy from Kiev, Ukraine in July of last year. An excellent show featuring reworked versions of both Zeppelin and cover tunes. There are a quite a few head spinning surprises here that are worthy of a blog.



Anyways, this summer is going to be a very busy one. We're kicking it off a couple of weeks with a trip to Appleton to go to my girlfriend's niece's wedding. I just learned that I have been nominated to take pictures. I'm not a professional I keep telling them, I'm just a novice with a snap happy finger.. Geeze..

Following that in the end of June, starts Wisconsin's biggest music festival-Summerfest! Over 700 bands in ten days, more than enough music to satisfy my insatiable taste for rock and roll. ZZ Top, Gov't Mule, Steve Miller Band, Scorpions, and a slew of others are headlining the side stages . I've already landed tickets for two of the major headlining acts in the Marcus Amphitheater; Iron Maiden with Alice Cooper on July 4th and Aerosmith with Cheap Trick on the 7th. Both should be great shows, hopefully more of the older material will be played. I should doing a review on both shows.

The following weekend my girlfriend gets to watch her first grandchild while her son his girlfriend go see Motley Crue and other bands at Rock Fest up in Oshkosh. It ought to be a hoot watching a ten month old little girl wreck havoc in my little apartment. Knowing me, I'd end up spoiling her anyways.... Isn't that what grandparents supposed to do?

The fun doesn't just stop there, a pilgrimage to De Smit, South Dakota is in the works for the end of July. My girlfriend, whom I can describe her as a Prairiehead, is a fanatic of the "Little House on the Prairie" shows and books. We'll be traveling along Hwy 14 through Walnut Grove, Minnesota towards our destination trying to see the landscape though the eyes of Laura Ingalls Wilder. If we have time, we might make it down to Burr Oak, Iowa for a visit there. This should be an interesting summer.

So, what your summer going to be like?