I got my car back on Wednesday afternoon. The third time was the charm...the speed sensor didn't fix it, the fried gear that drives the speed sensor didn't totally fix it, but rectifying a stuck valve finally did it. So, two-plus days and over a thousand dollars later, I was on my way to Ohio. The trip down was relatively uneventful. I rolled into Columbus a little before noon on Thursday. I had a great time with Bridge despite some unexpected circumstances that served to put a damper on things at times. It was great to see her again and I'm very much looking forward to Sept. 28, when we're meeting up in Cleveland to see Epica and Kamelot. We said our goodbyes yesterday afternoon and, after rolling through one insane rainstorm along the Lake Erie shore in the Southern Tier, I got home a little after midnight. I'm settling in today and will have a series of pics from the trip up within the next few days. In the meantime, here's just one:

That's the name of my Moestock 'band.' Here's one of our 'songs,' a big metal jam over a progression that funky came up with. I'm particularly happy with my performance...

After my visit with Kari, I made it up to Moestock OK. I didn't quite feel right at first, but I quickly settled in. This Moestock was, well, just as good as all the other ones. I honestly can't say I have a favorite...they have all had their (very) high points and none of the five years really stands out.

The big thing this year was a change in trends: over the last couple years, the trend was getting away from stage playing with amps and drums and all, to circles of acoustic guitars and computer-based jamming. This year represented a complete and total 180. I provided a recording rig and came away with nothing recorded. The only serious acoustic jamming was at the Saturday night campfire and Sunday night under the beer tent. There was, however, lots of playing on the electric stage. Chopper had an awesome idea for a 'battle of the bands'...we broke up into 'bands' and prepared a few songs to play on Saturday night. My band was organized by Brett Funk and was called 'Ben Wah and the Blue Balls.' We put together a couple Zeppelin songs and an impromptu jam. The Zep songs were a giant train wreck but the jam was awesome...my antics became an instant Moestock classic. (video forthcoming) On Sunday, Onethataps put on a 20-minute show of his unique style, which he had been teaching me on Saturday. Of course, Sunday tends to be a bittersweet day, as people begin trickling out. That's the only bad thing about Moestock...it has to end. Still, Rob Quail is already planning MS6 in Toronto next year. At least I won't have to catch a plane or drive 2000 miles for that.

We didn't have many fresh faces this year, but the few we had were great. All the new faces were in the rhythm section: DrumGod, Boomer and Gaucho on drums and Bassopotamus on, well, bass. All excellent musicians and fun to hang out with, especially DrumGod and Basso. (although I suppose that's partly because those two are a lot closer to my age than most Moestockers.)

The bad things didn't start until I left, though. I broke down in Tomah, WI, about 180 miles into my 780-mile drive to see Bridge. To make a long story short, I have transmission trouble and will likely still be here tomorrow (Wednesday) and possibly Thursday as well. That's bad enough, but it also puts my visit with Bridge in deep jeopardy. I'm mad enough about the car because that transmission is about 17 months old and has no more than 9000 miles on it, but I'm especially upset about the likelihood of having to scrap the trip to see Bridge. I'm waiting to find out just how long my car is going to take (and, to a lesser extent, how much it's going to cost) before completely ruling it out, but it doesn't look good right now. :(

On top of all that, I forgot my guitar stand at Dunrovin and will have to arrange with Karl (the Moestock host) to have it shipped back to me.

I took tons of photos and over four hours of video, which I'll have time to start crunching down while I'm sitting here in Tomah, waiting for my car.

I'm typing this from Lansing, MI, where I've been hanging out for the day with my Internet friend Kari. It's been a great day...we visited MSU's art museum (some really cool stuff there), toured the beautifully restored state capitol, played Putt-Putt (I dropped the pwnage, of course) and got dinner at a very cool chain burger place called Red Robin. We need one of those back home in Buffalo!!

I usually have issues with Mary Kunz's Buffalo News columns, but she got it (mostly) right yesterday. The city could get a good boost by becoming more cyclist-friendly. That goes beyond Kunz's advocacy of bike (or multi-use) paths. Those work fine for people on cruisers taking a ride around the park, but to really promote cycling, the road network needs to improve. We need bike lanes wherever possible, and a bicycle-awareness campaign directed at motorists wouldn't hurt. I commend the people who are pushing for more paths, which is a very good thing in itself, but I'd like to see a broader cycling advocacy initiative.

I recently found out that Epica is touring in North America in September and planted a seed in Bridge's mind about it. Well, in a convo tonight Kamelot came up and I went to their site to find the video for "The Haunting" which features Simone from Epica. I found a list of dates on their front page, with the bold-faced phrase "Special Guest: Epica." My eyes bugged out a little. Sure enough, that Epica tour is in support of Kamelot! I didn't need to do much persuading, and now I'm very much looking forward to a trip to Cleveland on Sept. 28!

I visited the local bike shop yesterday with intent to buy. I didn't think I'd get another 4300, but I was most seriously looking at the SU100, which is basically a mountain bike with slicks, higher gearing and a rigid fork. When I went into the shop, though, I couldn't find any SU100s (or 200s, identical except for disc brakes and color). The 7.2FX cought my eye as I was wandering the store, though. It's a hybrid, with mountain-bike components but road-type 700c wheels and higher gearing. I took it for a spin and liked it, so now it's mine. I just hope this one lasts longer than 13 days.

More fun stuff after the cut...