Has anyone else seen this car in Lakeland? This guy drives around all the “Hot Spots” of Lakeland every Saturday. You may have seen him at Chik-fil-A or the Cobb theater.

The dude has hundreds, nay, thousands of random figurines super glued to his ’99 Toyota Camry. In addition to the figurines he has magnetized and/or adhesive letters that say “Jesus Saves!” and various Christianese slogans. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about witnessing. But is this really effective? I know some of you are thinking, “Well, you’re talking about it so clearly it made an impact on you.” Let me be the first to say that the church does a lot of stuff that gets talked about, but is ineffective. Maybe I’m wrong, but this just doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that makes you think, “I wanna’ be like that guy.”

*Click the picture to enlarge.

Last night Kristin and I caught the Dave Matthews Band in Tampa. The show was unbelievable. First of all, we got absolutely soaked. I don’t mean that it sprinkled and we got a little wet from the cumulative rain fall. I mean that there was a torrential downpour that started with the opening act and didn’t subside for about an hour and fifteen minutes. Luckily, I read the weather report so Kristin and I had mentally prepared.

Back to the show. It was phenomenal. We were front and center on the lawn, and with some help from the high-def screens that DMB brought we could see quite well. Sound was amazing. I don’t really know how to describe it. I know that I can’t effectively communicate it in a post, so I am going to give you “The Dave Show In Three’s”:

Three band observations:

1. Carter Beauford is the most irreplaceable member of the band. I’m sure there are people who disagree with this statement, but I’m confident that it would be way easier to replace Dave Matthews himself than to replace Carter Beauford. I’ve always thought that Carter owned the drums, but his role in the band is much more pronounced in a live setting.
2. I like the “unofficial” band members a lot. Again, I’ve always thought that keyboardist Butch Taylor added a lot to the band, but live he really shows his chops and contributes greatly to the performance. The new trumpet player, Rashawn Ross, is a beast. He’s the size of a mid-sized SUV and absolutely shreds the trumpet. Minute-for-minute he probably soloed twice as much as veteran saxophonist, Leroi Moore.
3. DMB is tight. I know you’re probably thinking that this is the most obvious statement ever made concerning the band, but their live performance highlights their musicianship and tightness as a band even more than a live album.

Three favorite songs:

1. #27 – I don’t even know this song. I do know that violinist Boyd Tinsley soloed for 6-8 minutes and it was unbelievable.
   
2. Two Step – Classic Dave…Carter is ridiculous.
3. Dreaming Tree – A really solid groove. I liked it a lot. They played this song for a really long time and gave all of the major players an opportunity to solo.

Three “overall experience” observations:

1. The Dave Matthews Band is different. People have been asking me to compare the DMB show to other shows I’ve seen and the truth is that it just can’t be done. It’s not that other artists are not as good, it’s just that DMB is in a totaly different category. Their show can’t be compared to other shows because it is it’s own unique animal.
2. I will never sit on the lawn again. Don’t get me wrong, the concert was great…The lawn’s just not for me. Especially in the monsoon. It’s also a whole different atmosphere than the “assigned seats”. In the words of John Mayer, “The lawn person wakes up a couple days before the show and says, ‘Oh yeah, I think so-and-so’s coming to town. I think I’ll check out that show.’ While the assigned seat person pays extra to be a member and sets a special alarms so that they can be in front of their computer at 6am when tickets go on sale.”
3. I have the best wife ever. Period. Kristin is not a huge Dave fan, and the weather was far less than pleasant, but she stuck it out like a trooper with no guilt trip or complaining. She even turned on some moves during the fast tunes.

DMB Almanac Entry

Tonight, Kristin and I celebrated a wonderful first 6 months of marriage…We had a nice dinner at Outback and then bummed it at our place, since it was quite the rainy evening. This is a picture I took of Kristin from across the table at Outback tonight. I think she looks beautiful, but I also think she looks like a hanger. You decide.

…The hair was all me though.

I’m sick of the interrogation at the gas pump. This is the usual exchange:

PUMP: Insert card and remove rapidly.
PUMP: Credit Card? Y/N
ME: No.
PUMP: Debit Card? Y/N
ME: Yes.
PUMP: Billing zip code?
ME: 33802
PUMP: Authorizing…Authorizing…Approved!
PUMP: Receipt? Y/N
ME: No.
PUMP: Car wash? Y/N
ME: No.
PUMP: Select grade and begin fueling.

This is way too much to go through for $20 of overly-priced gas. Especially in the beaming Florida sun. Oh, by the way, I was trying to get $20.00 of gas and the pump stopped right on $20.01.

Pump: 1
Jordan: 0