EMP With The Chomesters

The EMP has an AC/DC exhibit right now, and what better band to visit that than an AC/DC cover band!? It was a perfect field trip for Chrome Molly. We ended up having half the band be able to go, and we had a lot of fun hanging out for the day.

This is a coat owned by one of Chrome Molly's fans - Josh. He has been working on this coat for YEARS. It is a trench coat covered in nothing but AC/DC buttons. He is kind of famous for it, and has had the opportunity to meet the AC/DC band members on several occasions. He is famous enough for it that his coat is on loan with the EMP for the AC/DC exhibit. We talked to Josh at Tastin' N Racin' about it and he is so jazzed he goes and visits his coat almost every day. Kind of fun to be semi-famous for something, even if it is for your coat ;o) I'd take it!

They had a white board set up with all of the bands that have originated out of Seattle. You could add your band to the line up, so Chrome Molly needed to be on there!

We didn't realize it at the time of making these plans, but this was also the day of the Gay Pride Parade. After we got out of the EMP we spent the rest of the afternoon people watching. Things were PACKED at Seattle Center, as this is where the parade ended, and there were some very interesting people to watch indeed!!! I had a blast, it was such a crack up. It was like a drag queen costume party.

Girls Night!

Chrome Molly had another private party tonight, and Michelle and I didn't feel like going: we always feel like party crashers at those things. Michelle had to make a cake for Dave's daughters birthday party for the following day and wanted some help creating a "Hunger Games" cake for her. We decided to have a girls night with the two of us and Jess- dinner, movie and cake baking party. It was really fun to just hang out, and I think the cake turned out great. Michelle made the cake and frosted it, I did the Mocking Jay art on top. We are amazing ;o).

Week With Mom

One last day of good weather for us happened on the day mom arrived into town, and Aaron had the day off so it was perfect. We made a picnic and took off to spend some time down at Lake Washington.

The week following was interesting and fun. Interesting was heading out to Monroe for John's graduation, it's always an experience for sure. Mom and I spent the rest of the week wandering around, playing games and shopping. On her second to last night here we took her to watch Aaron play. I was so proud of her, as she stayed the whole night and stuck in there until 1:00 in the morning! It was a lot of fun!!

We got so used to having mom around all of the time, and doing things with her often, that she has been very missed since she moved. It was really fun having her around for a week!

Tastin' N Racin'

Tastin' N Racin' was a blast this year! We actually had great weather, and for around here that's saying something, and the crowd was super energetic. Chrome Molly got to actually open for Randy Hansen this year and that made it even more fun for everyone cause both bands put on an amazing show!

I love to go to gigs that Jess can actually come to with me! Jeff doesn't really have much interest in going to any of them, but Jess loves it and jumps at every chance she can get. She couldn't actually go into the crowd since it was in the beer garden, but being with the band got her "backstage passes" and with the exception of when I was taking pictures we hung out back there. Kind of fun, cause that's where Randy was hanging out too, waiting for his turn on stage, so we snapped a couple of pics with him. He's a very quiet guy, but always willing to take some pictures.

After Aaron got done playing Jess, Michelle (along with her little niece Alex) and I walked around and went and got some lunch - ya know, the horrible fair burgers that cost a god-awful amount - and just did some people watching.

Jess couldn't go into the beer garden, of course, but I really wanted to photograph Randy. I am really having a ton of fun doing the whole band photography thing and Randy is one of those artists that everyone loves to shoot... one of the closest opportunities for us amateurs to capture a famous person ;o) I was having a blast shooting Randy and got some great shots.

As soon as Randy got done playing, the band started geeking out. I guess the guitar player, Randy Piper, for the 80's band WASP was hanging out in the crowd and one of the spotted him.... I wouldn't have known him from anyone else, and don't even know the band WASP (sorry Randy), but they did and wanted to capture the moment. He still has his 80's pose going strong - lol!

 

Chrome Molly Private Party

We were in full Redneck mode at this little private party that Chrome Molly did: straight down to the BMX track that ran the back of the property and the fridge keg. The band even had this a-maz-ing tarp covered "stage" to play on.... funny!

Admittedly, I hate going to the private parties because I always feel like a party crasher, but Michelle and I decided to hang out at this one. It was entertaining if nothing else, but true to our CRAPPY weather, it was June and we were bundled up in coats, beanies and gloves... ugh!

I thought this was too far to go for a stupid $60 check (we almost spent that much money on gas just getting there), and the problem with private parties is there is no one to cut people off the booze.... but at least I was with friends, and like I said, it was entertaining.

 

Advancing Careeres

Though Jeff has not found his dream job, he has advanced his current employment up to managerial status. This comes with a pay raise, more hours and more importance. It will also look good on a resume.

Jess has found a great, full-time internship, at the Better Business Bureau. It is a paying gig even, so will give her a great nest egg to start next school year out on. She had to get used to working all those hours, as this is her first full-time job, and she has to leave the house at 6:30 a.m. to get there on time, but it's an awesome job, and so far the first couple of days have been great.

Congratulations guys! Keep up the good work.

Chicken Shit Bingo

We were out at a party in the "country"..... it was Cumberland, which country for around here. There were a bunch of bands playing an we were meeting some friends out there to hang out for the day. 

They had several things going on to raise money for charity, and one of those things was a 50/50 chicken shit bingo. It was $1 per square. I never win anything, but it was only $1 and for a good cause so I figured why not, and I bought a square.

Now, if you don't know how chicken shit bingo works, Julie pay close attention cause it will be a hit there in Preston :o) LOL!!! You have make a large bingo board chicken coop (you can see it in the background): this one had 25 squares on it. People buy squares at $1 a piece, and then the chickens are let loose in there with chicken feed..... then you wait until that chicken feed works it's way out and whatever square the recycled feed ends up on wins.

Since the bingo was for charity, I won have the pot and the other half was for the charity they had picked. I was so excited to actually win something! That is an unusual thing for me. I left that party $11 richer than I did when I showed up. Hurray!