The patron saint of genital disease

Since my classic FAIL with the Stoughton Art Fair I've been watching for more FAILS.

Here is a String Bass FAIL!!!

http://youtu.be/sbeIaIRUQ5c




Just in case you were looking for a real collectors item The Severed head of patron saint of genital disease on sale.

I kid you not - read the link if you are interested at all! LINK  I wasn't. I mean come on - how many severed head/genital disease people do you really need to read about!

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Seems an odd thing has happened to your BBQ.  Prices are going way up and not the reason you would suspect.  Not because of raising gas prices . BECAUSE OF CORN.  More and more farmers are putting their corn into you your gas tank in the form of ethanol.  This means more and more crop space is being use for GAS CORN and not food!

Corn on the Cob  has almost double in price since last year and because of ethanol the trend will continue.  sigh 
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This last week things are really popping in the yard so it's time for some yard photos.

 

On the left is a Pink Princess Weigela, next to the stairs are Goldmound Spirea and the pink near the middle is Rocky Soapwort.

Goldmound Spirea, Rocky Soapwort with a Sweet Autumn Clematis climbing up the trellis (at some point) and wonderful Variegated European Dogwood.  Periwinkle is under the deck an is seeing it's last BIG flowering days I fear but will have purple flowers on and off the entire summer.  OH LOOK - DJ in the background!! 

So many things going here it's crazy but it's only the first burst of color! Something should be flowering all summer.

As luck would have it the Sweet Woodruff which we have successfully separated and planted in 6 more spots goes well with the Red Chokeberry which has the most amazing fragrance ever!  Seriously - I can smell it in my room as I type!  
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I was golfing last week at the Columbus Country Club and there is a house that I LOVE the landscaping in the front yard and as I walked up the fairway I saw the backyard and a older guy was working on the lawn.

We stopped and talked and long story short, him and another old dude were the guys that bricked our house!

Here is the back of his house

OH - the Columbus High School was build in 1957 it seems.

I'm writing this Monday night because I need to have blood work in the morning so I'm fasting. No way in hell am I going to wait any longer then I have to.  I've never been a good faster.  Last time I only fasted for like 7 hours and when they got the results back they thought I was about to die  or something, I had so much sugar in my blood.   FASTING FAIL!!! 

They had me on a new diet and seeing life style change specialists and I was going WAIT WAIT there is an explanation (although I did say that through a sugar donut so they did not understand what I was saying).

  Speaking of donuts - ever try grilling those powered sugar donuts on the grill?  I saw a grilling competition where a guy did it and the judges loved them.  YEA - I'm DOING IT!!!!  Along with grilled pineapple!

Gotta go to bed - I'm getting hungry - I must fast!!!

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OH - this morning  WATER HEATER - FAIL!!!!   damn it.

Random stuff

I really have to start making notes of things to say.  During the days I always come up with "That is good blog stuff" and then I forget it.  I have to make a note to make notes, 
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The other day I was watching the news and commented "THAT, is why woman should not go into outer-space" and paused the TV. DJ comes out and laughs and says the woman looks just like Naked Barbie**!

I say "What"? and she brings out Naked Barbie** and we both have a good laugh.

 

The story behind Naked Barbie is that she was my first Christmas present from Jenny.  I believe Jenny was like 13 and it was one of those - "HERE" presents.  I think she was having issues at the time when DJ and I getting intimate or something so she felt I needed a Naked Barbie! 

Anyway I kept it and now Caydence loves playing with her (although clothed in a pretty spring jumper).  

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I was aimlessly driving around Columbus and (wow Google has new maps of Columbus) there is a house on the corner of Dix and Sturges that always has a grand tulip explosion in spring.  I stopped and took a photo of one of their gardens.  If anyone knows them I have an 8x12 coming for them (for FREE). 

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As you all know you can "follow" me on Twitter  @RodMelotte - I don't say much - a random comment from time to time when something strikes me.  

As you all know the Rapture as been postponed until October 21st now.  What if there was a Rapture and only like 23 people went up.  On twitter Aaron Rodgers was wondering how long it takes to reach heaven and how many belts he could put on.  He said the over/under was about 12. 

I had to unfollow Steve Martin - he was boring, all that banjo stuff - he is just not a good tweeter. 

Speaking of tornadoes - really makes you appreciate basements doesn't it.

I've been sort of lax on getting more Columbus photos - just no real good opportunities. You can not manufacture good light and it seems lately me and good light have always been separated.  A couple mornings ago I had good light about 8:30 in the morning and I jumped in the car and took this shot of the Columbus High School. 

When was this built???

Speaking of photography - the streak continues - The Trails Supper Club has been selling my images.  I had some doubts about that one.  

I was accepted into the Pumpkin Patch Festival in Egg Harbor which is a two day event in October (just before the Rapture). Suppose to be the busiest weekend in Door County and it is just outstanding fall colors that weekend .  We're pumped.

Also have the Deforest Dragon Art Fair June 4th which looks like a good show.

How about those Brewers. I've won 15 of the last 19 picks over at my Brewer blog Grinders Warehouse so if you are looking for Brewer talk go over there where I post every day.

I have to go into Madison today to deliver a disk for the Antique and Classic boat show poster, 

OH - reality show fans.  Mark Burnett is at it again. remember Eco Challenge?  His first adventure race?  There is a new prime time show coming on called "Expedition Impossible" which is looking REAL good. 

The series will follow thirteen teams of three competitors as they "solve problems while racing across deserts, over mountains and through rivers" across the nation of Morocco. Each member of the first team to cross the finish line after completing the ten stages of the competition will receive USD$50,000 and a new Ford Explorer.

I gotta run and put up the Brewer blog - they play this afternoon and then I have to get to Madison.  I'm buying a Hoover Steam Vac w/Spin Scrub and a quick stop at Menard's or Home Depot.

Cheers - Rod

Lack of blog material

First - Wis. Public Television, WHA Channel 21 in Madison viewing area, will air a segment on Badger Honor Flight's DC trip that took place April 2. Airs on Thurs., May 19, 7:30 PM. this is the one DJ's dad went on - a very very moving experience and one of the greatest days of his life.
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Well - catching some flak for not blogging! Actually I AM blogging - every day but it's all about the Brewers and most are not that interested in Brewer blogs! You see I told a friend that with my extra free time (which seems to be a retirement fallacy) I could obsess over the Brewers and I would bet for or against them EVERY GAME this year! So far I'm 22-19, up 3.02 units. You can see those at Grinders Warehouse. I'm getting paid for that blog BTW - I would appreciate it if you went to the blog and clicked on the International Year of Chemistry link on the right side.  It's to get kids excited about science through baseball.
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Anyway I golfed last night and had a rough night.  Not that I really golfed hideous, it was just one of those night where when the ball finally goes in the hole you count the strokes and  REALLY?  6 AGAIN?   I dressed very poorly.  Had a heavy floppy sweatshirt on, I was way to warm and cumbersome.

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Then there was the Stoughton Art Fair fiasco - some of you get my news letter so this is a repeat.
I want to apologize to all that might have been looking for me in Stoughton at their


Art Fair. I was suppose to be in booth #89 but all went horribly wrong.

If any of you watch Amazing Race you will understand this.

The cameras are filming DJ and I as we just successfully completed a challenge. Packing the UHaul with our mobile store and we are saying "that was the best, most organized packing job we have ever done", we are pumped to go to our first outdoor fair of the season. We are full of confidence and vigor. NOTHING CAN STOP US.

As we jump into the car and race off the camera slowly pans to two little unnoticed 2 foot, highly specialized aluminum pipes with special connections sitting in the corner!

We drive the hour to Stoughton and begin setting up when . . something is wrong! Where are my extender bars that will hold up the roof of my canopy!!!! OH NO!!!!!!

EZ Up canopy's are like umbrellas - hard to mess up, go up in seconds but in ANY kind of weather they also act like umbrellas in the wind. My Trimline canopy is mega study and awesome . . .except unlike a EZ Ups, every single piece is important for structural integrity.

SO - we could drive back and get the pieces wasting two hours, then spend the normal 2 hours setting up and be ready by noon. But the weather looked crappy, windy, cold, rain - we VERY disappointingly bailed out and took the $$ loss! NEXT YEAR. It looks like a good Fair.

So what did we do?  We drove 200+ miles to Door County and delivered 6 canvas prints to the Decorators Gallery in Egg Harbor AND - signed up for the 2 day Pumpkin Patch Festival in October.

481 miles later we are back and by 8:00pm and two humans, two cats and a dog are fast asleep in the living room with the Weather Channel on. It was a very long day.

Next Art Fair is June 4th in Deforest at the Dragon Art Fair which looks like a very very good Fair.


I've also been accepted into the Fitchburg Agora Art Fair August 20th and I'll find out about Lake Mills this week.

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Things are blooming in the backyard.   This is a shot of two Saxafraga with the purple Periwinkle

I've also been going over older files I have not looked at - here are a couple shots from Miller Park.

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I did a little roofing the lats few days helping Josh put on a new roof.  Not that I did THAT much but I did do a little deconstructing ripping shingles off and so forth.

Today is the big carpet cleaning day so I have to get all the furniture off the carpeting.  Once it's cleaned we going to but an actual  carpet cleaner so we can keep it clean. 

Weather is looking pretty good for the next 10 days - a little system going through the middle of next week but we should not have to worry about frost again and will be in the 70s for the most part.  Unsettled with a passing shower off and on but no all day rain or anything.

Nuff said!

You know when I'm not surrounded by coworkers for 8 hours a day I lose content!  Sort of miss the work family . . . . at times!  NOT THAT I'M COMPLAINING!!!

Rod

Interesting ride to Portage

I was taking some bigness cards to Portage and zoomed past one of those country airfields. I think it was outside Rio or some other small town and my brain clicked an image and for about 2 miles I was deciding if I should stop and go back and take a REAL photo. I finally stopped and turned around and drove into the air field.

Sitting there was Frank Veserat enjoying the day. I explained I was a free lance photographer and I took somewhat unique photos and if he would let me snap off some shots! He supposed it's OK.

I took a few photos of his 1941 Taylorcraft which was called a Grasshopper in WWII as it was used as an observation plane in much the same way as an observation balloon was used in France during World War I.

I mentioned that my father in law was a flight instructor and it seems ol' Frank got his flying license  from Mel many years ago.

This is Frank when he was in a good mood!   I love this shot enlarged!  

Anyway - as I was on the road again I passed a big ass turtle on the side of the road.  One of those that are as big as a large dinner plate.  He right next to the road looking for a good time to make a "run" for the other side.

I zoomed past going 65 and told myself I should stop and help him.  I kept thinking this for like 2 miles and then decided that I had just killed the turtle since I did not help him,  IT WAS MY FAULT HE WAS GOING TO GE SQUASHED! 

So I vowed to look for him on the way back IF he was still alive. 

I actually did find him and he had turned around and was facing the other direction.  I pulled over, ran across the highway and he got all like hissy at me.  The dude had a BIG mouth and did not appreciate my help a whole lot.  I picked him up and started to move him to safety but he like scratched me and I dropped him upside down in the weeds which seemed to anger him even more! 

I tipped him up again, move his body with flaying little arms further away from the highway!  

HEY - I TRIED!!! 

Have a nice Wednesday - Golf tonight IF it does not thunderstorm.

Rod

hmmm I like this is BW also - what do you guys think

Yard Stories

Good Morning - taking time off from my normal Brewer blog over at Grinders Warehouse to fill you in on what I've been up too! But first - speaking of the Brewers if you have not seen this from last nights game it's amazing! ALTHOUGH not actually the smartest thing but . . . it worked. Coach Roenicke I can see is saying "ummmm. I would rather see a SURE out".

http://youtu.be/diL08dPutDs



Anyway - more on the Brewers at Grinders Warehouse.

On to some bigness!

We're looking into getting our carpet cleaned and figure MAYBE just buying a carpet cleaner would be cost efficient - anybody have any recommendations?  We have a dog that since he had a stroke a few years ago and is now deaf has a little pee problem.  Anyone?

Also - I'm now on Twitter  @RodMelotte    (What does #news mean, the "#" is confusing me).  One person asked why I was not using an alter-ego like my hero Tony Plush,  Well . . .I AM!  You guys have never actually seen the REAL me!   I'm totally different.

In other deep thoughts - why do TV reporters always stand IN THE WATER when reporting on floods.  I saw one woman up to her chest in 4 feet of water yesterday and I'm like all "yea, I get it, deep water, I understand the concept"  and then this morning I saw a guy with with big boots on standing in 1 inch of water like come on, that's the best you can do?  Man up dude!!

Yesterday I finished the landscaping job Elwood and I started Saturday before . . .before . . . before I had The Meltdown.

You see every spring Brian (Elwoodd) and I go on a nursery tour.  He has it all mapped out on what little plants are where so first we stopped at Johansens Nursery, looked around for Coreposis but did not find what I was looking for then on to the Flower Factory south of Madison and it was COLD and spitting rain.  We got a bunch of stuff, Sweet Autumn Clematis,  Coreposis (Moonbeam), and some other things only known for their Latin name which only Elweed knows! And lastly Jungs!

We stop at Eddies Bar and Grill in Sun Prairie** for a huge lunch and finally get to my place about 3:00.

**Note - if you ever have a chance to have a Youngs Double Chocolate Stout IN CANS - get it - AMAZING BREW!!!!

We're moving things around and it was starting to be like dominoes!  Move this to their and move that to here.  We wanted to plant the Moonbeams but had to move a few plants which went to another place already occupied and to move those we had to move something else and so forth. 

By the time we're ready to take a real break it's like 6:30. So we open another beer and I light up a victory Cohiba cigar.    Halfway through my beer and cigar  - BAM - it hits!  HOLE CRAP - I can't even stand up, I dizzy, got the spins and sweating, my heart is pounding, I got gas or what feels like it and all systems are starting to shut down!!

I go lay down for a while and . . . long story short - I hurled and hurled and hurled for an hour and DJ thought I was going to die or something.  Man I was totally down for the count!  It was a nightmare.  It was like having serious spins from getting drunk but throwing up was not helping - it was the nicotine with my heart pounding and I just could not focus!   Meanwhile Elweed is hungry and does not know how to light the new grill (** new grill story later).

I got better - FINALLY!    Anyway - here are a few documentary photos of the rockery we work on.  The first shot of of the north end of the Rockery, that is Phlox Subulata "Emerald Blue" that is blooming

Here you can see the Emerald Blue with the Periwinkle under the deck. That is really filling in the area under the deck that use to be all weeds.   That green area between Emerald Blue and Periwinkle is Georgia Blue which will be awesome when it flowers and is spreading wonderfully!  You can see the tiny flowers in the photo below this one. The plant will be covered with tiny blue flowers.

This is what I was working on yesterday - we put in this rock walkway last year and using some Thymus Praecox "Red Creeping Thyme" which we grew I separated and planted in the open areas (after fixing the dirt). 

And this just started blooming 2 days ago. One of the many Saxifraga.

Everything is about 2 weeks behind last year.    I also planted two Black Eyed Susan Vines on our front yard light!  They are annuals and I put two in late late last year and loved them so - we shall see how a full year goes - this is what they look like.

More as things bloom!

New Grill - I got rid of my rusty propane grill and purchased THE PERFORMER!!  It's a charcoal grill - HOWEVER - here is the thing.  Do not use briquettes. They are full of crap you don't want in your body- get lump charcoal.  The stuff is awesome.  It's 100% wood, very smoky (like a smoker) gives a GREAT flavor, burns faster so you can go from lighting to eating in a half hour and has very very little ash.

I even found a place that reviews all the lump charcoal.

The Lump Charcoal Database  - I have Cowboy Lump Charcoal just because it's what I found but Manards has it at half the price (like $3 for a big bag). Now I'm looking other kinds of lump charcoal . . . I'm obsessed with lump charcoal.   

The ONLY problem I see is that if the wind is going the wrong direction you end up smelling like a camp fire.
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Have a great Tuesday - I think I'll have go to the farmers market tomorrow in Madison.

Cheers
Rod

Still - no gas at $4.00+

So far so good - STILL have not purchased gas at >3.99 per gallon.    I have an APP for my iPhone called GasBuddy which tells me all the gas prices in the area.  There is a Cenex in Sun Prairie that is still at 3.999.  Cheapest in Madison is 4.05 on Park Street.  
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Had golf league last night and I was having the round of my life up to the par 5 4th hole.   I was driving the ball long and straight all night, straight down the middle normally in the 230 range but you know . . . . 4 shots cost me 8 strokes!   MAN that is so sad.  When I hit a bad shot it was REALLY bad. 

After the wheels fell off on 4,5 & 6 I got it back together for 7 and 8 and then feeling ultra confidant I step up to the final 9th hole.  As I said I was gold off the tee and I took a mighty and confidant swing and the ball hits the toe of the club perfectly and zooms at a 45 degree angle and lands under a pine tree. 

I take a drop and with even greater confidence I take out my new used 4 wood which I have been swinging with authority and smash the ball which never got more then 2 inches off the ground. But my luck was still with me as it stopped 120 yards short of my target but in the middle of the fairway!

As I near the ball I tell myself "You got this Rod, easy 130 to the green".  I then proceed to chunk the ball a good 50 yards.

Not a problem, this is an opportunity as I am in perfect distance for my  pitch and run ( I use this shot when I start to lack confidence that I can actually hit the ball).  The ball pitches and runs past the hole to the right giving me a tricky downhill side roll and I two putt it for something like an 8.

Then to top off the evening the course no longer has Emils Pizza but now makes their own pizza which totally sucked and now my back hurts!
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Bin Laden - who cares if we don't SEE his dead and lifeless body!   Anybody that thinks he is not dead will not believe it's actually no matter what they show!  Move on. 
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HEY - we're having a garage sale Friday and Saturday - anybody in need of a single stage snow blower for $50 we got one.   Seriously - it has sat for over a year with the same gas in it (I have a new BIG ASS snow blower) and for giggles I did a quick pull and ZOOM!!!!!!!   

WOW - in 3 years it has ALWAYS started my the 2nd pull but this was amazing.   Jenny is selling a broken digital camera for $1  It's a deal!  got a REAL (push) lawn mower  for $15 and I'm thinking of putting all my grass clippings in a bag and selling it for $2 (mulch).   So come on down to Vista Circle Columbus.

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It's all I got at the moment!  Cheers!

Rod

Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead

So I called my mom up yesterday knowing that she does not like watching the news. It was 9:00 so I knew she was up. I said "Mom, did you hear the news?" and she said their were to many tornadoes so she was not watching the news. I said Osama Bin Laden was killed!!!" So said "Oh my God no, what's going to happen". I said everything is fine, there will be no major retaliations." She said "this is horrible" I said "no no this is wonderful news, everybody is celebrating, the world is happy" and she said with a cracking voice "My God I'm not celebrating at all" and then she hung up.

Hmmmmmm - was my mom a terrorist? so I stood there in the kitchen for a bit and then noticed the dishes so I cleaned the kitchen and watched the news.

A few hours later I still have this weird feeling about my mom and I talked to DJ and she said I should call my mom back.

So I called her back around noon and she answered and ask if I have gotten her message. I said . . . . no I had not listened to my messages yet (I did not receive any message but I did not tell her that). She said that she had left a message (with SOMEONE) and she thought OBAMA had been killed! sigh!

She realized the error when all they would talk about on TV was bin laden. She had a horrific few minutes before the TV came on and her world turned back upright!
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I feel that killing OSAMA is a HUGE blow to Al quada. It's not like Al quada is a well organized machine. In reality they are a group of mostly ignorant angry people (not unlike Tea party people actually  (insert evil grin) who felt OSAMA was some sort of messiah. Some people believe that killing him will unleash violence.

I feel that with him gone you have cut the head off the snake. Remember that Al quada has not really done any large scale acts since 911 and are mostly just doing easy small targets in smaller countries along with blowing themselves up from time to time accidentally.

As Osama himself said "If you have to choose between a strong horse and a weak horse, you will of course pick the strong horse" Well - WE are the strong horse!
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You have probably noticed I'm blogging less. I've thought a lot about this and the one thing that keeps popping up is that before I got Walker-pox and retired I would have this 45 minute drive time to work. That time was always used to formulate my thoughts for the day. I really miss that daily drive to work, it was like a transition time. I always wonder if I should hop in the car and drive for a half hour but . . . naa    not with gas at $3.99 a gallon.

YEA - I can STILL say it - I have NEVER purchased gas at greater then $3.99. YET!    Close but not yet! Timing is everything.

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Brewers

I'm ordering Tony Plush T-Shirts for DJ and I so when we go to the Brewers game we can show off our Plushdamentals**

For the uninformed Tony Plush is back up and future center fielder Nyjer Morgans alter-ego on Twitter. He has been rehabbing in Nashville - here are yesterdays Tweets

Nashville’s angry skies cut short Plush’s rehab assignment. And just as Coach Money had picked Plush up, he drove him to the airport.

“Tony,” Coach said. “In these few days, I’ve seen the possibilities of Plushdamentals. Are you sure you don’t want to stay? One more game?”

Plush told him he couldn’t, that Coach Roenicke needed him. “Yeah, you’re right,” Coach Money said. “I guess I don’t want Ron pissed at me.”

We drove on, not speaking. Coach Money turned on the radio. Hank Williams leaked from the speakers, filling the car with dusty heartbreak.

Suddenly, Coach pulled over. “Hey, you wanna stop at Arby’s? Have a proper send-off?” Plush shook his head. “Coach Money, my flight.”

Coach’s face fell. Plush wanted to tell him the Sounds would be fine, that the emptiness would fade. But Plush knew this wasn’t true.

**What are Plushdamentals, you ask? It might be more appropriate to try to describe a color, or embrace the wind. But if you must, Plushdamentals are baseball fundamentals taken to the nth degree. If your knees aren’t skinned, if your muscles don’t burn, if the box score isn’t filled with triples, then you sir (or miss) are not playing, or living, by the Plushdamental creed.

You can catch Tony Plushs Tweets on this link - they are pretty fun. 
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Got a new bird to add to my bird feeder list.  Along with three American Goldfinches that have discovered my thistle seed container I have what is either a Downy or a Hairy Woodpecker.

Not the greatest photo but I was on the phone with mom and looking out the window - saw the bird - picked up my camera and one handed took the shot. 

Probably a downy as they are most common but they are hard to tell apart and yes - I'm sounding like an old man!

HEY YOU KIDS - GET OFF MY LAWN!!!
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Taking a drive to Portage today to put price tags on my images at Trails End Supper Club.   They have a nice write-up on their website

Rod Melotte Images - I like the part with the RESTAURANT FOR SALE banner!

Odd - Cannery Wine and Spirits is for sale also.  What is it.  I write for Full Tilt Poker Magazine and it goes under.  I write for the new Columbus Newspaper and it goes belly up.  I get a part time job at a craft brew store and it goes up for sale.  I put images up in a Supper Club and it's now for sale, DJ and I get married the first time and the Casino next to the chapel gets blown up and they have to move the chapel and then we renew our vows 10 years later and the next day that area in Sedona burns down!

hmmmmmmmm


NEXT!!!

Peace out Rod