October 30 at Zapatos

So, we were scheduled for a nice Halloween show over at Zapatos. As you may or may not have read in an earlier post, when PLUMP plays in Bryan/College Station, we are fond of stopping at one particular Love's on HWY 290 where they have a big convenience store and an attached Arby's. Sometimes the guys eat the Arby's. Sometimes we wait and get BBQ at Rudy's in College Station - but we pretty much always stop at the Love's. For a year or two, we always admired the imitation Nascar jackets for sale at the Love's. These are semi-warm jackets that feature the team jacket for a couple specific Nascar drivers, and are covered with all of the sponsors for that driver. They have about 7-8 different jackets to pick from. Jason Jackson actually bought one once, and we have always been extremely envious of him and his Nascar style and all, so Nascar jackets are really always playing in the back of our collective minds. So, as were were driving to the Love's we were thinking that it is Halloween, and we have never really done costumes, but we do like Nascar jackets, and by chance were would be heading to a convenience store that has a couple real beauties of Nascar jackets, so wouldn't it be fun to go a little "high on the hog" and use some band money to buy 4 Nascar jackets.

So we did.

It was glorious.

One of the best ideas we ever had.

I got a "Jimmy Johnson" jacket which was mostly black and gray and whose primary sponsors appear to be Lowe's and Kobalt Tools. Someone got a "Mountain Dew", some one a "Tony the Tiger", and Al got a "Go Big Daddy" jacket. Since we bought 4, I was able to "talk them down" (and by "them" I mean the good people that serve as Management at the Love's on Highway 290) to giving us a $10 discount on each jacket. In addition to having excellent taste in Nascar jackets, I also have the gift of gab in buttering up the lassies working the register at convenience stores into giving the band healthy discounts on merchandise, clothing apparel, and such and such.

We were so proud of our jackets.

Though, later, Al had a bit of "buyer's remorse" since he found out the "Go Big Daddy" jacket is based on the jacket for one of the female Nascar drivers. Not that Al doesn't think she is an excellent driver, as I (and Al) am sure she is, but the "toughness" factor was gone baby gone.

Anyway, we arrived at Zapatos, and we were flashing "our colors". We were definitely the envy of any and all who looked upon our person(s). The gods of music were with us that evening, my friends. Never has Al's fingers moved so quickly across the fretboard. Never has Josh thumped the strings as thumpy as he did. Never have I been able to harness the wings of the unicorn in my drumming. Jason Jackson actually sucked, but we other 3 were flying on the wings of eagles, so no one noticed Jason Jackson's severe and constant limitations. The jackets, friends, the jackets.

Drving home was easy.