Opry and Leftys

Lisha and I visited Opryland this past weekend. We only saw a portion of it. We hit the Grand Ole Opry Hotel first, and later the Opry Mills Mall. The Hotel was not what I expected. It is more of a zoo than a hotel. One could get lost very quickly in this zoo. This hotel not only has river but a geyser-size fountain.

Anyway, lets discuss the important part of this adventure. Opry Mills Mall is the best mall I have ever been to. They have every store you could ask for and many of them are outlet/factory stores. Inside they have these restaurants: Rainforest Cafe, The Aquarium (underwater), T.G.I. Friday's, and a whole food court that has many places you wouldn't expect in a mall. We ate at the Rainforest Cafe. It was an adventure in itself. Take your kids there.

I still haven't discussed the important part: Gibson and the custom shop. They have a Gibson store in the mall. They have a Gibson store in the mall. Did I mention they have a Gibson store in the mall? I walked in to see about fifty Les Pauls hanging on the wall. Most of them were priced over $25oo. Here comes the emotional part of the story. As I gazed at the beauty of all these delicious specimens on the wall, I saw every finish Gibson had to offer garnished with golden hardware. I stared through a window in the distance to see shelves of fresh wood. A lot of this wood was already shaped for beautiful instruments. I realized I was witnessing the miraculous birth of many more beautiful specimens. I looked the other direction, and for some reason, there was a free taco bar by Qdoba. As I turned the corner, I could sense some kind of piercing aura in the air. Then I saw them. Hanging on their throne of a rack, were two LEFT-HANDED Les Paul Supremes beautified by a wine red and root beer finish, respectively. end of story. (me sobbing)

Dave the Pet Store Keeper

I watched "Because of Winn Dixie" last night. Lisha convinced me. I gave in mostly due to the fact that Dave Matthews was a main character. Everything that Dave does is usually very entertaining. Sometimes I think he can't talk without appearing to be intoxicated. I think he did a nice job in his first acting role. If you like Dave, you should give it a chance. It is definitely a good children's movie.

Dave writes a couple licks on the fly as he serenades the pets in his pet store. He keeps all the pets calm in the store by playing and singing. Many times Dave (a.k.a. Otis the Drifter) is seen with a talking parrot on his shoulder. He is known for being a criminal. He was arrested because a police officer accused him of disturbing the peace. The officer tried to take his Taylor. Dave proceeded to break the police officer's nose. I would probably do the same if an officer attempted to confiscate my guitar. There is also an entertaining rendezvous between Harland Williams and Dave. Dave ends up laughing at him because his pet goat/ram is butting his head into a patrol car. The patrol car belongs to Williams, who is once again portraying a local sheriff (Dumb and Dumber). If you aren't familiar with Williams, you should get familiar.

I also hear that Dave did a lot of the soundtrack. The listing after the credits showed him under a few songs including one with EmmyLou Harris. If you are a big Dave fan, and you don't mind a good kid movie, you should check this one out. How could you not want to see Jeff Daniels singing a hymn with Dave Matthews?