The Adventures of the Albino Bowler » Tennessee

The Albino Bowler heads to Starr Mountain

Dan Thompson — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 10:54:01 +0000

Over the long Easter weekend, fellow thealbinobowler.com contributor Zac Mckinney and I decided to drive down to Starr Mountain to do some rock climbing. Starr Mountain, which is just outside of Etowah, Tennessee, is home to some AWESOME climbs and is also just a beautiful place to hang out… always makes for an enjoyable day. The cliffs themselves are very exposed, so while the start of the climb may just be 60 feet or so below you, the Hiwasee river valley is directly behind you making it feel like you’re hundreds of feet up. That takes a little getting used to, but luckily you’ve got a 5.6 climb (read: very easy) called “Pleasing to the Touch” to get warmed up on. It feels epically huge while you’re on it, but the generously placed monster holds will have you feeling right at home in no time.

After a little warm up session; me, Zac, and the Albino Bowler decided to focus our attention on a climb we had been eye-balling last time we were there called “Men Without Hats”. This particular climb is rated a 5.10 b/c (read: amateurs need not apply) and is the perfect crack climb. The fun / tricky part about the climb is that the rock bulges out you about half way up and makes for some interesting lay backs. Good stuff! All in all it was a great day, save for a sun burnt head… that’ll happen though.

Oh yeah… I almost forgot. I had been telling Zac for about a week or so about my trials and tribulations with a new ping pong table my wife and I had purchased. It’s not so much that there is something wrong with the table… but that my wife keeps beating me! Zac decided he wanted to challange her and proved to be a worthy opponent; he beat her two games to one. I guess I’m just not that good at ping pong.

– Dan Thompson

The Albino Bowler rocks out with AC/DC!

Dan Thompson — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 15:13:40 +0000

So it is time for yet another Albino Bowler adventure, this time to the last AC/DC concert of the Black Ice Tour! We all loaded up into my brother’s car at around 12:30pm on Saturday and prepared for the 2 and a half hour drive to Nashville. Before we left, I took a picture of The Albino Bowler’s fan club sheet.

Once we got to Nashville, we met my aunt at her hotel (she flew down from Maryland) and decided it was time to get something to eat. We had a Japanese steakhouse in mind. Once we got to the restaurant, we found out that it didn’t open for another hour. We decided to just go park at the concert hall and find another restaurant to eat at. Thanks to my handy Blackberry Curve, I was able to find a sushi bar 2 blocks from where we needed to go to see AC/DC.

We sat down at Koto Sushi Bar, ordered 2 rolls of sushi and some Japanese food. The meal was delicious and we decided to try some desert. The Albino Bowler decided to try some mochi ice cream (rice ice cream). It was actually pretty good compared to how it looked. Next it was off to the concert!

We walked into the Sommet Center and found our seats. We were only about 10 feet away from the stage! The opening band was named “The Answer”. They were pretty good, the lead singer had a very unique voice. After

they were finished, AC/DC took the stage. They played all of their most popular songs. As soon as they came out on stage, fireworks started going off all over the place. They opened with “Back in Black”, which is one of my favorite songs. They also played “Whole Lotta Rosie”, “Hells Bells”, “TNT”, “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”, and “War Machine”. I took out The Albino Bowler whenever Angus Young (Lead Guitar) or Brian Johnson (Lead Vocals) got close to our side of the stage and tried to get a decent picture. Sorry about the fuzziness on the pictures, it wasn’t easy to get both in focus.

The show ended and AC/DC went off stage. Everyone started cheering for an encore so they came back out and did “For Those About to Rock”, accompanied by firing cannons off the stage. Overall, it was an awesome show and I hope they are able to do another tour. We managed to escape the mobs of people coming out of the show and made it home in 2 and a half hours.

Till Next Time!

– Zac Mckinney

Ummm… can I come home now???

Dan Thompson — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:03:50 +0000

Okay this is silly, it is time for me to come home.. as much as I enjoy her company she is taking me everywhere.. which is cool for a guy like me ’cause I get to meet all types of people..but seriously she took me to the Village People last night.. I can’t do the YMCA so it was awkward.. Although she did mention tailgating and some orange might be in my future if I can’t get a ride home.

So the the last two weeks have been fun since we have been back in Knox-Vegas..

I think there was unpacking and then repacking to go out to Norris Lake for the long weekend.. you might see my tremendous tubing skills. She was a little afraid to let me go boarding.. personally I think she was worried I would put her moves to shame.. duh..I did just float around for a while I think everyone thought that was safer.. since my life jacket is still in a box at Dans.. So this past week was uneventful.. grillin’ and chillin’ and then last night she got some VIP tix to the Village People.. sweet.. I thought it would be fun so off we went.. I am not sure those are ALL the originals.. but it was fun and scary at the same time.. Chaps and a headdress?? wow.. but we had fun until well the whole YMCA things was a debacle.. but hey I had a gyro at the end pf the night so who can complain.

Okay I have to get out of here.. she’s going to a going away party and needs to make some photo montage.. do you think it will have me in it.. I am such a camera hog..

Cherrio Peeps

– Erin Donovan