White Trash WITHOUT Money (My Trip to OK)

On Saturday morning (actually early afternoon, by the time I crawled out of bed and got some maintenance done on my car) , I drove out of Louisiana for what will be remembered as one of the best weekends of my life. It all started when Sweetbabyk mentioned something about a "Calf Fry" on her blog. When I saw it involved steer nuts and Cross Canadian Ragweed, I thought, "Hmmm... interesting cuisine... very likely BEER... and one of AWG's favorite bands!" Andrew likes all kinds of underground, out there sort of bands, and I knew that Cross Canadian Ragweed was a big favorite of his. I had not heard much of them.

So, this thing grew into a big thing involving Sweekbabyk, AWG, Dean, and myself. I made the 8 hour drive through North Louisiana, Northeast Texas, and on to Oklahoma City. I met Andrew at Dean's place, and after Dean got home we watched some SNL, then Andrew and I spent the early morning hours talking about the various problems facing our nation. I awoke the next morning to Dean asking me how many eggs I wanted for breakfast. After a nice feast and some hanging around, we went to this lame-ass arts festival that was one of the most crowded things I've ever been to. Dean said something about all the "culture" there. I replied, "This is not culture! A bunch of rednecks eating steer nuts, drinking beer, and listening to country rock... THAT'S CULTURE! This is just a bunch of paintings and sculptures and a big crowd of people passing time." Granted, it was probably a pretty decent arts festival if you're into that sort of thing, but I had my eyes set on the goal of my long-distance trip, and that goal was Calf Fry.

So, after leaving Dean (who was not coming to Calf Fry with us, but got me a cool Oklahoma City Memorial t-shirt!), we left Oklahoma City and hit the road toward Stillwater, home of OSU and the Tumbleweed Calf Fry "Testicle Festival." After we had been on the road a bit, I told Andrew that I needed to get myself acquainted with Ragweed if I was going to see them in concert. He promptly put in a live album and there were some absolutely rockin' tracks on it. After hearing songs like Goin' South, Boys from Oklahoma, and President Song, I was absolutely hooked! Where had this band been all my life?! I got Andrew to take me by the Hastings in Stillwater so that I could buy their newest album and listen to it. The album is not quite as good as the live album (you just can't beat a live album!), but it's got some great stuff on it, including a song called Dimebag, which is a tribute to two of my favorite musicians - Dimebag Darrell (Pantera) and Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) - who met untimely deaths. Although Ragweed is classified as "Country," you feel that rock pouring out all through most of the songs. I'd love to see them make a hard rock album just to do it!

Well, back to the trip... I haven't even gotten to the main event! After driving around listening to some rockin' tunes, Andrew and I went to Eskimo Joe's (a local tourist trap with some great burgers and fresh-cut fries) to wait on Sweetbabyk and her boyfriend to show up. They've got this big gift shop in there and Andrew and Dean both told me that I needed to buy a t-shirt. Although I preferred a Calf Fry shirt, I went ahead and bought one for my wife and one for my little sister-in-law. When I told my wife what I got for her, she said, "I've always wanted one of those! People used to wear those when I was in school!" That was odd, because I had never even heard of this place (possibly because I spent most of my middle/high school years in South Carolina). Sweetbabyk and her boyfriend joined us, and we had a great time just chatting at the table. It's interesting to meet someone when you've read their writing, but never met. You feel like you know this person, but you don't... and after about 10 minutes, you feel like you've known this person forever - probably due to you knowing all kinds of details about this person's life already. After everyone was finished eating, we made our way to the Tumbleweed to see the show - but not before giving Sweetbabyk some Rolo cookies that Dean had sent in lieu of his presence.

Stoney LaRue was on stage when we got to the Calf Fry. We found a parking space that wasn't in the mud/who knows what else mixture that dominated the parking area. We had listened to him some on the way to the concert. I love his CD artwork (some is present on the website). Both Stoney and CCR (as in Ragweed) have this Christian outlaw thing going that I can kind of identify with in a way. The Lord's servants come in all shapes and sizes - on the jacked of the Ragweed live album, they thank "the sixth member, Our Lord Jesus Christ." That's awesome!

They handed us plastic souvenier cups on our way in. After we got settled, I got a pitcher of beer to use with our cups and also got a Calf Fry dinner! When you go to order, you're supposed to say, "nuts," and then they take your four dollars and give you your basket full of goodies (my picture of me with my meal is stuck on my phone, but when I get around to paying to get it off, I will post). A friend of mine had told me that once you start eating deep fried steer nuts, you don't want to stop. How true this was... they are absolutely delicious with Bud Light (and I'm sure other beers, as well... they didn't have Dos Equis on tap, but I'm sure that would have been better). Unfortunately, neither AWG, Sweetbabyk, nor her significant other (who I think has sampled them on a previous occasion) were interested in sharing, so I had to have some to go.

Cross Canadian Ragweed took the stage and ROCKED for two solid hours. Before they got on, the loudspeakers started booming Walk by Pantera, which my drunk ass happily screamed along with. That really got me in a mood to enjoy the show. Cody Canada (lead vocals and guitar) was absolutely amazing on stage, especially when he'd start playing guitar solos. I went up close a little bit into the show (Sweetbabyk does not like dense crowds) and when I watched Canada knock out a long, fast solo, I had a new hero! (Once again, let me say I'd love to hear a pure hard rock album written by this guy.) While these guys have country roots, they leave no question about what kind of band they are, and that is a rock band! Anyone who was confused about this could note the mohawk haircuts on every band member but Canada, who kept his trademark long hair. A highlight of the show was the crowd pleasing Boys from Oklahoma (The boys from Oklahoma roll their joints all wrong...). Everyone in the crowd (even me, who learned the chorus in Andrew's car) was singing along. A little bit of weed (but not as much as you'd expect) came out during the tune, but not as much as I expected. Some lame frat boy looking guy actually told someone around me to, "put that shit out." Had this guy never been to a rock concert before? Live and let live, that's what I say... especially when you go to a concert!

Near the end of the set, Canada mentioned that although their fanbase is growing, the band has turned down three tours with Toby Keith. These guys are totally committed to staying grassroots, so committed that I guess they'll never spell white tra$h with a dollar sign! While AWG thought they were missing a good opportunity, I guess I can respect their artistic integrity (although, really, it IS Toby Keith... what would be the harm in it?). However, if you ask me, Toby Keith should be opening up for these guys!

Cody Canada, you rock! Point to yourself, you BMF!

As the concert was wrapping up, I went back and joined my friends - one old, two new - and watched the rest of the show before heading out. Sweetbabyk traded her t-shirt for one she, I guess, liked better, and I bought a Ragweed bumper sticker with some help from Andrew, who pitched in two bucks on it for me (I had spent my cash on tickets, shirts, and beer). I will proudly display it on my car starting... well, as soon as I finish this post!

We all went out to the parking lot and said our goodbyes before jumping in the car. Before hugs were exchanged, there was a moment when we all stood there, not wanting the night to end, but like it or not, it was over. It took us forever to get out through the maze of cars and drunk folks, but we got out okay and headed back to Dean's house in OKC.

This morning, I woke up, got ready to go, and left. I played my new Cross Canadian Ragweed CD for the first six hours of the trip - never took it out - then stopped to buy the live CD that Andrew and I had listened to the day before. I'm absolutely hooked on this band! I got home this evening, and after such an awesome weekend, I can identify with a shirt I saw at the concert, which said: "I'd rather go to HELL than WORK!"

For those of you wanting pictures, one of the pictures above is of me (not Eskimo Joe!). Sweetbabyk told Andrew that I didn't look like what she expected, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to put a pic up once in awhile. Congrats to Michelle for catching the picture I had posted in November (I had not noted that it was me - she just guessed). For anyone wondering about Sweetbabyk, she looks a lot like the My Little Pony pic she just posted than she does like Ms. Piggy. When I saw the pony pic today, I was like, "Yeah, that's her! I know because I saw her!"

Thanks, Dean, for being such a great host (I left a little "surprise" for you in your fridge - it was supposed to be my lunch), although I must say you are a bit of an "Early Reusser." (Have you heard that one before?) Sweetbabyk, it was great meeting you and your man! And AWG, my boy, it's always a pleasure to get to hang out with a great old friend (less than two years, but it seems like we've known each other forever!)