More of my thoughts on what are supposed to be the 100 greatest rock songs of all time.


80.  Fire and Rain:  James Taylor:  Oh, such a great song.  It's probably the definitive folk rock song.  It's actually quite sad, dealing with the death of a friend, drug addiction, and struggling with newfound fame.  It's been covered by a ton of other artists, but Taylor's is, and always will be, the best.


79.  A Hard Day's Night - The Beatles:  Ah, yes...the first appearance by one of my favorite bands on this list.  The title and theme of their first movie, this is one of their earliest hits and proved to America that they weren't one-hit wonders.  I prefer their later stuff myself, but it's The Beatles, so you know it's good.


78.  Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins:  This song is a rockabilly classic.  Most people probably think of this as an Elvis song, but this is the original.  The song was inspired by both Johnny Cash and an incident Perkins observed at a dance where a young man told his date not to step on his blue suede shoes.  I love Elvis, but Perkins did it first and, arguably, best.


77.  Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran:  This song deals with a young man facing frustration during the summer.  A real oldie, this song was written when the voting age was 21.  It's been covered by a ton of artists, probably most famously by Alan Jackson.


76.  California Girls - Beach Boys:  Apparently, Brian Wilson wrote the music for this one while on LSD.  Take a look at Brian Wilson now to see what that stuff will do to you.  But I digress.  It's a great song, another one that's been covered several times, most successfully by David Lee Roth.


75.  Sunshine of Your Love - Cream:  This British group, which featured Eric Clapton, was inspired by Jimi Hendrix when writing this song.  Hendrix actually covered this song later, as did others.  But nothing compares to the original, which is a rock classic.


74.  Good Golly, Miss Molly - Little Richard:  Recorded by Georgia's own Little Richard, covered hundreds of times.  Another rock classic featuring prominent piano instead of guitar.


73.  The Twist - Chubby Checker:  Originally recorded by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, made famous by Chubby Checker.  This song kicked off the Twist dance craze of the '60s.  It became popular again in the '80s when The Fat Boys did a rap version of it.  Fun fact:  Chubby Checker picked his stage name as a goof on Fats Domino.  Okay, so it wasn't that fun.


72.  God Only Knows - Beach Boys:  One of the greatest, most beautiful love songs ever.  It was also one of the first pop songs to have "God" in the title.  Give this song a listen and if it doesn't move you, you have no soul.  Again, many covers have been recorded, but none of any great importance.


71.  Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis Presley:  And here we have The King's first entry on this list.  This is his first number one pop hit and one of his most popular songs.  Like most of these, it's been covered time and time again, perhaps most successfully by Willie Nelson and Leon Russell.

70-61 coming soon!

As reported in my last blog, I was admitted to the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation on Monday, April 6.  The therapy wasn't as bad as I feared.  Unfortunately, while I was there, I started running a really high fever and my hemoglobin was really low.  After trying and failing to start an IV or a PICC line on me (I have terrible veins), I was sent to Piedmont Newnan Hospital on Monday, April 13.  Turns out, I had a urinary tract infection, a touch of e. coli, and God only knows what else.  Well, since Monday, I've been pumped full of antibiotics, fluids, and blood.  I've had blood drawn so many times, I look like a junkie, but they deemed me well enough to send me home...back to my loving wife, my kitty babies, my laptop, and my Tivo.  :)  I still may end up going back to Warm Springs.  We'll see.  Thanks to all who prayed for me and sent well wishes.

Most, if not all of you, know about my health problems the past two years or so.  For a while now, I have been undergoing outpatient physical therapy in Warm Springs.  My physical therapist has been trying to get me admitted to inpatient therapy, with no luck.  Well, I have finally been accepted.  I will be leaving in the morning to be admitted as an inpatient.  I'm not sure what this will entail, but I do know I won't be at home so I won't be on the intrawebs for a while.  I'm not sure how long, maybe a week, maybe two.  I'm really nervous and apprehensive about this and I am asking for your prayers.  I'm not sure how to contact me there, but nobody contacts me AT HOME, so I guess it's a moot point.  Anyway, just please remember me in prayer, please.  Thank you. 

Read my last blog to catch up with what I'm doing, I'm not explaining it again...here's 90-81.
 
90.  Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On - Jerry Lee Lewis:  This is a cover, which I didn't know.  This is a great early rock 'n' roll song, notable because it features a prominent piano rather than a guitar.  This has nothing to do with the song, but he married his 13 year old cousin and is also cousins with country singer Mickey Gilley and televangelist Jimmy Swaggart.  He didn't marry either of them, he married a female cousin...a 13 year old female cousin.
 
89.  Stand By Me - Ben E. King:  Ben E. King wrote this song for the group he was originally with, The Drifters.  They didn't want it, so he recorded it on his own.  Wise move on his part.
 
88.  Somebody to Love - Jefferson Airplane:  Originally by a group called Great Society, Jefferson Airplane made this song famous.  I can't hear it without thinking of Jim Carrey singing it in The Cable Guy.
 
87.  Tangled Up in Blue - Bob Dylan:  Bob Dylan's like Springsteen to me.  He's alright, but I don't get all the love.  Wikipedia explains this song, but it's too confusing for me to try to simplify here.
 
86.  We Are the Champions - Queen:  Contrary to what modern rock radio would have you believe, this song is NOT a part of We Will Rock You.  I love Queen, but I have been pretty tired of this song for some time now.  Don't get me wrong...great song, just a bit overplayed.
 
85.  Roxanne - The Police:  Oh, I love this song.  Such a good song.  This song always makes me think of riding with Casey in LaGrange one night, listening to this song, singing the high parts, laughing our heads off.  Good times, good times.
 
84.  More Than a Feeling - Boston:  One of the most played classic rock songs, I am neither crazy about it nor do I hate it.  It's just okay.  I am horrified to learn that NSync recorded a cover of this song, however.  Mike Huckabee likes it, too.  Take that for what it's worth.
 
83.  Start Me Up - Rolling Stones:  This very well might be my favorite Rolling Stones song.  It's got a filthy line in it, but I love this song.
 
82.  Sexual Healing - Marvin Gaye:  This song is strictly for grown married folks who want some special time with their spouse.  Again, the term "rock" is used very loosely here, but it may cause some rockin'.
 
81.  Gloria - Them:  I know you think, "I've never heard this song.  I don't know who 'Them' are."  Neither did I, but I knew the song...it's this one:  "G-L-O-R-I-A!  Gloooooria! G-L-O-R-I-A!  Gloooooria!"  Know it now?  No?  Get off my lawn.  Oh, yeah.  This song was written by the great Van Morrison, who was lead vocalist for Them.  Don't know him, either?  I said get off my lawn!
 
Check back for 80-79 soon.  Or just subscribe to my blog!

I haven't blogged in a while, but I've been wanting to.  I've got an original blog in mind, but this isn't it.  It is, however, a prelude to my idea.  What I have in mind is very similar, but you'll just have to wait and see.  This is my commentary on VH1's 100 Greatest Rock Songs.  Now, I realize that VH1 has very little to do with music these days...they're too busy churning out shows like Who Wants to Give This Washed Up Rocker an STD? or Who Wants to Give This Washed Up Rapper an STD?  But back in 2000, they still had somewhat of a vested interest in music.  This is their list of the 100 greatest rock songs...and how I feel about them.  Because I know you're dying for my opinions.
100.  Papa Was a Rolling Stone - The Temptations:  Obviously, we're dealing with a very loose interpretation of the word "rock."  But it is a great song, all about a young man whose father dies, and he learns all the dirty secrets about dear ol' dad, like the fact that he had three outside children and another wife...and that ain't right.
99.  We've Only Just Begun - The Carpenters:  Again, not very "rock."...it's a sappy love song you'd expect to hear at a wedding, but it's a great song.  I really want to make a joke about Karen Carpenter needing a sandwich really badly, but that'd just be mean.
98.  La Bamba - Ritchie Valens:  I have no idea what this song is about, as it's in Spanish.  But it is iconic because Ritchie Valens was killed in the same plane crash that killed Buddy Holly.  He was only 17.  Wow.  On a lighter note, "Weird Al" Yankovic recorded a parody of this on his Even Worse album, called Lasagna.  Yep, a food song.  But a great one.
97.  No Woman No Cry - Bob Marley & the Wailers:  Hey, kids, you know that guy you wear shirts of and have posters of, that you think is cool because he smoked pot?  Well, guess what?  He was a pretty good musician, too!  Again, this isn't very "rock"...it's reggae, for crying out loud.  But, once again, great song.  Everything gonna be alright.
96.  Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen:  You know what?  I don't get the love for Springsteen.  He's always struck me as someone Yankees absolutely adore, but I don't get it.  This is an exceptional song, however.  It describes a young woman named Mary, her boyfriend, their hopeless lives and their "one last chance to make it real."  I won't rave about the man, but this song is worth listening to.
95.  Jump - Van Halen:  This is probably Van Halen's most recognizable song.  It is unique because Van Halen is known for the genius guitar work of Eddie Van Halen, this song features a synthesizer prominently.  Great, fun song.
94.  Gimme Some Lovin' - Spencer Davis Group:  An "oldie," but definitely a goodie.  Not much else to say.
93.  In the Midnight Hour - Wilson Pickett:  I absolutely LOVE this song.  It's one of the greatest soul songs ever.  The wikipedia also tells me it was written at the same motel where Martin Luther King, Jr. would later be murdered.  Interesting.
92.  When Doves Cry - Prince & the Revolution:  Prince is an odd guy.  One of my favorite filmmakers, Kevin Smith, tells a story about working on a documentary for Prince that was never released.  Kevin paints Prince as a borderline lunatic...and I buy it.  But wow, is this an incredible song.
91.  You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC:  AC/DC is one of the greatest rock bands ever and this is a prime example why.  It's one of their signature songs and it's awesome.  I also highly recommend Hayseed Dixie's bluegrass cover of the song...genius.
Okay, that's ten songs.  Ima call it a night and tackle the next ten later.  Stay tuned.  Feel free to add your own $.02 in the comments.

Step 1: Put your iPod on shuffle.

Step 2: Post the first line from the first 32 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.

Step 3: Let everyone guess what song and artist the lines come from.

Step 4: Bold the songs when someone guesses correctly.

Step 5: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine makes you a cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater.

1.  Welcome to this uncharted shore, put your heart to rest, you're not stranded anymore

2. Picture yourself in a boat on a river, with tangerine trees and marmalade skies

3.  She's a brick----house, mighty mighty, just lettin' it all hang out

4. Like a criminal guilty on all counts, rattling his cage with every ounce of resolve he never had, I was convicted.

5.  I'm just a stranger here, despite your everything, I'm not attached to your world of disease

6.  Here we stand, Like an Adam and an Eve, Waterfalls, The Garden of Eden

7. Hi everybody. I'm Archie Bell of the Drells of Houston, Texas.  We don't
only sing but we dance just as good as we walk.

8.  I'm a warrior, I'm a warrior, I would die for You, for You

9.  Welcome to the world of a kid named Mikey, who had only one reason to be hated be whitey

10.  We walk hand in hand 'til life does us part, me and the world, my scum sweetheart

11. I grew up a-dreamin' of bein' a cowboy, and lovin' the cowboy ways.

12.  What good is melody? What good is music, if it ain't possessing something sweet?

13.  Be still, let your hand melt into mine

14.  Time, why you punish me? Like a wave crashing into the shore, you wash away my dreams

15.  Down here in the valley, every shadow you see, has its own story, down here in the valley

16.  Hey Sister, Go Sister, Soul Sister, Go Sister, Hey Sister, Go Sister, Soul Sister, Go Sister

17.  I am weak but Thou art strong, Jesus, keep me from all wrong

18.  Does the world ever seem like a nightmare? Some suffer, but the other ones don't care

19.  Get a clue, I'm not here for you, and I'm not like you

20. Here she comes now, say, Mony, Mony.

21.  So you think you've got it all figured out, well you know you can't make it alone

22.  Joan was quizzical; Studies pataphysical science in the home

23.  We're just two honks, and a negro, servin' the Lord (and that's half the song!)

24.  When you stand before the Lord for all you've done

25.  Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me (NOT Amazing Grace!)

26.  Has our conscience shown? Has the sweet breeze blown?

27.  In the shadows of tall buildings, of fallen angels on the ceilings

28.  You need to stop playing round with all them clowns and the wankstas (THIS IS JENNIE'S SONG!)

29.  I knew that when I saw her that my life would soon move over from the fast lane

30.  Bouncing like a buoy, drifting on the water

31. You went to school to learn, girl, things you never, never knew before...

32. How you gonna reckon with a God like this? When you gonna face what you can't dismiss? Whatcha gonna say to the... Soul Kiss that is my God?

Update:  The answers are:

1.  Still Breathing - Big Tent Revival

2.  Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds - The Beatles

3.  Brick House - The Commodores

4.  Lost the Sky Again - Newsboys

5.  Safe Haven - Project 86

6.  (Nothing But) Flowers - Talking Heads

7.  Tighten Up, Pt. 1 - Archie Bell and the Drells

8.  Until My Heart Caves In - Audio Adrenaline

9.  What's Goin' Down - tobyMac

10.  Scum Sweetheart - Audio Adrenaline

11.  My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys - Willie Nelson

12.  It Don't Mean a Thing (If it Ain't Got That Swing) - Duke Ellington

13.  Fly - Jars of Clay

14.  Time - Hootie and the Blowfish

15.  Thrive - Newsboys

16.  Lady Marmalade - Labelle

17.  Just a Closer Walk With Thee - Randy Travis

18.  Prince of Peace - The O.C. Supertones

19.  This is embarrassing...I can't remember what this one is...

20.  Mony Mony - Tommy James and the Shondells

21.  Here For You - Firehouse

22.  Maxwell's Silver Hammer - The Beatles

23.  2 Honks and a Negro - dc Talk

24.  West Memphis Lawyer - Big Tent Revival

25.  Grace Like Rain - Todd Agnew

26.  The World I Know - Collective Soul

27.  Cathedrals - Jump Little Children

28.  Check On It - Beyonce

29.  Baby's Coming Back - Jellyfish

30.  Lighthouse - Audio Adrenaline

31.  ABC - Jackson 5

32.  Who - Newsboys

I'm not usually the kind of guy to post song lyrics or such things as a blog entry.  Seems a little too "emo" to me, and I want to have no part in that mess.  But today is a little different.  Since my health problems began about two years ago, I have been through the wringer.  I have definitely come a long way and I am without a doubt blessed.  But it's hard.  I am more or less immobile.  I can get up and around, but it's a lot of effort.  I have to use a walker to stand up and transfer to my wheelchair/recliner/car/bed/wherever I'm going.  And it's just frustrating.  I'm just tired.  Not physically tired, but tired of the situation I'm in.  I know things will get better, and I'll recover, but it's a long way away, and I don't see the end in sight.  Which brings me to this song.  I thought of it today when I was getting up.  It's by one of my favorite bands, Guardian.  It's called State of Mine (sic) and it sums up how I feel perfectly, displaying a downtrodden spirit, yet a faith that perseveres and clings to the Lord.  I wouldn't say I'm depressed, but I definitely get down.  Here's how I feel:

I wake up in the sunshine, not a cloud is in the sky
This state of mine starts pouring down
A thorn within my mind
And I don't know why I feel this way

Psalmist with a blues harp knew about the darkest blues
He said his soul was downcast, Lord I feel the same way too
Won't you tell me why I feel this way
This way

When I look in the mirror I tell myself I'm feeling alright
This deep soul depression dark whispers in my ear
Feel alright, tonight

Medicate to insulate, might change a thing or two
But Lord I just can't shake this feeling, I'm crying out to you
Deep is calling deeper, did you forget the one you knew
My prayers are weighed in anguish
Still I put my hope in you

Tuesday morning we were supposed to the United Nations, but the tickets were in the lost bag, so that was canceled.  That actually ended up being good, because no one was real excited about that (personally, I wanted to go ask Kofi Annan to disband the thing) so we got to sleep in, which was wonderful.  Once we were up and on the bus, we head back to the city.  Our first stop is the American Museum of Natural History.  It was a pretty massive place, lots to see and do, the most impressive of which being the dinosaur exhibit.  It's just amazing to see those things up close and personal.  After the museum, we headed to Chinatown.  This was an experience, folks.  On Canal Street, there are a lot of stores...well, they're not so much stores.  They're more like a flea market.  Its a bunch of storage facility type places filled with random t shirts, watches, belts, fake purses, fake perfumes, and etc.  When our bus pulled up to the curb to let us out, a man and a woman quickly approached the door, waiting on the tourists to get out.  As we did, we endured a barrage of "You want perfume?  Hey pretty lady, you want perfume?" and various other sales pitches.  We do our best to ignore them and head down the street, looking for lunch.  We end up at a place, Im not sure of the name.  It was a Chinese buffet, where you got five items for five bucks.  Not a bad deal, if you like Chinese.  However, I'm not a fan and was scared of most of the items on said buffet.  I ended up with two chicken legs (which counted as two items each).  As we get done eating and are preparing to leave, I realize the man and woman from earlier are standing outside waiting for us to come out.  I'm not kidding, they followed us down the street and around the corner to come harass us and pitch their wares.  We go outside and the woman just takes her place in the midst of our group.  I approached her and this conversation took place:

 

Me:  Can I help you?

Her:  You want purse?

Me:  No, I dont want purse.  Go away.

Her:  You want purse?

Me:  No!  No purse!  Look, I bet they want purse.  (As I point across the street at no one in particular)

Her:  You want purse?

 

So I punched her in the face and left her on the sidewalk bleeding.  Just kidding.  I actually don't know how we ended up losing her.  We might have brought her home with us for all I know.  After this encounter, we went for quite a walk around the city.  We walked to the Brooklyn Bridge.  Most everyone walked ACROSS said bridge, but I had to stay behind and baby-sit one of our students who decided it was too high and she was afraid she would fall.  THEN she had the nerve to lie on me and tell everyone I was the one who was scared!  Ima get you, Destiny!  From the Brooklyn Bridge, we went to Ground Zero.  This was an odd part of the trip for me.  Obviously, like most everyone else in the world, I remember 9/11 like it was yesterday.  When I see footage from that day, or I think about it too much, I still get teary eyed.  So, naturally, I assumed visiting the site would be a powerful emotional experience for me.  And it wasn't.  It's basically a construction site now.  There's a sign there documenting the event and the current construction plans, but overall, the site was very surreal to me.  I'm glad we went, and I think it was an important part of the trip, but I was severely under whelmed.  After that, we split again, because Chris Swanson, one of our chaperones, wanted to go to Trinity Church and see the grave of Alexander Hamilton.  So we split up, and the group I'm with heads off to our restaurant for the evening, Dallas BBQ West.  You know, because when you think barbecue, you think...New York?  As it turns out, theres a reason you dont think New York when you think barbecue...because it's not that great.  I'm not much of a complainer, so I won't complain now, but we all got barbecue chicken and it was too dry.  We did get ice cream sandwiches for dessert and they were great.  After dinner, we went to the Empire State Building.  This was one of the highlights of the trip for me.  We did this virtual tour of New York that was pretty cool before going up to the observation deck.  Folks, the view of New York City from the top of the Empire State Building at night has got to be one of the prettiest things Ive ever seen in my life.  It was truly awesome.  After this, we caught the bus back to the motel.

 

Wednesday, we get up for our last day in the city.  First stop?  Statue of Liberty.  The other highlight trip for me.  On the way to the Statue, it begins to rain.  The rain quickly turned into snow.  It was coming down pretty hard and it was pretty cool because it only snowed for four or five hours, then stopped, like it was just for us or something.  Obviously, being from Georgia, we freaked out over it because we hardly ever see snow, and we never see it come down like THAT.  The weather kept us from being able to go inside the Statue, but it was still really cool to see it in person.  The snow made it that much more beautiful and it was really, really cool.  After the Statue, we split up again.  We had a group who wanted to see stuff, and a group who wanted to shop.  They hadn't had a chance to shop much, so it was decided that we would split up.  I really wanted to go see stuff, but one of our girls wanted to go have her hair done and I promised her Id go with her.  So I go with the shopping group while everyone else goes to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  So we take our group back to the Manhattan Mall, where there is no hair salon, so I leave with said girl (shout out to Jamie!) to go to a nearby salon.  Pretty uneventful, which was okay, since I didn't have my debit card, remember?  Plus, I got to see lots of this:

 

Fascinating stuff.

 

Anyway, we get dinner at the mall.  We also see two guys making out in the mall, which almost made me lose said dinner.  Then we hop the subway back to Canal Street, where we will meet the bus.  The students do some shopping at the flea market shops with all the fake junk, then we get on the bus and wait for Chris Swanson and the museum crowd.  We end up waiting for an hour or more because they went to a fancy schmancy Eye-talian restaurant for dinner and it took longer than expected, then one of our girls got sick on the subway, so...there were delays.  So once they get on the bus, we hit the road for Georgia.

 

Once we get to Georgia, the bus takes us to our intended drop off location, near Turner Field, where the county is supposed to be sending school buses to pick us up.  We sat in the parking lot of this juvenile justice place (ironic, no?) for about two hours before the school buses show up.  A fitting ending to the trip, I'd say.  I mean, it ended the same way it started, so...what more can you say?  Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my trip to New York.  And if you were on the trip with us, hope you enjoyed yourself as much as I did.  I got much love for y'all!  Now, if you'll excuse me, Im going to see if I can find a place that will sell me a trucker ring.

Well, it's been a long time coming and I know a lot of you want to hear all about it (well, at least two of you), so I'm finally taking the time to sit down and document my recent trip to the Big Apple.  That's right, country went to town and a group of 48 Manchester High seniors (with one or two juniors thrown in for good measure) as well as five brave adult chaperones went to the city so nice, they named it twice.

 

About two weeks ago, on a Sunday evening, we all met in LaGrange, Georgia, to meet the bus we would ride all through the night (not to mention most of the next day) to New York.  We were supposed to meet the bus at 8pm.  The bus showed up about 9:30 or so.  We left around 10.

 

The bus wasn't bad.  It wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but then again, it wasn't necessarily designed for the husky gentleman.  It was equipped with the tiniest restroom I've seen this side of an airplane (I only used it once.  After that, I was very careful not to drink very much.).  It was also equipped with a DVD player and a few monitors throughout the bus, which provided some entertainment on the trip.  We made a couple of stops, one for gas, and the other for breakfast, and then, around 1 or 2, we arrived in New York.  Well, New Jersey.  We went to our motel first so we could unload our stuff and freshen up (riding on a bus for 12 hours makes you feel all sorts of grungy).  Then we headed to the city.

 

We got there much later than we were supposed to (there were tour activities scheduled for that morning, which had to be canceled), so our first destination was Planet Hollywood in Times Square.  We drove into the city, taking the Holland Tunnel, and it was really neat to see the skyline in person.  We were all looking for things we would recognize like the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty and whatnot.  We drove through Manhattan, taking it all in.

 

Planet Hollywood was good, nothing spectacular, but not bad.  A lot of the students (and a couple of the chaperones) had plans to see Phantom of the Opera after dinner, and they all changed and looked all nice and dressed up.  So we split up, with that bunch heading to the theater, the rest of us left on our own to shop in the city.  Well, we had to stick together as a group.  Three chaperones and about 38 students.  Oh, and it was raining.  Not bad, just light rain.  Well, at first.  More on that later.  So we walk around Times Square for a while and we pass by the MTV studios, where we see LL Cool J (and supposedly T.I., but I never figured out if he was really there or not) up in the studios filming an appearance on some show or another.  We stood there and yelled up at the cameras like all the idiots you see on TV for a while and then we progressed on.  Somewhere along the line, the rain began to increase.  We began to get soaked and we couldn't find a place to get out of it.  For the city that never sleeps, there sure were a lot of places closing at 9 oclock.  We go to the Manhattan Mall, which is closing at 9, and we try to figure out our game plan.  The decision is made that since we've got so much time until the Broadway folks get out of their show, we're going to try to take the subway back to Jersey to go back to the motel.  There's a door that goes from the mall straight to the subway station, so Coach Noble and a small group of students goes through the door while the rest of us try to gather up the rest of the group.  Meanwhile, some guy comes up and locks the door, separating our group.  And they refuse to unlock the door.  Sorry, once we lock it, we cant unlock it.  Yeah, right.  So we have to leave the mall, go across the street and down into the subway station to catch up to the rest of the group.  We discover that we can't take the subway anywhere near our motel, so we just decide to hop the subway anyway and ride it to a closer proximity to where we will meet the bus that evening.  Somewhere along this leg of the journey, a bag is lost.  I won't get into the details, but things are lost, and it sucks, but it ends up working out just fine, I just end up depending on the kindness of my friends because my debit card was in the bag.  So was my camera.  Yeah.  It sucked.  Anyway, that leads to more running in the rain with Coach Noble all over Manhattan, to no avail, but we finally got back on the bus and went to the motel.

Alright, y'all, this is a little lengthy, so Ima stop here and give you the rest tomorrow...wait for it, wait for it...