What a gorgeous day, eh, Harrisonburg? I'm getting kind of peeved with the weird weather we've had for the past couple weeks: Beautiful day, angry clouds roll in, it rains its little butt off for 20 minutes, the clouds go away, and it's beautiful again... And muggy. It makes me feel very much at home. See, I'm from the Hampton Roads area and there was a small grassroots movement in recent history to have the regional advertising slogan set as "Welcome to Hampton Roads! Don't like the weather? Sorry, just give it 10 minutes and it will change." Needless to say, I feel at home here. it's supposed to be nice today and all weekend though. Guess who's going out to George Washington National Park today to soak in the awesome? *points to self* This girl.

In other news, we still have no comments and I still feel like I'm talking to a macbook instead of a handful of intelligent beings.

In other other news, I've learned about some awesome music festivals in the area over the past week and I feel obligated to make a little list of the places you should plan on going this Summer!

My Favorite is... drumroll...
All Good Music Festival
July 8-11
Masontown, WV (160 miles/3.5 hours)
Check out the website for more details!
$160

Others within 6 hour driving range of our dear valley...
Shenandoah Valley Music Festival
July 23-24, 30-31, August 13-14, September 4-5
Orkney Springs, VA (35 miles/50 minutes)
Website
$20-$45

Out Among The Stars Bluegrass Festival
July 1-4
Benton, PA (275 miles/5 hours)
Website
$80

Briggs Farm Blues Festival
July 9-10
Nescopeck, PA (275 miles/5 hours)
Website
$70

Pickin' In Parsons
August 5-7
Parsons, WV (100 miles/2.5 hours)
Website
$50

Underground Music Festival
July 9-11
Iselin, PA (250 miles/4.5 hours)
Website
$20

SunTrust Summer Jam
July 3
Massanutten, VA (15 miles/30 minutes)
Website
$15

FloydFest
July 22-25
Floyd, VA (150 miles, 3 hours)
Website
$60-$145

Wayside Bluegrass Festival
July 7-10
Stuart, VA (180 miles/3,5 hours)
Website
$75

Shoot, I could go on and on. I'll make this blog post an ever-changing one, so as I find out about festivals, I'll just add them to the list! If I've missed one that you're aware of, comment and let me know!!

I am, to say the least, discouraged. My computer had the Mac Flu last weekend and into this week, but upon its return to me from the wonderful guys at Blueridge Mac, I had a notification that there were three comments on the blog! I was very excited and proceeded to read said comments. THEY WERE ADVERTISEMENTS!!!! If I let myself go on, I will rant about the irony of those comments on that particular blog entry, but I will refrain. I will simply say that I am discouraged, as a gardener is discouraged by ivy and weeds. (And since there were no comments from real readers, I didn't feel the need to rack my brain for another band of the week)

Well, not having a computer for.... however many days.... (the days were bleak, I lost count) and actually ended up watching a lot of TV. I am not a TV-watching person. I mean, I'm as crazy about Grey's Anatomy as the next girl, but I watch that online. Basically, my TV was turned on for the first time in a really long time... And it stayed on. It started with an episode of The View (don't judge, it was that or a Lifetime movie until the House marathon started), and who was the guest? None other than Russell Brand! You may not be crazy about this guy, but I am. I've been into his standup for a while and I've been impressed with how he's learned and adapted himself (he's known for being an extremely lewd, foul British man) for success in America. Though he is still rather lewd and foul, a side of him was shown on The View (and later on George Lopez's show) that truly touched me. Needless to say, The View was a rather enjoyable experience for me. Then, the House marathon. I had only seen a couple episodes, and I was soaking in an entire season like a sponge. An entire afternoon of general good feeling while just watching TV? You bet. Basically, I got addicted. I could always find something cool to watch, if its Animal Planet or Adult Swim.

Now that I have my computer back, my TV is once again black, but I must say: They've gotten really good at programming things so that you feel like you're missing out if you leave the house.

So before I finish my Financial Accounting homework and study for the final tomorrow, I will leave you with this:

BAND OF THE WEEK: Sevendust
They're not for everyone, admittedly, but I'm crazy about them this week. They flirt with the line of hard rock and metal, providing soulful, melodic vocals with heavy riffs and double bass, but just as easily create a beautifully eerie acoustic melody for a ballad. The lead singer, Lajon Witherspoon, was found originally in an R&B group. The members of Crawlspace (As they were called at the time) loved Lajon's heavy, raspy vocal style and invited him to join their developing rock band. The band was faced with a legal issue as they were informed that someone else had already taken the name Crawlspace, so they settled on Sevendust (named for the bug killer, Sevin Dust). This had happened once before, when the band was called Rumblefish. They were legally obligated to abandon the name and instead used it as a later song title. The lyrics are pretty moving, too. One about addiction has a chorus that goes: "Destroy all you see. Tattoo the world, change everything."

One of the best things about this band is their live show, which I've seen twice already. Unlike other bands of their genre, who encourage their audiences to mosh and get angry, Lajon encourages his audience to dance and move. The floor turns from a frenzy of adrenaline-heavy metalheads to a sea of positive energy and grooves. Here come a variety of songs:

A beautiful slower song:
Skeleton Song

Their cover of NIN and Johnny Cash, sung by Clint Lowery, guitarist and songwriter
Hurt

WARNING: This is a much harder song. That said, it's one of my favesies.
Praise

Let me know what you think! More like this? Or do you prefer the more mellow kinds of music?