Rob & Ashlee's
Collage Barrage '08
Volume I-------------------------------Issue 1
Welcome to the premier issue...
DONE AND DONE
(A quick update on our recently completed exploits)
Screening of The Deal starring William H. Macy and Meg Ryan at opening night of the Nashville Film Festival with a follow-up party at the BMI Building on Music Row. Great movie introduced by Mr. Macy who then followed it up with a Q&A session. Then we got the honor to meet him at the party afterwards and Ashlee got a great self-portrait with him.
Obviously he was a really nice guy to allow this type of harassment.
Weekend trip to Philadelphia - we had a great overnight trip to Philly for Rob's birthday thanks to two cheap tix on Southwest Airlines. We saw the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall 
(photo above), the Betsy Ross House and Ben Franklin's Grave during two different walking tours downtown. Many thanks to Ashlee's co-worker and our friend, Ilene, for hooking up with us for the day on Sunday, and for hooking us up with Jim's Philly Cheesesteaks (yummy) and the Philadelphia Soft Pretzel Company (yes, TSA did search the bag of 20 we brought back - they were tempted but did not confiscate them or the spicy mustard....whew!)
(photo above), the Betsy Ross House and Ben Franklin's Grave during two different walking tours downtown. Many thanks to Ashlee's co-worker and our friend, Ilene, for hooking up with us for the day on Sunday, and for hooking us up with Jim's Philly Cheesesteaks (yummy) and the Philadelphia Soft Pretzel Company (yes, TSA did search the bag of 20 we brought back - they were tempted but did not confiscate them or the spicy mustard....whew!)
Scott Miller and the Commonwealth at The (now smoke-free...hurray!) Mercy Lounge in Nashville - the boys from Knoxville and points northeastward put on a great show in front of a surprisingly small crowd for a Friday night. Thanks to the small crowd, however, for allowing us a front row view for such great mud-stomping songs like "8 Miles a Gallon," "Drunk All Around this Town" and "Wildcat Whistle."
UP AND COMING
(These are events we've either bought tickets for already or just know we can't miss this year if at all possible.)
Key West - May 3 to 7- Our (almost) annual pilgrimage to the tropical outskirts of America is a just a few short days away. Amen, brother, and pass the coconut rum.
Take a live look at our home away from home -
The Eden House - Key West, FL
3 Doors Down at the 2nd Annual Nashville Crawfish Boil - downtown on the riverfront - Friday night, May 16th - we opted for the VIP upgrade which gives us private bathrooms, a private screening area to watch the show and all the crawfish you can eat...Rob aims to make them pay dearly for this last perk.
Augustana at City Hall in Nashville - Tuesday night, May 27th - wow, these guys are newly discovered by us and we are very excited to see them live for the first time. If you haven't heard "Boston" or their new single "Sweet and Low" do yourself a favor and give them a listen on iTunes. City Hall is a great small general admission venue as well that gets you very close to the performers.
Scott Miller & the Commonwealth (AGAIN) at Chattanooga Rhythm & Brews on Friday night, June 6th - did we mention these guys put on a great live show? And for only $10 how can we say no?
Check out the boys on the clip below while keeping two inaccuracies in mind: it's on CMT, but it ain't country, and it sure ain't acoustic!
Bonnaroo 08 - June 12-15 - yep, we are going. Ashlee called Rob's bluff and got everything organized including buying a pop-up camper to stay in (with A/C), a way to tow it there and back, a generator to run the A/C, and tix to what looks to be an amazing four days of music, comedy, weirdos, etc. We've never been and don't know what to expect, but 90,000 people can't be completely wrong...can they? We are comparing it to going to NYC a few years ago on New Year's Eve...we've got to try it at least once.
Bele Chere Festival in Asheville, N.C. - July 25-27 -This will be our third straight year to attend this basically free weekend festival held in downtown Asheville. They literally close off traffic to most of Asheville's beautiful downtown streets and put music, artisans and other entertainment in every nook and cranny they can find. They have one fairly big name musical act each night that you can pay a little extra to see up close or you can just listen to for free as you walk around downtown. Most of the unique stores and local restaurants/bars are open serving food and adult beverages at very reasonable prices ($3 beer! no festival price-gouging here). We will stay at a nearby Hampton Inn Saturday night and ride a shuttle bus to the event. Asheville is a very unique city any time of the year. Their downtown is very lively and the aforementioned shops and restaurants are all local - there are no chain restaurants or national brand stores in the downtown area.
New Year's Eve Cruise - Dec. 28th - Jan. 4th, 2oo9
Sailing out of Ft. Lauderdale on the second voyage of the "Celebrity Solstice" which will include such never-done-before on-board-a-cruise-ship amenities like a glass-blowing studio and a half-acre lawn of real grass. Stops include San Juan, St. Kitts and St. Maarten. Ashlee's Mom & nephew Matt will be joining us.
MAYBE, PROBABLY...WE HOPE SO
(No tickets bought yet, but these events and/or trips are being
seriously kicked around currently by us.)
TN State Wine Festival - Saturday, May 17th - We haven't been since they moved it to Nashville Shores (last year) but when it was held at the Nashville Super Speedway it was a great little event for the price.
Arrington Vineyards - Music in the Vines - every weekend this summer this beautiful winery in Franklin has music on the grounds. This is the one partially owned by Kix Brooks.
Europe in late August - we are looking for a decent (ok, cheap) airfare to London or Dublin (or both) and want to include a stop in Germany to see Rob's never-let-you-go-to-bed-sober relatives. We have (kind of) put the Norway cruise on hold until next year..but we haven't cancelled it yet either for this same time. Tune in to this station for further updates on this breaking story.
MOVIES
(our new summer plan is to eat dinner and consume a few tasty adult beverages on the patio of Fulin's Asian Cuisine Restaurant in Mt. Juliet and then walk across the street to the Providence Theatres.)
Baby Momma - that Tina Fey is funny and Rob think's she's kind of hot.
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay - this is more like a training film for us for dealing with people at Bonnaroo
Rob's the big movie nerd and is more excited about these upcoming summer flicks than Ashlee may (or may not) be:
Iron Man, the new Indiana Jones, The Dark Knight, Hancock, Journey to the Center of the Earth (yeah, Ashlee could care less about all of these!)
