Today definitely had its ups and downs. I didn’t fall asleep until 3 am so when grandma woke me up for the gym at 8 am, I just wasn’t feeling it. No gym today. Cold, rainy and I was exhausted. If you need some more excuses, let me know and I will throw a few more at you.

I went into town and got the flyers for Midlothian and headed to the pizza place. I went to the Orland Park Toys R Us afterwards and found a 1970s Hogan/Blassie double pack for Fusion. That along with the Slaughter/Shiek two pack and the Papa Shango & Godfather figrues netted me in trade with Fusion, Season 4 of That 70s Show and $20.

Sox called around 2 pm to say that he was on his way to my house for the big concert. That should have put him to my house at around 3:30 but at 3:30, I get a phone call from Fusion. “Sox is too scared to call you since he knows how you react to things not going according to plan but he is stuck in traffic and is still at least 30 minutes away from I-80.” So I sit down and watch Jeopardy. 4 pm rolls around and I call Sox to let him know that I’m not going to kill him…yet. He calls back around 4:30 pm and was just getting onto I-80. He arrives at the house at 5 pm and he gets to meet my grandma. He is in awe cause he is “meeting a legend…she has reached legendary status after reading the LJs” and we jump into the car and take off for Bloomington. We play phone tag with Fusion on the way to the concert and finally we run out of time and just meet at the venue and leave food till after the concert.

Sox and I go inside the arena and the chicanery immediately ensues. Take a look at this ridiculous shit.

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Of course, The “Choose Death” you see in the background is Fusion and Alex on their way in to the arena. The rest of the Horsemen decide it would be a good idea for Sox to try to trade his cowboy hat with someone else since his doesn’t fit. I can’t even begin to describe the looks that we received from people. Then without warning, and thus no picture, Sox gives Fusion a big kiss on the cheek and the girls standing behind them got repulsed. The rest of the Fannin Horsemen on this trip decide to take a photo together. Yes ladies and gents…these are the kind of fans that I have.

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We irritated the hell out of passersby for several more minutes until Sox and I go off to our seats…front row by the corner of the stage…while Fusion and Alex go to their free seats at the back of the arena. I was not that impressed with the first half of the concert. The Warren Brothers were the opening act and they told more jokes about the 14 year old girls sitting in the first row in skirts than they did songs. I also wasn’t all that big on the first half of Martina McBride’s set. She has an album out now entitled “Timeless” and it is all covers of songs from like the 1950s and 1970s that she loved as a child. I knew some of the songs but my country knowledge doesn’t quite go back that far. Here is a picture from the first half of her show.

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The seats next to us were empty so we fought the mob during intermission while Martina changed outfits and the set to get more modern and got Fusion and Alex so they could sit with us. The rest of the concert was great even though the crowd was nothing like what a Louisville or Lexington crowd would be like for a show like this. They did a thing where they took “requests” from the audience and they did it right in front of us. Sox put on his cowboy hat and leaned into the camera shot so he could be on the big screen. One of the Warren Brothers grabbed his hat and put it on during the segment and I told Sox afterwards that now his hat has Warren cooties and that he should have asked them to say “Franks and Beans” (leave me alone…Something About Mary was on FX the other night). After that, the drunk ladies behind us asked Sox if they could wear his hat so he climbed up by them and got a hug and was all up on them. All I could do is shake my head. Here is a pic from the second half of the concert.

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After the concert, we fought the masses to get back outside to the cars. Fusion let everyone know that I was the great and powerful Jim Fannin from IWA Mid-South on the way out. It was funny looking at people acting like they knew what he was talking about because they didn’t want to be uncool. We get to Denny’s and I have to lay the law down on the Fannin Horsemen…mostly Sox. We are classy…respectable…civilized individuals in public when people are watching. We are jackasses and dorks when the world isn’t watching. I told Sox that if he acted up next week on the real run, he was out and I would find someone else to take his place. Sox then came out of the closet and said that he has been rejected so many times by the ladies that he is trying to score with guys and girls to increase his chance of success. I have to have a meeting with Ray and Fusion and see what needs to be done about this. He did kiss Fusion on the cheek and grab his ass tonight.

The main point is that it received a trial run tonight and we had fun. Next week will be the true test when we see how all the chicanery turns out. We discussed a back up plan in case Option A doesn’t work out according to plan. We even altered Option A a tad bit and added to the fun of it.

It is now 3 am and definitely time for me to wrap up this show and get to bed. Flyering in Streamwood at 1:30 tomorrow so I need to leave the house by 11.

Until next time…beware of Fannin’s Horsemen…chicanery is coming to a town near you.