Another Gixxer Pic

Josh had 21 stickers on the Gixxer when I bought it. Not that I didn't like them, they were cool, but they just weren't me. So I took all but about 5 of them off. Here's a pic of me on the Gixxer.

I have arrived...GSX-R1000!

Okay, you all know I’m crazy for Gixxers (Suzuki GSX-R sport bikes). I had decided a while back to get a GSX-R750, because it was still stupid fast and a good bit cheaper than a 1000. I had been looking on eBay for awhile and wasn’t finding any good deals that were close to Nashville and especially none that were close to Lubbock. Oh by the way, did I mention that I’m not in Acappella anymore and I live in Lubbock, TX again. I think everyone reading this knows. Anyway, I jumped off of eBay and on to the Thrifty Nickel Ads search and saw that there was 1 Suzuki GSXR listed…and it was a 1000 and it was a decent price. I e-mailed the guy, Josh, and he sent me some pics and told me a little bit about it. I was very interested. Hold that thought. Remember, I have a 2003 Kawasaki Ninja 250 (the yellow bike) that is the perfect bike to start with and even keep, if you don’t want to wheelie and accelerate stupid fast (but legally, of course). I had been taking my wife, Melody, riding on the Ninja and she loved it so much that she wanted her own Ninja 250. It was only logical that she get mine and I speed up my search for the perfect Gixxer. Okay, back to Josh and the Gixxer 1000. I thought, “you know, the 1000 is the THE best of the best, and really, how could I not go ahead and get the 1000…bump the cheaper 750, I’m gettin’ a 1000.” I went to Josh’s brother’s house, where the bike was, and test rode it. It brought back memories of when I rode Curtis’ Gixxer 1000 in West Memphis, and how I could not comprehend the power it had. We negotiated a little on the price, he came down even more. By the way, he was the only owner of this bike and he lives in Commander’s Palace (where I live), and said he’d help me work on it or anything else I needed. So I got a GREAT deal on a well-taken-care of 2002 Suzuki GSX-R1000 sport bike. It’s beautiful! Here are some of the upgrades he had put on it:

• Two Brothers Racing exhaust
  
• Power Commander
  
• K&N Air Filter
  
• TRE (Timing Retarder Eliminaor)
  
• RK chain and Geared 1down in front
  
• Fender Eliminator
  
• Clear lens tail light
  
• Tape Works Graphics (neon green graphics to replace the stock white ones)
  
• Blue Chrome Wind Screen
  
• Pirelli Diablo tires
  
• CARBON FIBER:
  
• front fender
  
• triple tree
  
• tank protector
  
• frame covers
  
• case cover

The bike is so sweet! I took Mel for a ride the day I got it and she held on for dear life and said, “I don’t think I want to do that anymore.” It’s SO fast, she wants to make sure I’m comfortable with it before she puts her life in to my hands. Comfortable? How can you be comfortable accelerating to speeds of XXX mph in mere seconds? We’re going to take a motorcycle safety course together. I finally got a Gixxer, now I’ve just got to stay alive!

Dave Ramsey

So we did the Queen concert on Tuesday, then we drove back to Nashville on Wednesday. Thursday, we had the privilege to sit in on Dave Ramsey's talk show www.daveramsey.com. About a year or so ago, Acappella sang for a weekly devo he does for all his employeess, which was a lot of fun. Dave seemed to really enjoy it, and he was so grateful. Then about a month ago they guys were invitied to do another devo for him. A long time ago, Jordan had the opportunity to sit in on one of his shows (through one of many of Jordan's connections...Hey JHouse, how is Will Smith doing these days?). We thought that would be cool to do and Dave said we could certainly come sit in on his show. On commercial breaks he would talk to us and we'd ask him questions. He's a really nice, down-to-earth guy and so is his staff! Thanks Dave!

The Queen Concert

The Queen concert was out of this world! I flew in to Nashville on Tuesday, March 7th and the guys picked me up from the airport. Shortly thereafter, we were on our way to Atlanta to experience Queen. It was Jordan House, Zach Wilson, Robin Brannon, and me. The concert was at the Gwinett Center in Deluth, GA and it wasn't quite sold out, but there were thousands of people there (maybe 10,000). We had great seats that were perfect for seeing over people's heads. Besides Queen's music, the most impressive thing to me were the lights. There were so many lights and the configuration was mind-boggling. They sang a ton of favorites, like Tie Your Mother Down, Hammer To Fall, Bohemian Rhapsody, We Will Rock You, and We Are the Champions. I thought Paul Rodgers was good, but I'll have to be honest, I missed Freddie's voice A LOT! Paul did a good job of making the songs his own. The problem was, they weren't his own, they were Freddie's. But he sounded pretty good anyway. I missed John Deacon, the bass player too. In fact, personally, my 2 favorite things about Queen are Freddie's vocals and John's bass playing, neither of which were present. Don't let me fool you though, I had the time of my life and it was one of, if not the best concert, I have ever been to.