Happy B-Day Hawkeman

[liljerzeedevil]

Hope its a good one!!! :occasion:

OOOps! Happy B-day Ashlyn!!!

[Hawkeman]

Thanks for the well-wishes! Happy birthday to my daughter Ashlyn... ...my best birthday present ever!!!

It was a good one all right!!!!!

Andrea and I went to New Orleans yesterday to watch/hang out with our favorite band FLOGGING MOLLY! We met up with Matt (Accordian) and Nathen (Bass) in the afternoon and proceeded to walk the French Quarter with our new found friends.

After a little bar-hopping and lots of laughs we all ate at House of Blues where we were joined by some of the guys from Hot Water Music. Chuck (singer,guitar) was a really great guy and I'm glad to count him as a friend.

After eating a decent bowl of gumbo (and several of Nate's ribs ;) ) it was time for THE SHOW!! Some of the guys from FM's record label hooked us up with passes that let us get into the lower balcony. Best non-pit seats in DA HOUSE! HWM ripped up the stage then FM took over for one of the best live shows I've personally ever seen. The set was seemingly neverending and the crowd was BAD ASS! I've never heard louder audience participation in my life! Everyone knew every word. Crazy.

After the show it was off to Ryan's Pub with Nathen and Dennis (guitar, FM). As soon as Dennis heard of my birthday... ...well, I don't remember just how many Irish Car Bombs I owe the guy - simply lost count when trying to stop the flow long enough to breathe.

Andrea, Nathen and I escaped into the darkess once again and had some the best times I've ever had on this planet. We got Nate back to the bus (albeit a little late :blackeye: ) and thanked everyone once again. Now I'm sore all over, still can't hear very well, unable to speak aloud, suffering a hangover from hell, and I just got a MAJOR speeding ticket two fricken miles from my house. All in all, it's been the second best birthday ever.

Tom thanks: my brother Tim, my uber-cool wife Andrea, Eddie and Joe from SideOneDummy records, Nathen Maxwell, Matt Hensley, Dennis Casey, Chuck Ragan, O'Flagherty's, Ryan's, the great people of New Orleans, and anyone who endulged me by reading through this novel of a post ;).

...sorry, I've always wanted to do that.

Sorry for all the name-dropping and bragging or whatever. I just don't have a voice to actually call someone and talk about our excursion.
Thanks for the wishes!
Tom