Help Us Name that Country Music Celebrity

As we were walking around Fan Fair Hall, we were able to snap a few photos of some country music stars. Some we know, some we don't. Like we previously acknowledged, we are not modern country music aficionados. Plus, we don't get CMT or GAC to help us place faces with names. Please help us figure out those music artists we can't identify.


Naomi Judd with a fan


Doug Stone being photo friendly


Can you guess this country music celebrity's backside? We'll give you the answer at the end of this post.


Any idea who this duo is standing infront of a Montgomery Gentry ad?


We walked next to this guy oblivious to his identity until he was mobbed by a group of screaming young female fans. We had to ask them who he was. Unfortunately, we forgot who they said. Can you name him for us?


We know the guy is a CMT V-jay/host, but who is the woman? She was signing guitars when we were walking by.


No idea. We think he is a very new artist.


John Michael Montgomery. Where has he been the last decade?


Dancing with the Stars turned country singer Julianne Hough.


Michael Peterson


Blake Shelton


Reba


???


Any idea who's logo this is? It was on a tour bus.


Hank Williams Jr. giving us a wave at LP Field before the concert.


Our neighbor Frank Bowers playing lead guitar on stage with Montgomery Gentry.

So, did you place a name with that celebrity backside earlier? It belongs to Carrie Underwood. You can see a few more photos we got of her here.

CMA Festival 2009

From CMA 2009

When in Nashville, do like the Nashvillians do: go to the CMT Music Festival! We braved the heat and joined the 50,000 fest-goers for four days of country music. All of downtown Nashville was blocked off for on-street performances, autograph signings, fun zones, and general chaos. This is when Hollywood meets Redneck at its finest. All you need is a pair of cowboy boots, a shiny hat and a shinier belt buckle.


On day one, Girl took off work early to venture the street activities which were free to the public. There were free concerts at about every corner and every bar. The River Front and Sommett center had better-known-names while the Hard Rock and bars had newer up-and-comers. Girl got to see The Randy Roger Band (Texas rock) and Guy got a flash from the past while tapping along to The Kentucky HeadHunters.

From CMA 2009

Free River Front Concert area

From CMA 2009

Performer at the Hard Rock concert area

From CMA 2009

Kentucky HeadHunters

From CMA 2009

The ultimate pork-chops...Wolverine has nothing on the drummer.



The evening was reserved for more music at LP Field. This was where the big boy and girls performed. The first night had the best lineup with the biggest names. But not even the biggest country music artist can stand in the way of Mother Nature. The night ended short for us, after two performances (Brooks & Dunn and Reba) a lighting storm forced a three hour delay of the concert. We waited until 11pm and decided to get some dinner and go home. Bummer… apparently, the concert resumed a little after midnight with most of the acts performing until 2am.

From CMA 2009

LP Field...home of the TN Titans

From CMA 2009

View from our seats...not too shabby.

From CMA 2009

Reba

From CMA 2009

Brooks and Dunn



As the weekend progressed, we learned that we were not modern country music aficionados. Come to find out, we would walk and stand next to “celebrities” and not even know it (tune in to our next entry for photos; maybe you can help us figure out who these people are). Guy “discovered” a few new acts that he likes, at least he thinks they are “new”: The Zac Brown Band and Jamey Johnson. Girl gave the best-act-of-the-festival to Wynonna Judd. She’s got some serious vocal pipes!

From CMA 2009

The Judds reunited!!

From CMA 2009

Jamey Johnson

Visit our photo album for more pictures!

We are back!

Home at Last

We made it back to Nashville and are ready for Christmas, but are not ready for this awful weather. Girl is still struggling with jet lag and needs to be in bed by 9PM. We only left for four months, but many things have changed during our absence:
1. The price of gas - The other day, Girl filled up her tank for only $15.00 !

Girl took this photo before we left.


2. The weather. We left at the end of summer and experienced spring-summer all over again in Africa. Just last week Girl was laying on the beach in the 90s.

Beautiful Camps Bay

3. The price of bread. Well, food in general is more expensive in The States. We got a loaf of fresh bread for 70 cents in Africa and we're paying nearly 3 bucks now.
4. The price of coffee. We got a nice cup of Mocha Cafe for only $1.50 and now, it's back to $5 Starbuck!

Starbuck, African style


It's nice to be back, but boy it's hurting the wallet. Maybe it's just Christmas. But on good note, we are glad we're back in the Music City. Maybe an Opry show before the new year.

On a different note, Scott and Joy are online! Welcome!

Adult Content

The search for the Pink-Assed Baboon is officially over....

Does he qualify for PAB if his ass isn't pink?

Roaming the streets

Don't be fooled by the little ones. They appear cute, but are a menace to society. =) There's been reports of baboon breaking into people's houses then, get this...arranged themselves into an assembly line. They then passed the food from the fridge out through the window.
There's also accounts of baboons purse snatching for food. It is not advisable to walk around Cape Point with bananas in your hands.

Careful, baboon crossing!

The odd things they eat here

Since Guy is recovering from jet lag in Wyoming, I will be updating this blog until his sleeping habit gets reoriented. His last weekend was eventful! We spent 10 hours on Saturday at my prof's place. The first several hours were served for drinking and grilling.

My lab mate from Brazil who is also interning in the same lab decided to mix us some of her native cocktails. Whether it was the influences of alcohol or my bad memory, I can't seem to recall the name of the drinks. But in one pitcher, she added lemon, ice, sugar, and lots of alcohol that she packed with her from Brazil. In another pitcher, the same recipe was made with pineapple subsituting for lemon. The drinks were strong.

Renata and Prof's wife preparing the drinks.

The men waiting around for their drinks while the ladies slave in the kitchen.

The food menu included creepy crawly snakes. Yes, the slithering creatures that I can't bare to look at on hiking trips, but I don't mind them skinned and dead on my plate. You'll have to ask Guy for the names of them all. My prof. purchased the snake sausages at a local butcher shop where it is known for their famous ostrich, crocodile, and a couple other nontraditional meats.

Smells likes chicken on the grill.

I wouldn't say that there was not an inital struggle in getting me to take a bite of my snake hot dog. It required a little nose pinching, eye closing, and slow chewing. Hey, it isn't bad. I tried a little more, chewed a little faster...tastes like chicken. Especially on a bun with a little ketchup. It's not chewy as you would expect from all that muscles, instead, it was very tender and juicy.

The evening was reserved for Brandy tasting. Guy will have to write about this event because I am no Brandy expert to give it the proper attention and detail that it deserves. On another note, I heard they eat fried caterpillars here. Suppose to taste crunchy.

ttl

A walk in the Garden

Since the Prof was feeling a bit under the weather, we decided to spend the day (Nov. 8, 2008) at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden. We had been there once before when we hiked up Table Mountain via Skeleton Gorge (see blog entry Hiking Table Mountain 2: Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Skeleton Gorge, Maclear’s Beacon, and Table Mountain), but we did not get to spend very much time exploring the grounds. Now we had pretty much a whole afternoon to check it out.
Being a garden and all, I will let the pictures do the talking for this blog entry. Enjoy the show:




half rock half plant...it's alive!

No, those designs were not painted on.


Girl inside of the Eastern Cape plants display

"Pink! it's my favorite color"




Girl made a new friend at the park..no, they are not related.


Girl taking a quick break under a tree



This park is huge!

Wait, wait, this isn't Africa.


Traditional Cape hut

The bees decided that it was a good day too

Almost paradise



The guinee fowl were a little photo shy



Weird-ass tree

It's Guy's turn to take a break under a tree

We are in a Grimm's Brothers fairy tale




Nothing beats sun bathing



It split


And they said there's no cure for herpes....

Herpe cure?


One of these plants cure HIV, supposedly

This information would have been more helpful during the wine tasting last weekend





Guy with Table Mountain in the background
We ended the day at a pub for some snacks and suds.


You believe she drank the whole beer?