One fateful afternoon in the late fall of 1984, my friend Jay from down the street said, “My brother’s getting Van Halen tickets!!! You want to go?”
Life would never be the same.
We were freshmen in high school. Jay’s older brother Scott drove us in the primer-painted 1950’s hotrod Chevy pickup truck down to Hillsborough Street, and we made our way to the old coliseum.
Inside, the arena buzzed. Van Halen’s 1984 record had just come out (still have my vinyl copy). Jump. Hot For Teacher. Top Jimmy. Drop Dead Legs. Panama. It was a deep record. A ton of great songs. The crowd was like zoo animals that hadn’t eaten in days. And suddenly, the coliseum roared to life as one of the greatest guitar players of all time stepped into the spotlight and attacked his red-and-white crisscross-striped guitar with relentless fury.
Van Halen launched into a dream set that included those songs from 1984, as well as enduring heavy rock songs like Unchained, Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love, Jamie’s Cryin’, and Dancing In The Streets. Played with so much volume and power, the old-school light-bulb crowdnoiseOmeter stayed near the top the whole time.
Now, about this morning’s Flood Zone…
Since this Friar has needed to modify exercises of late to allow the Lord to heal the old elbow tendons, those modifications have involved a lot of leg work. Lot of Jumps, to be precise. Since jumps dominate the plans, Van Halen dominates the theme.
So here we go.
THE THANG:
Extra Credit
TOP JIMMY:
Chillcut donkey kicks at the Top x7 – decreasing each trip down to 1
MAIN EVENT:
WARMUP: Eruption + 10 burpees oyo
RUNNING WITH THE DEVIL (Backwards & Wrong)
Reverse Run up Ramps – Reverpees x10 each corner to the top
DIAMOND DAVE JUMP SET:
Set 1: Broad Jumps x20 / Starjumps x20 > Across top deck
Set 2: Single-leg hops x20 / Squats x20 > Across the deck
MEAN STREET:
- Begin at top of the deck
- Run the steps to the bottom, cross to other stairs
- Flutters x20
- Run to top of stairs, cross to other stairs
- Aquamans x20
> REPEATO x5
MARY (Jamie’s Crying)
Freddie Mercs / American Hammers / High Plank 30 seconds/ 10 burpees oyo
MOLESKINE:
- Two for EC. Big thanks to Fazio.
- Countrywide claims the “I don’t FEEL tardy!” Award.
- Crabtree Starbucks may have an opening soon.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
The Arena – Fridays. Be there.
PRAYERS:
- For family members dealing with cancer.
- Gratitude for healing.
- Gratitude for the power of the resurrection, that gives us strength for each day.
Good to start the day with you men. Tuck, out.
