Stone’s Relocation Files: Part Two – Back on January 2nd and February 8th, I wrote about how my family and I are relocating to Ohio. Leaving the Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania and embarking on an entire changeover to Ohio is no easy task! Therefore, there may be some interruption with my covering the Metal news, album reviews, interviews and random Metal blabbing that you’ve become accustomed to on Metal Odyssey.
* I have scheduled some kick-ass posts that will run through the third week of February (just in case there’s a bottleneck in getting the internet into our new home).
As you read this, my family and I are now official residents of Ohio! Whoa! We are now residents of the Buckeye State!
Have no fear, Metal Odyssey is not going anywhere and I shall get back in the Metal groove, once my family and I are settled into our new home and surroundings in Ohio. In the Metal meantime, I’m crossing my Metal fingers that internet access will be delivered to our new home in a reasonable time frame!
Here’s A BIG METAL THANK YOU to every visitor for your supporting Metal Odyssey!
______________________________________
By now you are probably wondering: why did Stone put the album cover of EUROPE – The Final Countdown at the top of his Relocation Files post? The answer is simple. Ever since this whole relocation gig began to heat up, the title track from this EUROPE album popped into my Metal brain! I just couldn’t shake this (very popular) song from my sub-conscious! Therefore, as each day passed and our relocation to Ohio became more of a reality, it all became a final countdown feeling to this entire life changing journey.
I never would have predicted that this (very huge 80′s hit) from EUROPE would become a theme song for me, as it represents such an important chapter in my Metal life. Metal be thy name.
______________________________________
DID YOU KNOW: EUROPE will be playing a very special gig at this year’s Sweden Rock Festival, on June 7th; celebrating their 30th Anniversary as a world-wide successful Hard Rockin’ band! Whoa!
___________________________________________________________________
Back on January 2nd, I wrote about the relocation that would be taking place in the live’s of my family and I. You can read all about it by clicking that handsome link below! Whoa!
Relocation Is On The Horizon For Stone… What’s Next For Metal Odyssey?
___________________________________________________________
* EUROPE – The Final Countdown was released back in the Spring of 1986, via Epic Records.
* For more info on EUROPE, click on the links below!
facebook: Europe
LONG LIVE ROCK ‘N’ ROLL.
LONG LIVE OHIO.
LONG LIVE EUROPE.
LONG LIVE METAL.
Stone.
Before I, my wife and daughters began our journey to Bird-In-Hand, I just figured my only connection to Heavy Music was going to be from the ipod I packed. Uh, nope. Right on Old Philadelphia Pike, Route 340, is a row of vintage built shops and barns… everything from a Hardware Store to a Teddy Bear Store is in view. Yes, I mentioned a Teddy Bear Store on Metal Odyssey. One of these shops contains a cluster of antique dealers, where all the dealers are not present… yet their goods are. Walking in, I perused the unusual and typical, the mundane and interesting of all things antique. My wife and daughters set off on their own path, navigating this rather large antique mecca of a barn. After twenty minutes of scouring the old artifacts that surrounded me, I heard my wife in an excited voice tell me to walk over in her direction. There, it was there, that she motioned with her hands… three large rooms filled with Rock, Hard Rock and Heavy Metal albums, CD’s and memorabilia. The Amish Country Rocks. 
To say I was Metal ecstatic would be an understatement. How can this be? How could there be such a bounty of Heavy Music and Rock memorabilia smack dab in the middle of Bird-In- Hand, Pennsylvania? There are some questions in life, that are better left unanswered… this is one of them. Who cares why there are cool dealers within this antique shop, nestled in the middle of Amish Country, selling their Heavy Music memories… all that matters is it exists! Hooray for this Metalhead. The dealers who had used albums and CD’s for sale have great Heavy Music taste. I immediately grabbed hold of the Kiss - Gene Simmons solo CD, it was my wife’s choice pick to boot. I will admit, it was a no brainer picking up this used CD, the entire package is in mint condition. I also picked up, without hesitation, the ZZ Top used CD, “Antenna”. (My wife and I saw ZZ Top on this tour, back in the ’90′s). There were also a few CD’s still originally sealed for sale as well, running at six bucks each. The lone unused CD I bought was Cheap Trick – “Heaven Tonight”, (released in 1978). I never owned this Cheap Trick album, therefore it was about time. Some Kiss trading cards, a couple of Beatles magnets and a used, mint copy of GTR – self titled album, rounded out my finds. 
I could not have been more satisfied, of having found such an assortment of Heavy Music memorabilia to look over. Especially gratifying is the fact, I never expected to uncover the music that means so much to my life on this trip, in the quaint and friendly village of Bird-In-Hand, no less. As I exited this antique shop, with my bag of Hard Rockin’ goodies in hand, I vividly recall having to walk very closely past… an Amish man tending to his horse and buggy. My way of life, is not this Amish gentleman’s way of life. This whole experience walking out of the antique shop felt rather awkward, maybe semi embarrassing. Here I am, all psyched out about my finds, walking towards the family car, with a Kiss – Gene Simmons CD clearly visible through the plastic bag that I am clutching onto, as this polite Amish man tends to his horse. Talk about a tale of two separate worlds crossing paths. 
