Definition of Man

I briefly mentioned the whole Moose Jaw parking lot incident in an earlier post, but I will go into further detail since I am currently procrastinating for a few minutes from what I should be concentrating on right now (my thesis). After B!LF's show at the Royal in Moose Jaw last Friday, Tina and I went outside to the parking lot to grab my bag from April's car. As we were walking, this guy comes up to me and calls me a faggot. So I told him to go ask my girlfriend how much of a "faggot" I was. I continued to start walking, but then he said something to the effect that with how I was dressed I was obviously a "faggot." I had a lime green shirt with the caption "DO NOT COMMIT," plus I had a candy necklace around my neck. Appraently those things automatically makes a guy gay. Tina started getting in the guy's face and I opened April's car door to get my bag. Suddenly I got shoved from behind into April's car door and subsequently the pavement. I looked up and saw this guy along with two of his friends. I thought I was going to get the living shit kicked out of me. Gianni then showed up on the scene and we somehow managed to calm the situation down a bit and avoided a huge fight, but the whole proceedings left me really pissed off. It really reminded me why I'm embarrassed to live in Saskatchewan sometimes. Having been to Toronto and Vancouver, I hae really noticed how closeminded people are in Regina and moreso in Moose Jaw. People here are truly afraid of THE OTHER. There are so many blatant racists and homophobes in these parts. Going to Toronto really opened my eyes because suddenly I was no longer in the majority. In Toronto, if you are a white heterosexual male you become a visible minority. Toronto is a cultural mosaic, rich in diversity. People do not instantly judge others with how they dress or look because they are constantly bombarded with people of all races and sexes and sexual orientation. But here in Regina, this is certainly not the case. Saskatchewan is the butt of many jokes across Canada and for good reason. I have never felt like I've fit in with most of the guys in Regina. For me to fit in I feel I would have to listen to AC/DC, constantly talk about cars and stereos, and love football. I would have to wear a white t-shirt, maybe a wife beater, and always wear blue jeans and a ball cap. In other words, I would be just another faceless anonymous guy on the streets. Indistinguishable. Just another sheep. I have always made it a point to dress a little differently and have fun with my hair by having different hairstyles and different coloring. I dress how I feel comfortable and I guess I don't feel comfortable being "normal." I definitely do not have a normal sense of humour and my politics are very left wing and I am generally a very liberal person. Most of my friends are definitely not your average run-of-the-mill people. April, Mark, Tina, Zubazz, Mr. Real, JC, Kev, Stace, Jenn, my cuz Dave, etc are definitely not "normal" Saskatchewan people. And that is why they are my best friends in the world. There are actually some people in Regina that "get it" and try to look beyond what is "normal."

Here's a pic of Mark and April. The other pic I have of Mark isn't exactly the most flattering one of him, so I thought I should put a normal pic of him. Right from the start of me and April dating, Mark and April have really gotten really well. It's great when your friends like the person you are dating. I've had friends date girls where there is an obvious tension between the girl and the friends so it's a big relief when everyone gets along famously. 

Here's Mickey Williams from The Wolf, along with Stacey and Kevin (aka "Kevy Hotpants). Stacey and Kev have gotten to be great friends of mine over the last couple of years through karaoke every Tuesday at McNally's and Liquid Courage nights on Mondays (RIP). Kev has one of the best senses of humour I've ever seen. When I used to have longer blondeish hair, Stace said that Kev could pass for my older brother. 

This is a pic of me with my kickass roommate Brandy and her boyfriend Trevor. Brandy is one of my oldest and best friends in the world. A few years ago she went travelling all around the world for a couple of years or so. We never saw eachother for approximately three years, but when we did finally hang out again it was like nothing changed. That's the tell-tale sign of a true friend is if you still click after a long time apart. Brandy rocks! 

Here's a pic of me and Tina that is reminiscent of our classic handshake. Well, that's it, that's all for the MJ pics.  

Here's Zubazz with his best friend on the planet, the legendary Mr. Bastard (a.k.a. Mike Patten). 

Here's April and Zubazz. Zubazz did his Mr. Condom Head trick before this shot, hence the skinned nose. 

Here's the MONEY SHOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Here's those wacky B!LF guys in action. 

Another classic pic of me, Tina and Zubazz. 

More "Crazy Train" action 

When Zubazz drinks beer he doesn't fuck around!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

This is probably the last time that the Princess Zubazz Ramone Revue will be at a B!LF show. awww... tear...tear... 

More silliness in MJ. 

This is the Princess Tina and April engaging in some hot female action. My two fave girls on the planet! 

ALLLLLL ABOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRDDDDDD!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! This is Mr. Zubazz in action, going off the rails on some sort of crazy train. 

Hey... is this that JJ Ramone guy? He MUST be a faggot if he wears that silly hat and sings with B!LF on occasion! 

Here's Kent singing "I Think We're Alone Now" in MJ. And oh yeah Kent... U2 are still WAY better than Queen. 

Here's the first in a string of pictures from the Royal in Moose Jaw this past Friday, where B!LF were playing. The night was tons of fun except at the end when some redneck Moose Jaw fuckface called me a fagot in the parking lot and decided to be a big macho man and shove me from behind, almost knocking April's car door off. 

The funnest times happen when you never plan for them to happen

Last night was one of the coolest and most fun nights I've had in recent memory. Cherry Bomb were playing at Bart's, but in a scheduling conflict Stacey (the singer) had to work until midnight so Kevin and Brad and Neil had to scramble to fill up the first part of their set list. So Tanya, Zubazz and myself filled in with some guitar help from Robin from Solution and Liquid Courage. I got to sing "BBC" and "Blister in the Sun", Zubazz kicked ass with "Crazy Train" and "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" and Tanya belted out a few tunes. It was tons of fun to have a quasi-Liquid Courage reunion with Kev, Robin, Zubazz and myself. Then the cool stuff started to happen. Stacey was still not there yet so two guys from Prism (!!!!!) played a couple of songs with Kev on drums. Then Stacy finally showed up and sang a few tunes. Then Dan Silljer showed up and played an amazing set with one of the Prism guys on bass. It was an unbelievable night that you could never ever plan again. Me and Zubazz were just looking at each other at the end of the night in awe. The Prism guys even went up to Zubazz and gave him major props for his performance. Too cool. And to top it all off, I got to see April and hear all about her three crazy days in Craven. Definitely a night I will never forget. I got to share a stage with Dan Silljer and the guys from Prism. Wow.

Just because we serve you doesn't mean we like you

I've worked in the retail industry as a cashier at a grocery store for nine years now and it still astonishes me how so many customers can be so mean and rude to retail workers. It seems the retail worker is the easy target for people to vent all of their frustrations to. What people don't realize is that retail workers are actually HUMAN BEINGS with real feelings. Contrary to popular belief, cashiers do not dictate the price of an item that they scan. Lots of people seem to think that people in the retail or service industries are lowly servants who should merely shut up and do what they are told and to do it with a smile, regardless of how rude the customer is. Well, I'm sorry but the customer is not always right. I've put up with a lot of hostile customers over the years and I've gotten to the point now that if a customer is rude with me right off the bat then I'll return the favor. If a customer doesn't treat me with respect as a fellow human being then I will return the favor in kind. I recently had a customer rip my head off for sneezing a few times... Yes SNEEZING. I caught a whiff of dust or perfume or something and my allergies kicked in and I sneezed a few times. This customer then started berating me for being "gross," "unsanitary," and "sick." I looked at her in disbelief and the customer I was serving at the time looked at her and said "What's he supposed to do about it? He can't control when he's supposed to sneeze!" When it was my time to serve this customer she kept ranting and raving about how unsanitary it is for me to sneeze in a public place and then she asked me very rudely if I had any sanitary hand cleaner at my till to wash my hands. I told her I did, so I proceeded to spray some on my hands, rub my hands together right in front of her face and asked her "Are you happy now?" Then she told me I was rude and asked if there was a manager around. I told her that I am a very pleasant person unless someone is rude with me first. Then I told her to go right ahead and talk to the manager. Well, she talked to my manager and my manager basically chuckled about the whole thing because this customer obviously had some major issues. This is just a minor example, but over the years I could compile a whole book worth of incidents of customers treating me and my fellow employees like shit. My mom works at another grocery store and she's had a frozen turkey thrown at her and someone has threatened to stick a 12 pack of Coke up her ass! I always give every customer a clean slate when I serve them. I always try to be cheerful and respectful and try to joke around, but if a customer is pissy and rude and mean right off the bat without any apparent reason, then I have no patience anymore. They think that just because I'm behind a till that I can't respond and that I'm open season to be verbally abused. Well, I don't play that game anymore.

Canada 2005... B!LF @ Baldy's

This is Sean. I met him a couple years ago when I went houseboating in Shuswap Lake in B.C. Sean definitely knows how to have a good time and is one of the most laid back people I know. Nothing ever seems to really rattle him. He's moving to Kelowna pretty soon that's going to be another friend of mine who's off to bigger and better things. Lots of people think he looks like Huey Lewis... You be the judge.

This is Mr. Christofur Real of B!LF and Superjuice. I initially met him through RBS at a meet and greet and he was nice enough to let me onstage with B!LF to sing a tune. Over the course of time he's become a good friend of mine. With Chris there is NEVER a dull moment. As he says, some people play rock n' roll, some people ARE rock n' roll. He is hands down the most charismatic frontman in Regina. Other Regina bands may play their songs more technically perfect, but no other local cover band puts on a better SHOW than B!LF. It is crazy how similar our musical tastes are. Plus anyone who can appreciate R.E.M. as much as I do is alright in my books! He is definitely passionate about his music and puts that as his priority before anything else... he definitely puts his heart and soul into writing and performing.

This is Zubazz, the man, the myth, the legend. Zubazz is simply the most original person I have ever met. On the surface he looks like someone you should definitely not fuck with, but he is really a big teddy bear. I feel really lucky to have him as a close friend. The past couple years have been the best in my life, and him and Tina are huge parts of that. He is such a loyal friend and is hands down the karaoke king of Regina. Zubazz is someone who will do anything for his friends and will go out of his way to turn a frown upside down. I still love his priceless"condom on the head" trick. One thing about Zubazz that will always stick in my mind is that last year, he was that he showed up to cheer me on at the Queen City Marathon. Being someplace where you don't have to be at 8am on a Sunday is very impressive but there he was cheering me on as I crossed the finish line. ZUbazz definitely RAWKS....TONIIIGGGGGGGGHHHTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is Tina. The "Princess" is one of my closest and best friends. For the last couple years I have spent most of my social tome with Tina and Zubazz. Tina is one person that I feel I can tell anything to, knowing that she'll give me some sound advice. We have had far too many good times to mention here but I've included many of those stories in some of my earlier posts. Tina has such a zany sense of humour and is definetly not a typical girly-girl. Plus she can outburp me any day of the week! She will soon be moving to Calgary with her boyfriend Gianni for an excellent job opportunity while I am extremely happy for her to get this great opportunity, I will her miss her so much. I'm a big sap so I'll probably be a blubbering mess the day she goes, but I know that in Tina I've made a lifelong friend that I know will always be aprt of my life in some way. I guess I'll just have to make some road trips to Calgary now. 

This is my oldest and best friend Mark. For some reason this is the only picture I have of him on my computer. Mark and I have known each other since kindergarden but never actually got to be good friends until the end of Grade 12. Since then, Mark, JC and I have had over a decade of crazy adventures. Mark has always had a sarcastic sense of humour and he sometimes rubs people the wrong way, but I've always respected the fact that he has always just been himself. Mark has always been Mark and he has never given two shits about impressing other people. With Mark, what you see is what you get. We've been through a lot in the last decade or so and I know at the end of the day he will always be there for me and vice versa. Even as we've grown older and our interests have changed I will always consider him my best friend.