Jon sure knows how to sweep women off their feet! 

Here's Gianni with Danny Greaves from the Watchmen.... or is it that JC guy? 

Here's Tina with Jay from B!LF 

Here's Tina in action with B!LF. 

Here's a pic of me and the Princess. I actually have some hair now!  

This is great pic of April with Brandy and Trevor. For the last 4 months at my place it has pretty much been the 4 of us living together. In a week's time Brandy and Trevor will be moving in together and April and I will be moving in together by the end of Sept. Brandy and Trevor are so awesome together. I can totally see them getting married in the near future. Brandy is such a good friend of mine and Trevor treats her amazingly.  

Here's a nice pic of Tina and Gianni. That is a SWEET hat she's wearing. I wonder where she got that... hmmm. 

Here's some more pics from Tina's last week in Regina. Last night a bunch of us went to McNally's for yet another B!LF show. Here's a pic of Tina with Chris, Jon and Kev from the band. Tina did a kickass job of "I Touch Myself" and the guys were kind enough to get me up to sing "Blister in the Sun" again. They finally have an R.E.M. song in their set ("What's the Frequency Kenneth?") so Chris said I should now be called JJ REMone. 

Blah!!!!!!!!! Here's April and Matty horsing around. 

Here's April with her good friend Troy. Dyn-o-mite!!!! 

April will probably kill me for putting this up here, but what the hell. She was another victim of the dreaded sharpie. I love you honey! 

This is me and The Dude belting out a tune in a drunken stupor.  

I have a tendency to have people write on my chest with sharpie markers. I'm still trying to get some of the ink off. One day I'll learn...one day... 

This is a classic pic of Gianni slapping April's ass.  

Here's Mark and Jeanine. Mark's mojo was in full effect on Saturday. Good job Mark! 

Here's Tina with some of her old-school friends. 

Hey Zubazz...Get your hands off my woman!!!!!! bruahahahahaha

Mr. Rude Dude and "The Girl" 

Yet another pic of me and April...  

Here's another pic of Tina and Shelene, without the Fembot get-ups. 

Here's a nice pic of April and Shades. 

That is a NICE fro! 

So it's finally happening. On Sunday, one of my closest friends on the planet is leaving for Calgary. Tina and I have gone through a lot in the last couple years and I'm going to miss her lots. I was kind of bracing myself for this, but now that it's right around the corner I am not taking it very well. I know that it's not good-bye forever, but it is still hard to say goodbye to people I love and care for. So this past week or so we have had a big "Farewell Tina" week. Tina's Farewll Tour, so to speak. So without further ado, here are some pics from Tina's "official" farewell bash at Zubazz's this past Sunday. I'll post some more pics from other nights this week. This night was a bit bittersweet, but it definitely was a great time. 

The end must be near

Today I was flipping through the channels and I started watching Muchmusic. I saw the new Backstreet Boys video... and I actually thought it was very cool. This surely must be a sign of the apocolypse because I have always garnered an intense hatred for the whole boy band craze. But this new video actually shows that the Backstreet Boys have a sense of humour and don't have to create an expensive video full of cheesy choreographed dance moves and bad interpretive hand gestures such as the "finger wave" and the "air grasp." In this video, the "band" are dressed up as a bunch of Fubar/heavy metal knuckleheads. It is totally reminiscint of Heavy Metal Parking Lot. I have no idea what the song title is, and I honestly couldn't hum the song to save my life, but I was very impressed by the ultra-low budget video. The video is probably a last chance grab at some sort of credibility, but I have to give the guys credit for pulling it off. I will definitely file this under my "guilty pleasures" list. I never thought the day would come when I would actually say I enjoyed watching a Backstreet Boys video. Hopefully it's just a one-shot deal. If I say I like another video of theirs please shoot me!

Here's a pic of me and JC. For the last decade or so, Mark and JC have been my closest friends. Even though the three of us don't hang out as often anymore and even though our interests have changed over the years, I would still do anything for JC or Mark if they were ever in a bind and I know they would do the same for me. Although ten years ago I never thought I'd be friends with the tag team champions of Regina (inside joke).  

For some reason, it has been really hard to get a good picture of April and I. It always seems that one of us (usually myself) has a stupid look on our face. Last night at McNally's we finally got a nice picture, so here it is. I hate to keep gushing about her, but I keep falling more and more in love with her every day. She is the sweetest, nicest and most sincere girl I have ever met. It seems like everything in my life is coming together right now. I can actually see myself finishing my Masters in less than a year, my different circles of friends are starting to mesh a lot better, and I have finally met a girl where I can envision a fantastic future with. I can't wait for me and April to teach overseas for a year or two and then come back and start a solid life together. On October 1 we are going to be officially living together and I can't wait! Life is going about as good as I could ever possibly imagine it could for me right now and April is a HUGE part of it.  

Jack FM

So Rock 94.5 is now called "Jack." Regina has another new radio station. My normal reaction when I heard this was "Whoopty frickin' doo." Regina has to have the worst radio stations on the planet. However, I decided to give this Jack station a try today on my way to work and doing a couple of errands. I was actually pleasantly surpised. This station actually has VARIETY. When I first turned it on I heard "Mercedes Benz" by Janis Joplin followed by "The Rest of My Life" by Sloan followed by some 80's pop song that I've heard before but can't hink of the song title or artist. For any Regina radio station to play a Sloan song is remarkable since they seem too poppy for a "rock" station, yet too "rock" for a pop station. I like a wide variety of music. On my computer I can hae a random track listing of Neil Diamond followed by Tegan and Sara follwed by The Sex Pistols follwed by Johnny Cash followed by Outcast followed by Le Tigre followed by Barenaked Ladies etc. A good song is a good song regardless of the genre, but Regina radio seems unaware of this. Radio in general is so rigidly formatted that lots of great music gets ignore simply because it doesn't fit a set format. A band like Blue Rodeo isn't totally country, but they're not strictly rock or folk either. Radiohead defies all genres so it is hard to hear their stuff on Regina radio. Hopefully Jack is the answer Regina needs to kick commercial radio in its collective ass.

Sarah Harmer

This past Saturday, I went to the Regina Folk Festival for the first time. The main reason I wanted to go was to see Sarah Harmer and Sarah Slean. I caught the last half of Sarh Slean's set and was uber-impressed. It was just her and a keyboard or acoustic guitar and her stunning voice. But the highlight of the day was definitely Sarah Harmer. I've been a fan of her for a few years now, dating back to when she was still in Weeping Tile. She is such an incredible songwriter and she has such a smooth, laid back and breezy voice. Tina and I were right near the front of the stage and we were transfixed on Sarah throughout the whole show. She had the whole crowd captivated. One of the highlights was when she played "In the Road" from her Weeping Tile days. It is an incredible song and it brought Tina to tears. Tina is a hardcore fan of Sarah's, so for her it would be what it was like for me to see R.E.M. sixth row in Winnipeg last year. But the highlight for me was definitely her last song, "Lodestar" from her first solo album. That song is my favorite song of hers and to hear her play it live was out of this world. I love live music, and nothing really beats that feeling when you witness a stunning live performance by an artist you really love. For those few moments, you totally connect with the artist and the entire crowd. Time just stands still, you just completely zone out and everything seems right in the world. It's what Jack Kerouac calls IT in On the Road. I've always been meaning to check out the folk festival in past years but I always procrastinate and end up missing the shows. But after going this year, I'll definitely have to go every year now. In past years, I've missed some extremely talented musicians, some of which I'll probably never have a chance of seeing again... Vic Chesnutt, Victoria Williams, The New Pornographers, Tegan and Sara, etc. Victoria Park is a perfect, intimate setting for an outdoor music festival. I totally can't wait to go again in future years.