yada yad yada...

I'm back into the thick of things with school. It is already shaping into one insanely hectic semester so I'll probably be a bit of a hermit for the next three months or so. I'm enjoying all my classes so far but it is going to be a lot of work... TONS of reading as well as writing so I have my work cut out for me. I guess I'll be living on coffee and Red Bull for a little while.

I picked up two DVDs this Tuesday by my two favourite bands and these DVDs really show how truly different these two bands are. R.E.M. just put out a collection of music videos and live performances from their pre-major label I.R.S. years (1982-1987) before they fully broke into the mainstream. During this time, R.E.M. hardly appeared in their videos at all and when they performed on TV they had a very understated, mysterious, nerdy and slightly awkward aura to them. Even when they finally fluked out and sold a ton of records after releasing Out of Time, R.EM. still had that aura of being that Little Band That Could. U2 on the other hand, always seemed ready to take on the world and always seemed ready for world domination. U2 finally released their 1993 Zoo TV concert film on DVD. This concert really shows U2 at arguably their best... a full-blown, sensory-overflow extravaganza. Both DVDs also give an indication of why R.E.M. and U2 are in different stratospheres in terms of commercial success nowadays. R.E.M. are happy putting out whatever music they feel like, even if it is understated, mellow tunes that lack any break-out hit singles. U2 still goes for the jugular attempts to conquer the world with instantly memorable singles like "Beautiful Day" and "Vertigo."

QCM

On Sunday I ran in the Queen City Marathon. This year I decided to "only" do the half-marathon since I didn't feel like being a cripple for 3 months afterwards, which seemed to be the routine the last few years. There's a tendon on the outside of my left knee that keeps getting aggravated every year at the marathon so I decided that this year I would run the half and focus more on weight training and strengthing my leg muscles. I'm also going to go to a sports doctor to get it properly checked out and rehabilitated if need be. As for the actual run, I finished the 21.1 km in 1 hr and 39 minutes, which place me 69th out of 1142 runners so I was pretty happy. And I can even walk fairly normally today! ll want to qualify for the boston Marathon someday but I don't want to fuck up my knee or ligament so bad that I won't be able to run again. I honestly don't know what I would do if I weren't able to run again. There are very few things I absolutely love in life... music, books, and running. I would snap if I lost any one of those.

Back to school

School is back in session and yesterday I had my first class of my final semester. I'm pretty excited to hit the books again. I'm taking a creative writing class which will keep me ultra-busy. I've never taken a creative writing class before so it may be a bit of a challenge but it will be cool to share my stuff with the rest of class and see what others bring to the table. Unfortunately, I have to revisit a book I hoped I'd seen the last of. A few years ago I took a course on the gothic novel, where we studied Charles Dickens' Bleak House. While Dickens undeniably has some classics, Bleak House is the slowest moving book I have ever read. I would rather watch paint dry than have to drudge through this book again. This is a book that takes 30 pages to describe fog in London, but only takes one sentence to mention that a character spontaneously combusts(???), never to refer to this incident again!!!!! But aside from this book, I am pretty hyped to get back into a routine again. I enjoyed this summer, but I had far too much time off aside from hosting karaoke one night a week and doing the odd odd job here and there.

Pt. 3...

Labour Day Weekend, Pt. 2

Labour Day Weekend Pt. 1

Labour Day Weekend pretty much is the death knell for summer, but I had a lot of fun kissing the summer good-bye. My cousins Sarah and Tino, my parents, April and Autumn, Mark, Corey, Nadine, Zubazz, and the guys from B!LF all helped to make Sunday a great night. B!LF closed off a three band set that also included Men Without Shame (or is it Men Without Jason Gervais????). Anyways, here are some pics of the unofficial last night of summer.

The Pump Hip-Hop House?

Last night I hosted karaoke at The Pump. Normally Saturdays aren't too horribly busy but with all the people in from Winnipeg for the Labour Day Classic it was pretty nuts. My cousin Sarah and a couple of her friends were in from Winnipeg so them, my parents and April came out to see me in action. Since I was working I never had a chance to socialize with them a whole lot, but I did manage to almost get into a fight. This one guy kept pestering me to get his buddy up to do some freestyle open mic hip-hop/rapping. I'm not a huge rap fan obviously but I thought if this guy was even half-assed decent it might be quasi-entertaining. Plus I didn't have a whole lot of songs up so I took a chance and let the guy have the mic He got up and he started mumbling some drunken gibberish and then started his "act." The Pump isn't exactly the proper venue for a hip-hop open mic night and I saw that the crowd were not overly impressed to say the least so I cut the guy off and told him that I had to get on with the show. Well that just pissed him off and his handful of friends started flipping out and were acting like the biggest injustice ever just occurred. They were calling me every name in the book and "threatened" that last night would be the last night I ever worked at The Pump again. So I told them to go ahead and plead their case to the owners and managers and see what they would do about it. I wasn't too worried because I doubt that The Poverty Plainsmen would want a "rapper" to open up for them or play at The Pump. Finally a member of J-Roc's posse came up onstage and started telling me that he was "this" close to punching me for disrespecting his friend. At that point I called for the bouncers to come down and kindly escort them upstairs, which they did. Good times, good times.

Pt. 6...

After looking at all these pics I've come to the conclusion that my friends and I should all seek some professional help. Oh well. When in Rome...

Pt. 5...

Pt. 4...

Pt. 3... more shenanigans

Some of these pics really don't need further explanation. But I will anyways cuz that's just how I am. In this set, April is doing her best vampire impersonation on Shades while Mr. Ruda is in udder disbelief of my impersonation of a preacher getting a blow job.

Pt 2.

The classic pic in this set is the one where April and Shades are grabbing each other's bags of sand. Kevy gives it the two thumbs up.

Picture time Pt. 1... Tongue Action

Here are a few of the pics from last Tues when Tina and Gianni were down. There were a ton of pics I had to sort through so I'll try to limit them to the most entertaining ones. In this set I'll include the ones that showcased everyone's willingness to lick each other's tongues. Yes, it was an interesting night.

"We made out like the plane was going down"

It's been a hectic week so I haven't had a chance to update, so here it goes. April and I have been busy moving into the new apartment, but we're almost settled now. Even though we still have a lot of work to do, it already feels like home. I love the set up. It has a total '70s feel to it, complete with a wooden finished wall that wouldn't be out of place on a 70's porn.... not that I'd know.

Last week Tina and Gianni were in town for a couple days so the whole gang went out to McNally's for a rowdy night of karaoke. I got some pics from Tina and Shades which I'll post some time in the near future. Everyone was in a bizarre mood so it made for some errr... interesting pics.

I don't think I've mentioned anything on this blog about this, but I am addicted to Rockstar: Supernova. I never really watched the INXS season, but I am utterly and completely hooked to this show. I read an article about the show it it stated that the show was made for people like myself that don't really watch TV. This is the first show in years that I feel compelled to watch every night it's on. For those that care, Lukas HAS to win it. He has tons of charisma and swagger for a frontman. Dilana is entertaining, but Lukas just fits better with the band. With Butch Walker producing and helping with the songwriting process the album might even be half decent.

You're probably wondering where I got the title for this entry from. Well last Friday, Scarth Street was closed down for a charity event that featured live bands and stand-up comedy and bar service at O'Hanlon's courtesy of the cast of Corner Gas. Well my one buddy Mark and I decided to eat at Michi, which is a kickass sushi restaurant beside O'Hanlon's. After a bottle of sake, we were both feeling pretty corked and he preceded to make out with my other friend Mark's ex-girlfriend. I guess they put on quite the public spectacle. I just talked to him today and he said that they were "making out like the plane was going down." Classic. I wish I would've thought of that. Dammit.

On a related note. I've only had sake about three times before last Friday. I don't know what it is about sake, but it seriously knocked me on my ass. Apparently it doesn't hit you as bad when it's not heated. After Mark and I finished a bottle, we were both flying. And for such a small bottle it seemed like it was bottomless. I walked out of the restaurant and felt really hyper and extremely alert, but drunker than a skunk at the same time. And of course I bumped into my parents shortly thereafter. Perfect timing.

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Well, it's been a while since I last posted so here's an extremely quick recap of my life in the last couple weeks with a couple witty observations...

Mark and I went to the Regina Folk Festival this past weekend. Ani Difranco put on a killer show while Steve Earle played an amazing stripped down set that included "Rich Man's War," "I Ain't Ever Satisfied," and of course "Copperhead Road." I think that there's a rule that he has to play that last song in fear of him getting pelted and lynched onstage. However, the highlight of the weekend was Feist's perfromance. We saw her Sunday afternoon during the workshop and later that night when she closed out the festival. One word. Wow. I think Feist is coming dangerously close to vaulting past Liz Phair and Shirley Manson on my celebrity crush list. She is definitely one feisty chick. Get it? "Feist"-y?.... Well then...

Other than that, April and I have possession of the new apartment so we are gradually moving all the small tedious stuff into the place before we move the furniture this Saturday. Can't wait. It can't come soon enough.

Another good friend of mine, Mr. Jai Mo from Superjuice, is leaving town for a year so he will be heavily missed. Definitely one of the most laid back and genuinely nicest people I've had the pleasure of knowing. While on the topic, I highly recommend tracking down a copy of Superjuice's debut album Apetite For Dysfunction. My two fave songs are "Trust Me" and "Devil's Disco 999." I just added these songs to my mp3 player for when I go running and they sounded great sandwiched between songs by Buckcherry and Pearl Jam. Great job guys.

Reason #942 Why I Try To Avoid Shopping At Walmart... Besides being union-busting assholes and being soley responsible for the downward slide of retail working conditions in the world, Walmart sell "Satiny Soft" toilet paper. I bought a 24 roll package of the stuff and they are definitely truthful in their advertising. That is if by "satiny soft" they mean "more ragged than coarse sandpaper laced with razor blades."

No description necessary

A few months ago April and I went wandering around downtown and I found this classic t-shirt that I just HAD to buy April. Unfortunately, it wasn't the highest quality and the letters started to fall off. But here it is, unedited. Yes, I would be said fuckface.

Random Thoughts from The Ex

Walking around the Exhibition grounds the last couple days I 've noticed a few things.

1. There are lots of fat/ugly people in Regina. Yikes. They don't only come out at night. (But when they do it's usually to JD's).

2. Young "tweenage" girls dress skankier and skankier than ever. A 13 year old girl should not wear a string bikini to the Ex.

3. A 10 year old boy should not have a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

4. (*politically incorrect ALERT!!!!!*) It's really hard to tell if young native girls are pregnant or if they just have a gunt.

Spirit of the West

Last night at the Exhibition I saw Spirit of the West for the fifth or sixth time. Even though I don't listen to them as often as I used to I always make it a point to see them live whenever I can. They have been together over 20 years and they still put on a helluva show and they can still produce brilliant albums. I credit SOTW and R.E.M. with opening the gates to me discovering great music. I still remember that random day when I was in Grade 9 and I was listening to absolute crap music like MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice so I took it upon myself to go the music store and buy R.E.M.'s Out of Time and Spirit of the West's Go Figure. I listened to those albums non-stop and I've made it a point to buy each new CD these bands have put out ever since. Of course it was cool to hear the obvious classics like "Home For a Rest," "Save This House," "Political," and "And If Venice is Sinking," but it was nice to hear four new songs from their stellar 2004 album Star Trails. "King of Scotland" and "The Wedding Speech" sounded great amongst the rest of their better known tunes. Great show, great band.

I think I'm now officially a frickin' gypsy

April and I found a cozy downtown apartment a couple blocks away from Wascana Park today so we get possession of it Aug. 15. So I am moving yet again. I hate the process of moving but it seems I'm moving every year. I'm really excited to move into our place and have a home all to ourselves. We've lived together for the last year but it's hard when there are three other people hsaring the same place. Even when we're "home" it doesn't feel like we're home. Living in our current townhouse often feels like a college dorm room or soemthing. In my early and mid-twenties I wouldn't have minded our living situation so much but I've really felt cramped in this place. I like my own space so I can't wait to get the new apartment all set up. I can't wait to be able to come home and cook up a meal with April without having to worry about the kitchen being cluttered from 5 people trying to coexist. So even though summer is almost over, I'm really excited for the next couple months. April and I will be in a new place, I'll be back at it for one final semester of grad school, I'll be hosting at The Pump a bit more, I'll probably be doing some more movie extra work, Spirit of the West are coming to the Ex, and the Folk Fest is coming right up. Life is good.

I ain't no extra, I'm a leading man

Okay, I ain't no leading man, but I was an extra in a made for TV film called Intimite Strangers a couple days ago. Judging by the title I'm expecting it to be one of those late night movies they show on Bravo or what Mark refers to as "Christian porn.". During my day of shooting, we shot a few scenes at O'Hanlon's where I was amongst a crowd of people having some post-work sociables and dancing up a storm to a band from Saskatoon miming and lip-synching. It was so incredibly hot and humid that those of us who got stuck dancing ended up sweating profusely. We later shot a coffee shop scene so I got to perfect my talent of pretending to hold a conversation with someone by miming words. Our holding area was at the old Apocalypse Records and judging by the basement, the name was very appropriate. The bathrooms were held in the dungeon-like basement so it was an adventure to say the least whenever nature called. The basement could pass for the set of Saw 3. This was the third time I've been an extra so I guess I'm getting to be a bit of a pro at it.