Well, I haven't added anything new recently so i thought I'd do a few write-ups on some of my favorite people on the planet. To start things off, I will write some thoughts on my kickass girlfriend April. I love April to death. She is such an amazing girl and I feel so incredibly lucky to date someone who is so caring, fun, sociable, and has a fucked up sense of humour like myself. We've only been "officially" dating for almost two months but it feels like I've known her all my life. I love how I can just be myself without trying to put on an act or tone myself down just to please her. I love how she gets along with all my friends and that if we go out somewhere I don't have to worry about being attached to her hip all night. We both love our freedom but know that at the end of the night the other will be there. I've been thinking about doing the overseas teaching thing for the last few years and she knows I want to leave to either Vietnam/Thailand/Japan etc for a year or two when I'm done my MA, and yesterday she suprised me by going to a TESOL seminar to check out what it's all about. I was totally stunned, but in a good way. I can honestly say that I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life and April definitely plays a big part in that. My friends are probably sick of me talking about her but I can't help it. I never thought I'd click with someone so much and so quickly. April definitely rocks and I love her so much!  

A couple years ago, my friend Craig took a great picture of me and Tina pretending to make out. Unfortunately, I lost that picture so Zubazz thought it would be great to recreate it. However, this time Tina's boyfriend Gianni decided to take her place. And Gianni decided to skip the "pretend" part. Just kidding. Bruhahahahahahahaha. 

Here's a funny pic that Zubazz took at McNally's a couple weeks ago. Zubazz is the master of taking funny pictures... mostly because he just randomly takes pics of people when they aren't expecting it. In this pic, me and Mr. Zubazz are telling the viewer "You are #1!" 

Tom Waits

Last night I went to La Bodega to see a performance by Mark Radford. He is a singer/songwriter but includes lots of cool covers in his set by the likes of Tom Waits, Lucinda WIlliams, Lyle Lovett and Steve Earle. This was the third or fourth time I've seen him play and he never fails to disappoint. I'm a huge Tom Waits fan so he made it a point to play a couple extra Waits tunes for me. Unfortunately, most people in Regina have no clue as to who Tom Waits is. If you look under the dictionary under "Cult Artist" I bet there is a picture of Tom Waits there. He is one of those artists that don't sell too many records, but those that do are completely hooked. His only real "hit" song was "Downtown Train"... Unfortunately, it only became a hit after Rod Stewart recorded it (and butchered it I might add). The Ramones also did a killer cover version of "I Don't Wanna Grow Up. In turn, Tom Waits did a great version of "Return of Jackie & Judy" on the Ramones tribute album.
Tom Waits is definitely what you would call an acquired taste. It took me forever to get into his music because his rough, raspy voice is definitely startling at first. But I relate it to finally acquiring the taste for Guinness or Scotch. It tastes disgusting at first, but once you get used to it, you realize it is ten times better than drinking a Canadian or vodka special. So if anyone is willing to try some classic, timeless music that won't get stale in 2 years, I would highly recommend taking a chance and buying a Tom Waits album. He has two "best of" albums out. His first album Closing Time and Mule Variations are probably my two favorites of his, perhaps because they are the most melodic. My cousin Dave is the one responsible for getting me into this amazing artist, and I have to thank him a lot because by some strange circumstances, it turns out that Tom Waits will play a big part in my Jack Kerouac thesis.

The "L" Word

Well folks, it's finally happened. I've experienced many things over my 29 years of existence, but that elusive "L" word has always eluded me. I've had crushes, I've been completely indifferent, I've been smitten, I've been in deep lust, I've been in deep like, but I have never been in love. Until now. And it came out of the blue. And it came during a time when I was totally content and happy enjoying the many fruits of being single. And it came from a girl who rejected me three times before. We have been hanging out nonstop for over a month and have only been officially dating for approximately three weeks, but we have completely clicked over the last few weeks. For all intents and purposes, she lives at my place right now and I wouldn't have it any other way. For the last week or so I've been putting off telling her the big "L" word because I think it is a word that is overused in society. For instance, lots of people say "I loved that movie!" or "I love that song!" or people get in that drunken "I love you, man" stage. So I've been using every other word I could think of for the last couple weeks. We have both been implying it more and more in the last few days so I finally broke down, threw caution to the wind and told her that I love her last night, and she told me the same thing right back, which made me a bit relieved because I would've felt like a bit of a tool if she would've just said "Well, that's...uh...great...". :) Yesterday was our first whole day to hang out from start to finish and it was amazing. We've hung out every day, but it was so nice just to veg out and go for a walk and grab some supper and hang out with close friends and uh...play cards...yeah...play cards. Not to sound too corny, but I've been walking on air the last couple of weeks. I really can't get her out of my head. And the best part is that right from the start she has just completely fit in with all my best friends. Tina, Mark, Zubazz, Mr. Real, Kev etc all think she's great..and rightfully so [Nice suck-up points eh?]. I also like how Tina told me "Don't fuck this one up JJ! She's a keeper!" To quote Dieter from SNL's Sprockets "It is spring time, and I am as giddy as a little girl." It is nice to date a girl where you can totally be yourself and I definitely feel completely comfortable being my goofy self around her. We burn and jokingly insult each other so much that others must think we're weirdos or something. [At least I think she's joking ;) ]. And her endearing pet name for me is Shithead... awwww isn't that sweet? And me being me, just as I go and commit to a girl, I go out and buy a shirt that says "DO NOT COMMIT" on it. So ladies of Regina, sorry to say, but I am now officially off the market. I know, I know... you all must be devestated, but there are other great guys in Regina. You'll just have to settle with one of them for now ;). I feel so great in the situation I'm in because I went into this relationship happy with myself. I was happy being single. So I'm in it for all the right reasons. So many people I know cannot stand being single. They feel out of place if they don't have a warm body beside them so they continue to do rebound after rebound with the next available person they see. I think it's important to have a strong sense of who you are yourself before you can seriously date someone. Otherwise if you are suddenly single, you look in the mirror and ask yourself "Who the fuck am I?" I also hate it when people cut off all their friends when they start dating someone because if the relationship ends, it looks bad to your friends to come scurrying back and begging them to hang out with you again. I would never date someone just for the sake of dating someone and having that warm body beside you. So right now I am definitely in a good place. So April, your shithead says thanks :) You definitely rock.

Jack White

Today I bought the new White Stripes album Get Behind Me Satan. I have three of their four earlier albums and I continue to get amazed at the genius of Jack White. Jack White is by no means an original or innovative artist, but this guy can write and record some kickass tunes. Working with a strict guitar and drums setup should be extremely limiting, but White has been able to use this as a road to musical freedom. By just having himself and Meg White in the band, he is able to add any kind of textures he wants to his songs, whether it be piano, banjo, Led Zeppelin riffs, or easy-going bluegrass. Jack White produced Loretta Lynn's last album, which is one of my fave albums in recent years. It's unfortunate that the White Stripes get lumped in with other "garage" bands like The Hives and The Strokes because these three bands sound nothing alike. But I am a big fan of all three bands and I like how they have started a retro-garage rock revival. I was getting so sick of hearing nothing but teeny-bopper boy bands, Britney/Christina ripoffs and nu-metal bands. Even though The White Stripes and The Hives and The Strokes are definitely not inventing the wheel, I think they are all important bands. Every few years it is important for rock music to revert back to it's raw roots. In the early 90's, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and The Smashing Pumpkins etc brought back the whole punk/underground energy back to rock music after too many years of hair metal. While I have lots of respect for bands like Radiohead and Tool and the like, I generally prefer rock that is raw, simple, melodic and full of energy. A song has to be pretty frickin' amazing for me to not get bored after 4 or 5 minutes.

extra extra!

Yesterday, me and Tina got to be extras in a made-for-tv sci-fi/action movie called 2 Human. This movie apparently stars Joey "Whoa!" Lawrence from Blossom, although he was not on set yesterday. However, Chris Jericho, the Ayotallah of Rock n' Rolla, the Highlight of the Night, and the greatest wrestler since Bret Hart was in the scene, so I got to see him film some fight scenes over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. I had lots of fun, but it was a very gruelling day since we had to be on set at 6:15 am and never finished filming until 9pm. 15 hrs is a lot of time to be standing and trying to be extremely hyper and cheer on two fictional fighters. I'm surprised I was still able to sing karaoke after yelling "Fight! Fight! Hit him! Kill him!" etc. It is also hard to maintain your entusiasm when filming scenes where the main actors are recording their dialogue. During these scenes we had to mime , so we could not actually yell...just lots of lip-syncing. This was the second time I've been an extra and although the day can definitely drag at times, I find it very fascinating seeing the whole process of how a movie is made. 3 minutes of film can take up to 16 hours to film. Plus it wouldn't take much to rack up a huge budget. We had to get fed every 3 hours. So for one day of shooting, that's a hefty bill for 50 extras plus all the movie staff. Thios was a low budget film so the food was not as extravagent as it was for Just Friends... Breakfast yesterday consisted of Burger King and our final meal was bolied hot dogs. Not exactly gourmet!

Chicks rawk

Last night, I saw Vancouver's Cherrybomb at McNally's for the second time and I was once again really impressed. I am a total sucker for chicks and guitars. I love the sound of the female voice accompanied by either acoustic guitars or loud electric guitars. I'm a big fan of melody so you won't find me in the mosh pit at a death metal concert amongst a crowd consisting of 95% angry young guys. So here is a partial list of some of my fave female artists of all time...

The Go-Go's... The ultimate "chick band" of all time. Great poppy punk songs with lots of energy. They put out a reunion album in 2001 and it was very impressive. Plus everytime I hear their songs, I always think of Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

Veruca Salt... Nina Gordon and Louise Post put out two kickass albums before they had the usual "creative differences" and split up. I bought Nina Gordon's solo album, and even though it is bordering pretty close to shlockiness, I still listen to it every now and then.

Tegan and Sara... Canadian lesbian twins. Is there any more reason to like them? ;) I have all three of their albums and they keep getting better and better. "Walking With a Ghost" has constantly been in my head for the last 6 months or so.

Sarah Harmer... She used to be the main person in Weeping Tile with Luther Wright. Then she put out two stellar solo albums. You Were Here is still one of my fave albums of all time. Tina is a huge fan and does a great job of covering two of her songs. I can't wait to see her at the FOlk Festival this year.

Liz Phair... Hands down my fave female artist of all time. Even though her last album was a blatant and admitted "sell-out" attempt at selling records, I still love most of her material. I still have most of her first three albums memorized. Anyone who can sing lines such as "I want to be your blow job queen," "I'll fuck you til your dick turns blue," and "Give me your hot white cum" with a straight face is a-ok in my books. She is a brilliant songwriter and not exactly hard on the eyes. I think she has the sexiest mouth in rock...with all apologies to Sheryl Crowe.

Garbage... Two words...Shirley Manson. Wow. As most of my friends can attest to, I absolutely LOVE red hair. So Shirley Manson can pretty much sing the phone book and I'd be all ga-ga. But even though I'm kinda disappointed by their last album, I still think they are a great band. Plus it's cool that Butch Vig (who produced Nevermind, Siamese Dream, etc) is in the band.

PJ Harvey... I just got into her in the last 3 or 4 years and I am slowly getting caught up on her back catalogue, but this is an unbelievable artist. Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea is an absolutely flawless album.

Whatever happened to...

Whatever happened to The Gandharvas? The Gandharvas were a Canadian band that released their debut album in the early '90s. They had a single "The First Day of Spring" which is still one of my fave songs of all time. They released a handful of albums in the '90s, only to disappear right when they were on the verge of breaking huge. Their final album was amazing and they received tons of airplay with their single "Downtime." Rolling Stone even did a write-up on the guys. I saw these guys open for The Headstones and they put on a killer live show. But then they just seemed to vanish into thin air. I don't ever recall any official announcement that the guys broke up, but they haven't released an album since.

Strippers have to buy groceries too

Yesterday, as I was struggling through a nasty cold I picked up early in the morning, I was having a very uneventful day at work. Between bouts of sniffles, coughing, blowing my nose, and ringing through the odd customer, I noticed this extremely attractive girl with black hair walking around the store. She looked familiar somehow, but I couldn't quite place it. However, when her and her friend went through my till to purchase their groceries, it finally clicked... This girl was the stripper at Garrett's stag! The last time I saw her, she dripped hot wax on amy ass cheeks and put whip cream down my pants. And here she was purchasing a big birthday cake. I was tempted to say something, but what can a person really say in that situation?

Best birthday week ever...

On Sunday May 22, I turned 29. Tina's birthday was on the 18th, so the two of us did our annual birthday bash extravaganza. It was definitely hands down one of the funnest weeks I have ever had...definitely up there with my week of houseboating in Shuswap Lake two years ago. The week started on Sat the 14th with Garrtett's wedding and B!LF at The Plains and pretyy much carried on throughout the week. Monday at The Plains, Tuesday at McNally's for karaoke, Wed at The Mongolie Grill for supper (soooooooooooooooo good), acoustic jam night at Mcnally's and then some karaoke at Bart's, Thursday at McNally's for Wonderland, Friday at The Pump, Saturday at Regina Beach for B!LF, and finally Sunday at The Pump for some more B!LF action. It was definitely a hectic week, and my body is still recovering a bit, but it was sooooooo nice to have a week-long holiday from reality. It was very cool of Chris and the rest of the B!LF guys to get me up onstage at the stroke of midnight at Regina Beach to commerate my birthday in front of a crazy crowd and do a killer rendition of "Blister in the Sun". Sunday was one of the funnest nights in recent memory and hands down the best birthday I have ever had. Tina and I did our annual mushroom night and it was pretty surreal being in a live music environment on shrooms. I don't think I've ever cracked up so much in my life. I will never forget that old chick with the crazy orange shirt putting on a show by herself on the dance floor early in the night. And I will never ever forget the crazy conversation me and Tina had with two girls who are part of me, Tina, and Zubazz's fan club. I had no idea that singing karaoke would actually garner me fans, but I guess anything is possible. This conversation was the funniest thing I have been a part of. These girls were imitating Zubazz to a tee...it was sooooooo funny. Every time I hear "Woogie Black Socks" from now on I will always crack up. One of the girls wants Zubazz to sign her tits, so that should be interesting if it ever happens. Another cool part of this past week is that I started the week more or less single and was having fun playing the field and now I am officially dating a girl who is really cool and am liking more and more every day. The funny thing is that when I met her a couple months ago, she shut me down HARDCORE. It was hilarious. But something made her change her mind, and now we're dating. It's weird how it happened, but I'm glad it did because she is really an awesome girl.
So I am now officially 29. I look at other people my age and wonder if I am acting my age or not. Is there such a thing as "acting your age"? I think that you are only as old as you feel. At this stage in my life, I don't feel content to just get home from work/school and read a book and walk the dog and go to bed at 10:30. I feel that you only live once, so I might as well have fun while I can. In the past couple years, I've had so many family members and friends of the family die so i've really gotten an appreciation for enjoying the moment. I could get hit by a bus tomorrow, so I might as well enjoy today. Some people are so concerned and worried about the future that they sacrifice the present. For myself, the present is far more important than the future. Some people my age are really petrified about turning 30. Myself, I'm a little worried about it too. But I have to say that I have had more fun and enjoyed life way more in my late 20's than I ever did in my eraly 20's and younger. The older I get, the more sure of myself I become. I don't worry about going out and impressing anyone anymore. If people don't like who I am, then the can pretty much piss off. When I was younger, I was ultra-shy, had low self esteem, and worried about what other people think. I think I've gotten a lot wiser, cracked out of my shell, and have really gotten a better sense of who I am now. I can honestly say I love where I am in my life right now. I finally see light at the end of the tunnel for my Masters, I am fortunate to have two loving parents, and I am really lucky to have more friends than I could ever dream of. Life is great right now and I am looking forward to my best summer ever. So I would like to thank everyone who has been a part of my life in the last couple years for helping me become the happiest I have been in a long long time. Thank you Tina, Zubazz, Mark, JC, Rude Dude, April, Jenn, Web Jay, Chris and the B!LF guys, Kevy Hot Pants, Stacey, Brandy, the N2N guys, Web Jay, Corey, Garrett, Tasha, Sean, the RBS group, etc etc etc. Here's to the best summer ever.

Midget porn, weddings, and drinking for Jeebus

Last night, my good buddy Garrett got married so I went to the wedding and the dance afterwards. I was coming off two funfilled late nights at The Plains so I knew i had my work cut out for me if I wanted to make it through one more hardcore night. It's amazing what some Red Bull can do. I am seriously addicted to that stuff now... it definitely works wonders. The wedding ceremony was short and sweet, although I prefer the more secular ceremonies instead of the religious ceremonies. At 5pm, me, Zubazz, Tina, Gianni, and Chris went to Montana's for some food and some pre-dance sociables. Montana's is supposed to be a family restaurant, but we shure changed that in a hurry! We had some of the most fucked up conversations EVER. Somehow, we got onto the topic of midget porn. Just as Zubazz asked us "Have you guys ever seriously WATCHED midget porn?" our 18 year old waitress walked up to our table. Her eyes were as big as saucers. We were definitely her most entertaining table of her night. Then we started making some sacriligious jokes and comments regarding Jesus/Jeebus and talking about burning down churches and things of that nature. Some sample jokes of the night... "Jesus never died a virgin..he was nailed 3 times." And then the running theme of the night, which carried onto the wedding was that we were all "drinking for Jeebus." Cuz Jeebus would've wanted it that way. We were definitely the FUN table at the wedding dance. One of Garrett's friends decided that it was a good idea to eat some live fish form the mini fishbowls at the table. Garrett's friend Trevor decided to hit every table and take as much free wine to our table as possible. This sort of mayhem ensued til about 1:00, when me, Zubazz and a few of us decided to hit The Plains to catch the last part of B!LF's set. It's around this time that the details kind of get sketchy for me. For some reason it seemed like a good idea to go to Web Jay's place for an after party. I remember trying hard not to pass out on the couch, but I failed miserably...although I could hear some people heckling me for passing out. April was my designated babysitter from that point in, so I have to thank her for that. Red is definitely good. If it isn't painfully obvious to others when I am completely hammered, it's always a dead giveaway when I start saying "God am I ever HAMBONED!" a lot. For some reason, I always say "hamboned" when I am hammered. So I am now trying to recover from on of the funnest weekends in recent memory. It's gonna be lay low time for a little while...until later on this week for Me and Tina's annual birthday week extravaganza.

Whatever happened to...

Well, I'm bored so I decided to add a reoccurring feature to my site. I'm going to do a few posts on some of my favorite bands from back in the day that just kind of disappeared or broke up without any fanfare. So... whatever happened to Red Autumn Fall?

A few years ago, my best friend's sister was always raving about this band called Red Autumn Fall from Calgary. This was just before I turned 19 (holy shit! that's like 10 years ago... I REALLY feel old now...) so I gave her some money to pick me up their CD at their gig at the old Channel 1. It is still one of my fave discs of all time. They released a follyup CD, had a couple videos played on Muchmusic and seemed like they were just on the verge of hitting that next big step of Canadian rock celebrities...along the Sloan/Headstones/etc level. Their singer/guitarist/songwriter Simeon Ross had an incredible voice. They kind of reminded me of what would happen if Morrissey were replace Bono in U2. I had an opportunity to see these guys play at The State in 1998 or thereabouts, and they were absoluting stunning live. Simeon had a HUGE migraine headache, but he persevered and carried on with the show and still had the relatively small crowd enraptured. "Josephite" and "Satellite" were both released as singles. In a fair world, these guys would've been one of the biggest bands in Canada. But just when it seemed they were ready to make that next step, they broke up. I believe Simeon Ross has a solo career now, but I have not had a chance to hear any of his solo material. Another one of those "could've been" bands that just decided to call it a day. It's hard for any band (especially Canadian bands) to make a decent living. So many bands give it a go in the hopes of striking gold, but it's a hard reality when they realize that they can barely pay the bills and start having families to support. So I have to pay my respects to any musician that dares to make that leap of faith and sacrifice the 9-5 world and take the gamble to try to make it in music and entertain people. Besides the lucky 2% of the music world, a musician's life is not lucrative, so it must come from a pure and genuine love of music to travel in a crappy van or bus and play in any dive that will accept them, all in the hopes of putting a smile on the faces of their audiences.

This past weekend I was at McNally's to catch B!LF in action on Friday and Saturday. That place gets crazy when B!LF play there. I don't think I've ever seen McNally's as nuts as it was on Friday, with the possible exception of St. Patrick's Day. It's weird seeing pics of myself without hair, but I'm really starting to get used to it now. 

Here's a pic of me at last year's Queen City Marathon, along with Zubazz, Brandy and my dad... plus some unknown guy standing behind us. In so many pictures, there always seems to one anonymous person in the background who seems like they belong in the picture, but no one knows who the hell this person is. Anyways, I've ran in the last 3 QCMs. This past year I did a personal best of 3hrs and 35 mins. I absolutely love running. I can't imagine not being able to run. It is my way of keeping in shape, getting rid of stress and just zoning out and thinking about life. It is the most relaxing thing I can think of. Last year, there was a man who was 77 years old running in the marathon. I think that is absolutely unbelievable. I want to be like that when I'm an old codger. 

And now the After shot...RIP JJ's hair. Oh well, it shall rise again...this time with a vengeance! 

This is during the cut... I really look enthused, eh? 

Ok folks, here are my before and after pics from my head shaving last Saturday. What a difference a couple of minutes can make! 

What kind of message does this send???

Okay, I am a bit peeved today. Last night I went out to The Crooked Cue for a little bit and wound up at O'Hanlon's for the Tommy Douglas wrap party. A few of us ended up staying there after hours and I had a few pints so I didn't feel comfortable driving home. I snagged a ride with a friend of mine and left my car, knowing that I would be getting a parking ticket the next day. Well, I swung by there after my run today around 11:30 and I not only got one parking ticket, but TWO. So I had to pay $20 for being responsible and NOT drinking and driving. Well, thanks a whole fucking lot, City of Regina!

So now I am bald

So while I was recovering from the stag the previous night, I went to work at 2 on Saturday to go through with the head shaving. Global television were on hand to document this "historic" moment. The closer this date had gotten, the more nervous I got. But once I walked into the store with all eyes on me, I started to freak. I was starting to imagine how weird I might look bald...like would I have some 666 on my head, or some weird bumps? I was getting super paranoid. And then having a TV camera doing a close-up of the head shaving didn't help matters. I can't believe how much hair I lost! I looked down on the floor and there were HUGE clumps of hair on the floor. It takes some getting used to going from pretty much the longest my hair has ever been to by far the shortest. The lady who scalped me didn't do the greatest job, so I got Mark to do the Mach 3 trick to my head last night, so I am a genuine cue ball now. I'm almost used to it now though... I must say that I love the fact that I can hop in the shower and be all ready in like 5 minutes. But I REALLY miss my hair. Plus it is such a weird sensation feeling the cold draft on my head all the time. I have never had so many people rub my head in my life. It's like people rubbing a Buddha belly or something. So now the growing process is beginning. My hair grows really fast, but NOT FAST ENOUGH!!! I wanted to go hat shopping with Stacey today (so I could get the female perspective) so I could accessorize my baldness, since my Hag cap is the only hat that really fits me right now, but I got called into work so I guess I'll have to do that tomorrow. When all is said and done though, I am really glad I had my head shaved because it is a great cause, it helps raise awareness about the whole liver transplant ordeal, and I am helping out someone I know and see all the time. In a way, it's a fresh start for me. Spring is the ultimate time for renewal, and getting my head shaved is a perfect way to reinforce that. But that being said, I want some hair now. Oh yeah, I should have pics available pretty soon, so I'll post some before and after shots on here and RBS.