Operation: Full Throttle.

11.28.06 - Jambands.ca Fundraiser - Lancaster Tavern, Kitchener Ontario.

the mission: to have a grand ole time turning ourselves into little balls of human goobly goo with a couple hundred of our closest friends, rock the fuck out, party the night away, shake hands with the sun, and meat ourselves into submission.

i was also on photo duty, however, i failed miserably. i hope the photograph i donated made up for it and they were able to raise some coin from it.

the team: ian, lesley, scottie and myself - sometimes known as team scott.

we caught a ride to k/w with lesley and ian - lesley is our saviour whenever we go to k/w - and started the night at uncle schwampy's, where he presented me with a kotke and gordon show for winning his caption contest! score! we partook in the regular pre-gaming festivities and then headed down to the lanc for the show.

2 floors of SoOn Jam: harvard mouse, high plains drifter, what the thunder said, diesel dog, fat cats, and superfly.

harvard mouse got it kicked off with a nice little warm-up groove session, and high plains drifter followed to set everyone up for the rest of the night. what the thunder said opened the stage upstairs with a high energy set that really caught my attention, very groovin', totally rockin', and interactive as well - great stage presence those dudes have. diesel dog headlined downstairs and ploughed through a set of heavy hittin grooverock that got everyone movin' and shakin' and smilin' and primed up for what was set to go on upstairs: the fat cats closed the night and ripped the living hell out of 2 sets showing why they're among canada's finest when it comes to rocking, rolling, and jamming like monsters. somewhere along the lines i lost track of time - i was shocked when it ended - i thought for sure that was only 1st set!!

parking lot gathering was perfect at the end to get the bearings, chill out, enjoy some company - we chilled with the st. catherines crew while trying to make plans - so awesome to hang out with dup, deany d, anz, and mike - the chicken wing and garlic bread was killer! after holding lesley up we opted out of a ride back to schwa's, instead going for the manglefest over at mangle mansion - good times - but crowded as hell - cleary showed up with a pizza and that was golden! we bolted shortly after the cops showed up, but had no idea where we were, and only an address of where we needed to get to, without a sense of direction. we took to walking and waiting on a miracle when a car flyin' by grinds to a halt and calls us over - dave and deb! they offer a ride, but also have no clue where the address is, MISSION ABORTED, a cab is coming down, better option, he'd know, we jump outta the car, yell and flag the cab, he goes flying by, dave and deb take off thinking we're saved, and we're back to square one at the corner of weber and bridgeport, laughing like idiots.



we did make it back to schwa's eventually, and the party there was still going - awesome! we kept it going, drinkin', laughin', jokin', listenin' to tunes, well into the morning. another successful mission for Team Scott.


think i might have caught a 45 minute half in/half out nap before i was fully awoken by the most horrific generic boring shitass hippie dippie jambullshit i had ever heard. i was enjoying some great fucking silence and this girl who was leaving decided to put something on (as an exit??) no one else was awake.. i loathed it. i got up to shut it off and decided whatever it was that came out of that tray would be damned in my head forever more and i would go out of my way to not seek it out. the label on the disc said: S.K.B. fuckin' kimock... what the hell was that? i've seen you. you're better than that. not much, but you are. while i was up i had to take a picture of team chatham - granted it was 11am, these boys can party, hell, keri threw the party, but still.. i love it - swifty sitting up, keri hunched over, rankin face down, and in the background, you can see chandler's foot sticking out - he's sleeping on a fucking toolbox! awesome.



early afternoon we hit the huether (is that right?) for some breaky with schwa, craig and sari, while ian and lesley visited with some family.
coffee. keep it comin. big ass water. 5 or so chicken wings as an appetizer. medium. steak and eggs, hashbrowns, rye bread, and extra pemeal. steak medium, eggs over easy. dont want too much blood mixin with the yolk - that's sick. wrap steak in pemeal, dip in liquid chicken. yummy! wish i had a picture...

shortly after that, with full bellies, deep breaths, and paralyzed muscles, we teleported back to london with lesley at the wheel, and voila: reality!

all in all a great night in k-dub. great people, great music, great energy, great parties, great hosts, great everything. we accomplished all our missions, and i really hope mark and keri accomplished their mission and raised some money for the website.

harper it is, bitches.

well, just about 2/3's of all us canadians voted yesterday, and just over 1/3 of that 2/3's decided that stephen harper is the man to lead our country. into where? who knows. but we've got a front row seat now. and it comes as no real surprise, really. i feel like the liberals lost this election more than the conservatives won it.. more like the people of canada just gave 'em a little slap and said "nope! cant do that... this is what happens." - hopefully they'll learn. i must say, though, im very happy with the ndp pick-up.

so, now what? well. i dont know. but im not as pissed as i thought i was going to be. i needed a day to really think this over. i think there's a strong enough opposition to keep 'em in check this time around. socially, im not so worried about new legislation really fucking us over, rather im more concerned about taking steps backwards - canada's come a long way recently, something im very proud of as a canadian, something that i feel is looked upon with high regard around the world. we were on the road to some other great things as well, and now these things arent even in sight, and if they are, it's for all the wrong reasons.

but we better not be going to war. then i'll be pissed.

and the GST cut is the fucking bullshit. gee, thanks. blow me, harper. but hey, the sexy headline worked. fucker. ok, that got me pissed. IT'S NOTHING UNLESS YOU HAVE A LOT OF MONEY TO SPEND!!!!!!!!!!!!! it's like reverse robin hood: rob the poor (of their services that depend on taxes) and give to the rich (by way of not paying). and i dont believe that nothing will get cut.

but it's over. and the ndp have a stronger voice, which is all i was really hoping for, so all in all i cant be anything but happy - we all knew harper wasnt gonna lose this time around, so we had time to brace ourselves.

i watched the Your Turn program when harper was on and i remember one question, which i believe came from a woman from London, Ontario, if im not mistaken, and she asked about the party slogans and why they were different in french and english canada. the meaning behind that. i kinda thought to myself, you get on national tv, you get the chance to ask the next prime minister a question, and that's what you come up with? the slogans? who gives a shit? we all know slogans are bullshit. who cares what they mean in any language. no one really loves mcdonalds. we all know tim hortons is not always fresh. i thought everyone knew to take slogans with a grain of salt, no? which got me thinking more... if i was running for office, what could i use as a slogan? if people really care about this, if this on their minds, if it actually does mean something, well, i had better give it some thought, right? so, here's what i got...

A Different Kind of Country - A Different Kind of Guigsy.
The Guigsy Goes Straight to your Head.
Moving At The Speed of Guigsy.
Stop. Go. Guigsy.
Let The Guigsy Begin.
Think Guigsy.
Just One Guigsy - Give It To Me!
Shhh.. You Know Guigsy.
The Guigsy For All Ages.
Get More From Guigsy.
Grab Life by the Guigsy.
So Easy, No Wonder Guigsy Is #1.
Guigsy, Take Me Away.
The Guigsy That Eats Like A Meal.
Nobody Does It Like Guigsy.
Don't Get Mad, Get Guigsy.

get your own slogan here.

this week in review

well, another week come and gone... this was a long one. the beginning of the week was filled with work, the end filled with fun, there was no middle, and now it's done. i received good news, i received bad news, i had good times, i had bad times, i got to see many friends, but missed many more, i heard some no's, i heard some yes', i questioned some, laughed at others, and in the end it was just one of those weeks. everything goes. the best of all worlds.

the weekend, however, was a good celebration of that very notion: everything goes and the best of all worlds. timeline:

Friday, Jan. 20
shortly after 8pm - arrive in toronto
get our buzz on
10:30ish - keller williams at lee's palace - fun show, i had trouble with the sound, but i got it. highlights of the show were the high time > man smart woman smarter and the encore, what i got - the energy for that, throughout the crowd, was incredible - just a big sublime love-in. beautiful.
Saturday Jan. 21
1:30am - onward to the elmocambo to catch slammin' jack's aftershow - been a long while since i've seen them, and wow, they've gotten so much better! definitely a great way to close the night.
3:30am - up to the danforth for the afterparty (cheers to margaret & carrie) - madness ensues.
8am - i think i passed out around here
11am - think i woke up around here. had a couple cups of tea.
1pm - back to homebase (cheers to rob) to spend the afternoon gettin' 'er back together
8pm - maybe the best steak i've ever eaten? (cheers to scottie)
9:15pm - arrive at the Koolhaus for Broken Social Scene !!!
10ish - bss take the stage - madness ensues. opened with All The Gods, then slid into Shoreline and brought Feist out and from then on for the rest of the night that little ball of fire owned me. but it was kevin drew's show. the man was in command the entire evening. my favourite moments of the night were the Ibi Dreams of Pavement to close, man i love how huge that song gets, and then the Lover's Spit to start up the encore, with an honourable mention to drew's stage banter/antics during the encore break. but back to that Lover's Spit - such a beautiful song, and such a grand version on this night. how many people on stage? 13? 16? incredible. makin' it work, takes a little longer, makin' it work, takes a little time! but that encore coulda been 7 songs long - they played forever! almost 3 hours when all was said and done... a slow superconnected, an EPIC It's All Gonna Break to end it all, throw in a couple major label debut's for good measure (slow, then the faster reprise later on), send us to the hotel, give us the shampoo suicide, cause=time, a beautiful Anthems For A 15 Year Old Girl, the list goes on and on, and somewhere in there they managed to throw in a Hockey Night in Canada tease. some other observations: the soundman must be a fucking genius to be able to balance all those instruments at once and make it sound that good. there were as many as 16 people on stage at any given time. upwards of 5 guitars, bass, double drums, various other percussions, keys, how many voices? trombones, trumpets, sax, man alive. they just about killed me.
Sunday Jan. 22
1am - hotdog cart saves the night. my back is killing me.
1:30ish - back to homebase for a nice chill nightcap and finally some fucking sleep.
noon - headin' 'er outta town
12:30pm - arrive at the Swedish Embassy and spend the next 2 and a half hours in a home furnishing amusement park. my berries are not as red as they used to be. but my speakers now have shelves. 2 hotdogs and a pop for a buck 75? yes please.
3pm - on the road again....
4:45pm - arrive back in london
5pm - pick up digital projector and spend the rest of the night re-arranging, re-wiring, cursing and swearing.
2am - finish lame ass story and go to bed - we've got a big day tomorrow...

tomorrow (today), the country could get a face lift.

... and we begin again.

so, i went to sign up to be a "blogger", and my user name was taken. so i guessed a password for myself and, sure enough, i've been a blogger since late december 2004! a late night resolution gone wrong, i suspect. or, perhaps just a late night resolution arrived late. but what an odd resolution... to blog? hmm....