last night i got to see my first NBA game, live and in person, as a guest of canon canada in their private box at the air canada center. mountains of food, rivers of booze, a great view of the game, and a great group of guys to be hangin' with - one of my fellow henry's managers hooked this up with our canon rep and about 8 or so of us, along with our staff development crew of 2, and a "warehouse guy" went along to live it up for a night, get shitfaced, and see the raps lose.
once we had everyone in tow, the headcount in the caravan stood at 8. with a combined weight of Lord Only Knows, but i'll say this: half of the guys in the van were 4 of the biggest dudes i know. im the smallest of the crew and somehow i lucked out with shotgun. sorry bout your luck in the back, boys - hilarious ride up.
got there and walked into a cozy little suite all decked out with sushi trays, cheese platters, and someone waiting to take my order. i ate so much i had to go puke to make room for the rest of the rye and beer. if you're in a gut wrenching situation and there is ice cream involved, you can take comfort in the fact that cherry garcia ice cream bars taste about half as good coming up as they do going down - not bad. FYI. keep that in your back pocket. i think the ribs were the clear winner on the night, though. meat just driiiiiiiiiiiiiiiipping off the bone. aaaahhhhhhhggglgglllrrrrssshhhhhhhhooohhhhhhhhyeah. .
the game itself was pretty good, i thought. bosh was out with the sprained thumb, alonzo was out for the heat, and shaq wasnt dressed. but mo'pete stole the show and played an amazing game - unfortunately it wasnt enough, as dwayne wade lead the charge for the heat and put 'em to bed late in the 4th. the raps played a great game and at times lead by 15, only to run out of steam in the end. they started taking it to the outside way too much as the game wore on and they werent having much success - but they were having great success on the inside for most of the game. oh well, 98-94 finish for the heat, and an exciting game right down to the last basket (which was an over/under deal breaker for some of our crew - someone owes someone some chicken wings, i think. in the "$11 range").
and lemme tell ya, fellas out there, the scenery at a basketball game is unreal. all i've gotta say about that is "smirnoff". scanning the crowd and other boxes with the binos was a lot of fun. saw chewie from london sitting a few rows below us, that was hilarious - nice to chat with him... and, as luck would have it, we also spotted pretty much all of our bosses and head office folk about a dozen or so boxes away from ours - so much for keepin' our little boys night out a secret. hahah. funny scenarios all over the place all night.
the bill at the end of the night was ridiculous - glad that wasnt my credit card. we gave a hundred dollar pizza to a homeless guy on the street instead of change. probably the biggest score he's ever gotten.
cant wait for the retreat.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Friday, March 24, 2006
unintended in london
no, not a witty slogan for my time spent here in this city. this week i had intended on attending the unintended at call the office. the show was last nite, and indeed i did.
my cronies along for the ride: scottie, brahm, darin and erin.
the unintended are The Sadies with Rick White (Eric's Trip / Elevator fame) and Greg Keelor (of Blue Rodeo fame).
canadian rock n roll at it's ugliest and most pyschadelic. they ploughed through most of their only release to date, a self-titled album that was born on keelor's farm in the winter of 2003, and mixed in some newer tunes and some ridiculous covers for the encore. it was obvious to me that Dallas Good is the pyschadelia in the band, while Keelor is the man keepin' it heady... the grin never left his face all night... due to rock n roll or hashish, i dont know, but i'll take it either way. i've seen Keelor twice before on larger stages, so it was great to see him in a club setting like this. also, having seen the sadies before, it was a real treat to see them show off some of their more grittier skills. at times, the 4 guitar assault was mind bending and ear piercing, but very welcome... throw dallas on the organ, close your eyes and drift... put keelor on the 2nd kit, and the double drum attack had me thinking back to my grateful dead collection, reminiscing of a sweet '68 Eleven jam. right on! i cant offer a setlist, but i can tell you my favourite of the night was Stay Calm - a super heady subway that winds it way through a snowy forest and reminds us to stay calm in the cold... yes.. will do... thank you. i think it was The Collapse that closed the set and that was an absolute monster - massive jam to finish the show in a big way, or rather, to set up for an even bigger encore... they came out and launched into a raucous version of neil young's Are You Ready For The Country, then followed that up with 2 successive tracks from pink floyd's Pipers At The Gates of Dawn.... are you kidding me??? the most EPIC of encores!
this was a real treat to see this little canadian supergroup, especially in a little club 3 minutes away... show was sparsely attended, maybe 40 or 50 people, and as usual, we missed the opening act, Andre Ethier of the Deadly Snakes... which is too bad cuz i really wanted to see that, and darin said he was real good. shit.
all in all, a great show, and im real glad i was one of the few lucky londoners who got to take this in. looking forward to more future unintended related musical goodness - if they're ever in your neck of the woods, dont miss 'em.
my cronies along for the ride: scottie, brahm, darin and erin.
the unintended are The Sadies with Rick White (Eric's Trip / Elevator fame) and Greg Keelor (of Blue Rodeo fame).
canadian rock n roll at it's ugliest and most pyschadelic. they ploughed through most of their only release to date, a self-titled album that was born on keelor's farm in the winter of 2003, and mixed in some newer tunes and some ridiculous covers for the encore. it was obvious to me that Dallas Good is the pyschadelia in the band, while Keelor is the man keepin' it heady... the grin never left his face all night... due to rock n roll or hashish, i dont know, but i'll take it either way. i've seen Keelor twice before on larger stages, so it was great to see him in a club setting like this. also, having seen the sadies before, it was a real treat to see them show off some of their more grittier skills. at times, the 4 guitar assault was mind bending and ear piercing, but very welcome... throw dallas on the organ, close your eyes and drift... put keelor on the 2nd kit, and the double drum attack had me thinking back to my grateful dead collection, reminiscing of a sweet '68 Eleven jam. right on! i cant offer a setlist, but i can tell you my favourite of the night was Stay Calm - a super heady subway that winds it way through a snowy forest and reminds us to stay calm in the cold... yes.. will do... thank you. i think it was The Collapse that closed the set and that was an absolute monster - massive jam to finish the show in a big way, or rather, to set up for an even bigger encore... they came out and launched into a raucous version of neil young's Are You Ready For The Country, then followed that up with 2 successive tracks from pink floyd's Pipers At The Gates of Dawn.... are you kidding me??? the most EPIC of encores!
this was a real treat to see this little canadian supergroup, especially in a little club 3 minutes away... show was sparsely attended, maybe 40 or 50 people, and as usual, we missed the opening act, Andre Ethier of the Deadly Snakes... which is too bad cuz i really wanted to see that, and darin said he was real good. shit.
all in all, a great show, and im real glad i was one of the few lucky londoners who got to take this in. looking forward to more future unintended related musical goodness - if they're ever in your neck of the woods, dont miss 'em.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
happy birthday mom
i know as i've gotten older and started to build my own life i may not call or come around often enough, but that doesnt mean im not always thinking about you.
you're one of my biggest inspirations in life, and a true survivor in every sense of the word. to be the person you are with all you've endured in life is absolutely amazing and gives me hope for my genes.
love you, mom.
may you always be 39.
you're one of my biggest inspirations in life, and a true survivor in every sense of the word. to be the person you are with all you've endured in life is absolutely amazing and gives me hope for my genes.
love you, mom.
may you always be 39.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Thursday, March 16, 2006
thought for the day...
asspants.
if you're going to wear asspants, it might be a good idea to make sure they fit first. not only will this help to ensure that you can walk straight throughout the day, you'll also likely be more comfortable, as will those in your general vicinity.
thank you.
if you're going to wear asspants, it might be a good idea to make sure they fit first. not only will this help to ensure that you can walk straight throughout the day, you'll also likely be more comfortable, as will those in your general vicinity.
thank you.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
montreal > buffalo
phew, it's been a good week! 2 little road trips, 2 slip shows, lotsa good times...
only in montreal....
so healy and i got to montreal last wednesday night, and turns out carpenter was still at work, so we chilled out with his roommate, got settled, watched school of rock,
saved the rental from getting towed, searched for a parking spot, cursed the city like the devil when we couldnt find one, and eventually, about a half hour and 2 and a half blocks later parked the car and made our way back for the rest of school of rock and the imminent arrival of our host, the fish himself. carp found us shortly after midnight and we spent the rest of the night catching up and getting drunk
next morning/afternoon found us having breakfast at chez cora's and good lord what a breakfast it was! so good we went back the next day as well. in fact, all i ate in montreal was breakfast. and a slice of pizza.
breakfast is over. healy's not happy.
we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxin' at carp's place gettin' ready for the slip show at the main hall. it was gonna be a doozie, i'd been waiting for this for a while... very excited! it was gonna be healy's first slip show as well. Needless to say, his slip cherry got fucking smashed.
we took the metro uptown for a good 40 minutes and hit up this really cool place, whose name is escaping me at the moment, i should write this shit down, but anyways, it was a wicked little bar with cool lighting and seating and whatnot, great vibe, very bohemian.. anyways, we had a drink there then headed on up to the show in time for most of apollo sunshine's opening set.
met brad outside on the way into the show and he told us they still had about an hour to go, which was good, we had time to get some drinks, get our bearings, and catch the openers... and good thing - apollo sunshine were a great treat, and an awesome new music find for me. wow, they really got my attention. i bought the cd, then it got stolen. so i bought it again in buffalo. it's really really good. i think if i had to describe them, and to keep with the breakfast theme, i'd call them a meaty rock 'n'roll breakfast skillett. it had everything. madness to ukelele duets. great rock melody to all out noise assault. 3 guys and great to watch live, as well. so after them came the big show, the one we were in town for: the slip.
i guess this was really their own first big show in their new hometown, and they came out swinging! they put on a great show with a setlist packed full of pretty much all of my favourite new songs - not much in the back catalogue, but no big deal to me, i like their rock n roll quite a bit. brad's voice was sounding really good on this night, and marc was a man possessed, playing rock star on a dime - man, he is so fun to watch when he's layin' it down. andrew shone as always, and he got a chance to showcase his vocal talents as well, for a verse in sleepyhead.
The Slip
Main Hall, Montreal QC
03.02.06
Even Rats
Wine & White Soda
I Hate Love
Sleepyhead
Paper Birds >
Mudslide
Lonely Boy
Children Of December
encore:
Soft Machine*
If One Of Us Should Fall
encore 2:
Poor Boy
*w/ simon angel - introduced as brad's neighbour
my favourites on the night were soft machine, i hate love, and paper birds > mudslide - ohhhh, that was awesome!! sleepyhead was really fun to hear, as well, as it's been a bit of an anthem of mine for a little while now... and of course, the even rats opener had to happen - the spring is nice is canada.
lotsa friends from all over the place made the trip up, and the party afterwards was a lot of fun - back at the econolodge with team ottawa representin' a dozen or so strong, very nice indeed! new brunswick even made an appearance! haha!
great times all over the place and we eventually cabbed outta there around 5 or so in the morning.. montreal looked great from the back of the cab in the pre-dawn not quite black... buildings nicely lit, gorgeous architecture.. whatta trip... one of the best parts of the whole adventure. once back at the fishtank we chilled for a bit, passed out, and it wasnt long before morning came and we had to think about getting back on the road for the monster trek back home.
not before we got some breakfast though. where we got the brilliant idea to go bowling before leaving the city - leave with some dirty montreal alley grease under our fingernails.
one lane, one game, to settle an old score.
that's right. (cue 70's badass bowler theme music..)
it'd been a while since the doc and i had been on a lane together, and this was pretty much reminiscient of old times - us sucking it up for the most part. after 6, we were tied.
but it wasnt long before the doc put me in the proverbial camel clutch and locked in for the win..
Doctor 1 - Dio 0 - the fish very respectable. i wish we coulda had him on the team.
we only paid for one game, but the doc upped the ante... he wanted to have another go at it... so, we had at it...
that's right.
so, with that, back on the road to london, and what a drive it was... man, i was so tired. but we did it, pulled in town ultra late, and i grabbed a couple hours sleep before work... had to work the weekend and most of monday, then it was on the road again....
next stop: buffalo!
monday night the slip were playing the icon in buffalo, so i made sure i was gonna check that out... it's not often they play that close to home, and i didnt care that it was a monday night. went out with craig and sari and shain was there as well, writing for jambase - i did some photos as well, but most of them were shit. we had a bit of a border stop, they didnt trust us good little canadians, and that held us up long enough to miss apollo sunshine, which was a real drag cause i was lookin' forward to that, but, we did get there in plenty of time for the slip. and they put on another rockin' show filled with some nice improv, some big rock, and a couple older crowd pleasers.
The Slip
The Icon - Buffalo, NY
03.06.06
Sleepyhead
Wine and White Soda
Even Rats
I Hate Love*
Get Me With Fuji
As Long As There's One Of Us Standing
new marc tune (mostly instrumental)
Cowboy Up*
December's Children
encore:
Before You Were Born
Take A Beetle To The Badlands
* w/ a guy on keys from Sam Champion - forget his name
the new marc tune is 'mostly' instrumental in the same way Proud is - with Brad bringing in some big vocals at the end of the tune.. but it winds its way through a few changes and keeps picking up steam as it goes... it was like a weird train, that doesnt necessarily chug along, but more or less kinda clamours and fights its way through.. i really liked it.
bit of a strange venue... i guess it was like a car garage turned into a rock bar - kinda cold and cavernous... maybe 50 people at the show, really light on the attendace, which played to a weak kind of energy in the room.. i thought the band did well to overcome that, but there still seemed to be a bit of apprehension in the crowd. still a solid monday night out in buffalo - the show was over by midnight.
im really glad i got to get to both of these shows this past week - the soul got rocked to satisfaction, and i got my slip fix for the next little while.
only in montreal....
so healy and i got to montreal last wednesday night, and turns out carpenter was still at work, so we chilled out with his roommate, got settled, watched school of rock,
saved the rental from getting towed, searched for a parking spot, cursed the city like the devil when we couldnt find one, and eventually, about a half hour and 2 and a half blocks later parked the car and made our way back for the rest of school of rock and the imminent arrival of our host, the fish himself. carp found us shortly after midnight and we spent the rest of the night catching up and getting drunk
next morning/afternoon found us having breakfast at chez cora's and good lord what a breakfast it was! so good we went back the next day as well. in fact, all i ate in montreal was breakfast. and a slice of pizza.
breakfast is over. healy's not happy.
we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxin' at carp's place gettin' ready for the slip show at the main hall. it was gonna be a doozie, i'd been waiting for this for a while... very excited! it was gonna be healy's first slip show as well. Needless to say, his slip cherry got fucking smashed.
we took the metro uptown for a good 40 minutes and hit up this really cool place, whose name is escaping me at the moment, i should write this shit down, but anyways, it was a wicked little bar with cool lighting and seating and whatnot, great vibe, very bohemian.. anyways, we had a drink there then headed on up to the show in time for most of apollo sunshine's opening set.
met brad outside on the way into the show and he told us they still had about an hour to go, which was good, we had time to get some drinks, get our bearings, and catch the openers... and good thing - apollo sunshine were a great treat, and an awesome new music find for me. wow, they really got my attention. i bought the cd, then it got stolen. so i bought it again in buffalo. it's really really good. i think if i had to describe them, and to keep with the breakfast theme, i'd call them a meaty rock 'n'roll breakfast skillett. it had everything. madness to ukelele duets. great rock melody to all out noise assault. 3 guys and great to watch live, as well. so after them came the big show, the one we were in town for: the slip.
i guess this was really their own first big show in their new hometown, and they came out swinging! they put on a great show with a setlist packed full of pretty much all of my favourite new songs - not much in the back catalogue, but no big deal to me, i like their rock n roll quite a bit. brad's voice was sounding really good on this night, and marc was a man possessed, playing rock star on a dime - man, he is so fun to watch when he's layin' it down. andrew shone as always, and he got a chance to showcase his vocal talents as well, for a verse in sleepyhead.
The Slip
Main Hall, Montreal QC
03.02.06
Even Rats
Wine & White Soda
I Hate Love
Sleepyhead
Paper Birds >
Mudslide
Lonely Boy
Children Of December
encore:
Soft Machine*
If One Of Us Should Fall
encore 2:
Poor Boy
*w/ simon angel - introduced as brad's neighbour
my favourites on the night were soft machine, i hate love, and paper birds > mudslide - ohhhh, that was awesome!! sleepyhead was really fun to hear, as well, as it's been a bit of an anthem of mine for a little while now... and of course, the even rats opener had to happen - the spring is nice is canada.
lotsa friends from all over the place made the trip up, and the party afterwards was a lot of fun - back at the econolodge with team ottawa representin' a dozen or so strong, very nice indeed! new brunswick even made an appearance! haha!
great times all over the place and we eventually cabbed outta there around 5 or so in the morning.. montreal looked great from the back of the cab in the pre-dawn not quite black... buildings nicely lit, gorgeous architecture.. whatta trip... one of the best parts of the whole adventure. once back at the fishtank we chilled for a bit, passed out, and it wasnt long before morning came and we had to think about getting back on the road for the monster trek back home.
not before we got some breakfast though. where we got the brilliant idea to go bowling before leaving the city - leave with some dirty montreal alley grease under our fingernails.
one lane, one game, to settle an old score.
that's right. (cue 70's badass bowler theme music..)
it'd been a while since the doc and i had been on a lane together, and this was pretty much reminiscient of old times - us sucking it up for the most part. after 6, we were tied.
but it wasnt long before the doc put me in the proverbial camel clutch and locked in for the win..
Doctor 1 - Dio 0 - the fish very respectable. i wish we coulda had him on the team.
we only paid for one game, but the doc upped the ante... he wanted to have another go at it... so, we had at it...
that's right.
so, with that, back on the road to london, and what a drive it was... man, i was so tired. but we did it, pulled in town ultra late, and i grabbed a couple hours sleep before work... had to work the weekend and most of monday, then it was on the road again....
next stop: buffalo!
monday night the slip were playing the icon in buffalo, so i made sure i was gonna check that out... it's not often they play that close to home, and i didnt care that it was a monday night. went out with craig and sari and shain was there as well, writing for jambase - i did some photos as well, but most of them were shit. we had a bit of a border stop, they didnt trust us good little canadians, and that held us up long enough to miss apollo sunshine, which was a real drag cause i was lookin' forward to that, but, we did get there in plenty of time for the slip. and they put on another rockin' show filled with some nice improv, some big rock, and a couple older crowd pleasers.
The SlipThe Icon - Buffalo, NY
03.06.06
Sleepyhead
Wine and White Soda
Even Rats
I Hate Love*
Get Me With Fuji
As Long As There's One Of Us Standing
new marc tune (mostly instrumental)
Cowboy Up*
December's Children
encore:
Before You Were Born
Take A Beetle To The Badlands
* w/ a guy on keys from Sam Champion - forget his name
the new marc tune is 'mostly' instrumental in the same way Proud is - with Brad bringing in some big vocals at the end of the tune.. but it winds its way through a few changes and keeps picking up steam as it goes... it was like a weird train, that doesnt necessarily chug along, but more or less kinda clamours and fights its way through.. i really liked it.
bit of a strange venue... i guess it was like a car garage turned into a rock bar - kinda cold and cavernous... maybe 50 people at the show, really light on the attendace, which played to a weak kind of energy in the room.. i thought the band did well to overcome that, but there still seemed to be a bit of apprehension in the crowd. still a solid monday night out in buffalo - the show was over by midnight.
im really glad i got to get to both of these shows this past week - the soul got rocked to satisfaction, and i got my slip fix for the next little while.
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