...and now for a brighter note...

Sorry for all my gloom and "poor me" crap.

Here is something fun. A snippet from my favourite Christmas cartoon, "A Wish For Wings That Work"..



Emjoy!

This Christmas blows goats

Well, these have been my best friends for the last 3 days...


I have been sick on and off for about 2 months now, and naturally the worst of it has to hit at Christmas. I have no energy, one hell of a sore throat and chest, no voice at all, plenty of phlegm and a lot of hatred for viruses.

I missed all the fun stuff and it seriously bums me out; the Gates of Winter/IT/Startlefish show, Al Wood and Lindsay at Bottom's Up, the A&PHL, Dan Nystedt's house party, Shannon's birthday...this sucks...

I have barely been out of the house since work on Friday night.

...and James Brown died this morning...

Merry fucking Christmas.

Baby Jesus' Birthday and stuff...

At this time of year, stress, bills and tension mounts. Just keep in mind that the holidays are a time for family, friends and giving.

For the men out there who have no idea what to give their little lady, may I offer this suggestion?

Ya know, I may not like the guy's music that much, but every day I gain more and more respect for Mr. Timberlake.

Anyhoo, just for shits and gigles, here is my very own Christmas movie quiz for y'all. Good luck!

1. What length of pole would the singer of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" not touch him with?

2. What was the last thing the Grinch took from Cindy-Loo Hoo's house?

3. What was the name of the Grinch's dog? (yea, this is an easy one...)

4. What roll did Charlie Brown fill in the school Christmas play in "A Charlie Brown Christmas"?

5. What song did Lucy insist Schroder play in "A Charlie Brown Christmmas"?

6. What did Snoopy win an award for in "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and what place was he?

7. How did Opus get his letter to Santa in "A Wish For Wings That Work"?

8. What support group did Opus belong to in "A Wish For Wings That Work"?

9. What was Jack Skellington's dog's name in "A Nightmare Before Christmas"?

10. What did Sally entice Oogie-Boogie with in order to draw his attention away from Santa in a "Nightmare Before Christmas"?

11. Who did Lock, Shock and Barrel first kidnap, thinking he was Santa Claus in "A Nightmare Before Christmas"?

12. Who played Robin Willimas' character's military-minded cousin in "Toys"?

13. What was Yukon Cornelius searching for in "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer"?

14. Why was the Abominable Snowman so angry in "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer"?

15. Why was Hermey the elf a misfit in "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer"? (yea, another easy one...)

Have fun and by all means, have a wicked-ass Christmas!!

The History of a Camera, Part Uno-The Love of Bands

So a while ago, Curt O'Neil started an interesting project on his blog and invited other photographers to take part...the history of their cameras in picture form. I decided it was cool, because I am after all the ultimate judge in coolness, and wanted to take part.

To read what he is getting at, click here. Too lazy to click there? Screw you, too bad. You miss out. I'm too lazy to explain it all and my laziness out-weighs your laziness on my blog.

Here are the first of the pics....


Milhouse. My best little guy and in love with the camera.


The Downbeat Lounge. My favourite watering hole and the inspiration for my band photography. Rest in peace.


Tracey Hilderly, the rockinest chick in the Sault, drumming with the Malcontents at the DBL. Note the Motley Crue t-shirt and the cowboy hat......nice!


Dustin Jones of the Inner Cuty Surfers. He rocks, he loves, he leaves. That's just what he does. The Surfers made me fall into a deep and insatiable addiction to live band photography.


Mikey Hawdon of the Inner Cuty Sufers. See the comments above. The same goes for him too.


Al Wood, Lindsay Pugh and Frank Deresti jamming at Loplops with some chicks whose name I don't remember. Not a great pic, by any stretch.


My lovely husband doing what he does best.


Trevor Heartless and Dan Nystedt posing with Rae Spoon, a Downbeat favourite and part of the bar's family.


I've always liked lamps.


Trevor Heartless during a late night, very drunk jam in the basement of the DBL.

There you have my first insallment of the history of my camera, which was purchased in March of 2006. I have taken over 12 000 pictures with it. I never plan to stop.

Ever.

Me 'n Motley Crue

Yes.

Finally a new post.

I know what you're thinking.

I don't love you any more.

I couldn't be bothered with the twos an twos of people that actually read my blog.

Now that I write for SooToday.com, I'm 'too good' to blog.

Well, my friends, none of these are true.

The fact of the matter is, I'm really fucking busy most of the time. And the times I have to myself, I spend sleeping or ... well, sleeping.

I also engage in the occasional adult beverage now and again, but since my injury I have cut that down quite a bit. My bank account thanks me.

So, as the title of this post indicates, I have recently had some dealings with the good old Motley Mother Fucking Crue. That's right, I had the honour of covering the show for SooToday.com, which meant I could take pictures (in a VERY limited capacity) at the show.

I was scared as shit.

I have never shot an arena show before.

I had no idea what to expect.

It was weird.

I showed up according to pre-arranged agreements with arena staff and it all turned out to be wrong.

I was pissed.

I then followed my nose as the toucan taught me and was able to at least get inside the doors. This made me a bit less pissed off.

I had borrowed lenses from all over the place and it turns out the one lens I should have grabbed was the one I did not.

FUCK!

You see, the media were only allowed to take pictures at the very front of the stage for the VERY FIRST SONG. During said first song ( and it turns out, for most of the show really) it was all smoke and strobe lights. These are not good for photographers. At least inexperienced ones like me.

I did get a fucking kick ass shot of Nikki Sixx pointing right at me, however. You'll have to wait to see it in a photo gallery on SooToday as I was forced to sign a waiver that stated I would not reproduce, sell or display the photos for any purpose other than SooToday.

Bummer.

Anyway, after the first song, we were ushered to the penalty box at the Steelback Centre, which is not REALLY far back, but far enough back that I was unhappy with the zoom I had borrowed. We were there for two songs and two songs exactly. No more, no less. The dude from House of Blues was very serious about his job and got us out of there right quick.

Then in order to get back into the show, I had to put my camera in the box office......or put it in my car. And since (a) most of the equipment I had was not mine and (b) my car was about 4 blocks away and it was freakin' cold out, I decided to lock it up in the box office.

After that, I found my friends in section 117 and proceeded to totally rock out with my cock out.....if I indeed had a cock it would have rocked the most, baby!

I had a fucking killer time at the show. But, unfortunately due to many circumstances, I am not overly happy with the pics. DAMN! I wish I could show them to you!

The fog, the back-lighting, my inexperience, the fact that Tommy Lee's drum riser was so high combined with him sitting so low behind them and that I opted to NOT borrow CO's lovely 200mm zoom lens result in me having a lot of regrets about this show....as a photographer.

As a rocker from way back, I tickled about the show.

I did not get one good shot of Tommy Lee and that seriously bums me out!!

But hey, it was my first big show and I have definetley learned from the experience. Next time I will know better.

Now all I want to do is get drunk and have sex with Tommy Lee...or maybe be Nkki Sixx. I haven't decided yet. They're both sexy as all get out.

Shit-Fuck-Damn.

I did get to leave with a very unique piece of memorabilia...

...my press pass...


...cool, huh?...