Friday, April 21, 2006
GO NOW!!!
Saturday, April 15, 2006
WTF?!
I may be able to actually write something about it when I calm down a bit, but until then I'm just gonna sit here and fume and curse and ask "What the fuck is wrong with people?!" and fear for the fate of our race.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Hi...Remember me?...
Actually, I can't blame it solely on the new computer. There is also the new camera, a sick pooch, the fact that I have been on holidays and have left my car at the Downbeat more nights than I would care to admit, trying to somewhat organize my house and Buskerfest stuff. In fact, I think I have been busier on holidays than I would be had I been working...odd...
...oh yea...and I am slowly morphing into a geek. Yep, I now have a MySpace. So that makes 3 blogs, a MySpace and a Flickr photo account, all of which require regular updates and maintenance...oh boy. What have I done...
The purpose of this post was to assure everyone that I am indeed still alive. Once I have shaken all the flickr, photoshop and fonts out of my cranium and returned to reality, I will make a real post. Until then, I present this for your listening pleasure...thank you Lord Pugh.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Slackhopper Vortex

This is my brain on iMAC...my new iMAC...mine all mine...sweet mother of God it'scool! And the speakers I got sound better than the ones we have hooked up to our home stereo. I may not been seen in public for a while as I am still on a serious learning dead man's curve...but I will emerge shortly all pasty, dehydrated and bug-eyed an avid MAC user...fear not!!...now back to the fun...
Sunday, March 19, 2006
A Brain Dropping
...fucking Acadamy Awards...
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Local Film Threats
In other film news, tall dude with camera and good buddy to all Dan Nystedt has recently returned from a 3 week stint in Toronto with the first 20 minutes of his documentary film,"The Middle". Over the past 2 or so years, Dan has been interviewing, filming and drinking with Canadian touring bands who have graced the stage at the Downbeat Lounge.

He gave a few lucky viewers a sneak preview of his film Thursday night, where else, at the Downbeat Lounge. So far, so good...the film looks fantastic and I can't wait to see the final full product. I'm very proud of you, Dan and keep up the good work putting the Sault on the map. Say "hi" to Bruce MacDonald for me...
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Rebel Rebel

I did it...I dove in head first and bought a Canon Rebel XT Sunday, March 12, 2006 at 1:38pm. It's my new baby. I even brought it to work with me Monday 'cuz I couldn't stand to be appart from her. Now I just have to learn how to use it. The accompanying software is not compatable with my old operating system, however, which bummed me out. But then I spent even more $$$ on a SanDisk card reader/writer and just like that, problem solved. I am so smart...S-M-R-T...
Friday, March 10, 2006
Trauma not Troma

That's right...the debut gig for the lastest Mr. West band will occure this Sunday night at Loplops Lounge. It's bound to be a feast for the ears and eyes, however, the Toxic Avenger will not attend (boo). We can all use a little Trauma in our lives so come and get your dose...
Sorry for the theft of your poster, Mr. West...I couldn't help myself...
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Some Funny Things Happen on the Way to My Blog...
There is a fun site meter thing on this blog where I can look and see who is looking at me. It offers all kinds of interesting tid-bits about who has visited my blog, where they're from, what browser they use, computer operating system, how long they were here and etcetera. It even tells me their IP address...if only I were a hacker...
My favourite part is the "referrals". This tells me where they came from to find my blog...most come from Craig's, Curt's or Jay's sites. Others stumble across it through random Google, Yahoo or MSN searches...these can be VERY interesting. I always look at what a person was looking for when they came across my blog, and some of them boarder on bizarre. There are a lot of "Slackhopper" searches (Dan, is that you?)...the following is a list of some of the oddities, word for word as they appeare in the searches;
- amazing and breath-taking majic tricks to learn off the computer ...yes, that is how they spelled 'magic'...
- bikini wax
- pictures of Grace Hopper as a baby ...no relation...wish she was...she helped invent the first computer...
- Patti Craig drug bust...I knew you two were up to no good...
- teenage highschool sex
- sault gay boys ...Dave, is that you?...
- graeme poll dancing ...wouldn't be the first time...
- Denis Leary cure for cancer photo
- yea yea I am newly celebrated lyrics ...this one makes NO sense and I have no idea what the hell they were looking for...a little help, here...
- nun debauchery ....someone's goin' ta hell....
- Barbie and Ken doing exotic things together ...who HASN"T seen that...
- where is sir isaac newton barried ...first of all, it's 'buried'...second of all that's not how a Google search works, moron...you can't just ask the computer a question and have the answer magically appear on the screen...sheeesh...
- hair everywhere ref hairy girls video ...*gag*...
There were a lot of others I could list, but I only started keeping track of them a short while ago. I have since gotten into the habit of checking every day and writing the interesting ones down, so rest assured there will be similar posts in this here blog's future.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
...some STUFF and a few THINGS...
Now for something completely different...
In music news, I have discovered my new favourite band.
Living Things. I saw a video of theirs on "The Wedge" about a week ago and said "Holy shit these guys are awesome!" I then downloaded a few more tunes and fell in love. After visiting their website I was hooked. Go there. Go there now! I now own the CD and it has taken up permanent residence in my CD changer. If you take Iggy Pop, Sloan and the Killers and smoosh them all together, you get Living Things...very cool...
Also in music,
Magneta Lane's new album has just been released in North America. These hot babes are gonna be huge and the album is awesome. I think I purchased the last copy at CD Plus, but go on a hunt for it...you will not be disappointed.
Pandora. Have I told you about Pandora yet? I have been trying my darndest to spread the word about Pandora. It's an on-line music station...but it's much much more than that. You basicly create your own radio stations...like having your own personal DJ. Enter the name of a band or song you like and Pandora will find other music with similar sounds and styles to play. You then give each song a thumbs up or thumbs down and soon you have created your ultimate station...it's VERY cool and a great way to discover music and bands you may not have otherwise heard about. To register, you have to be a resident of the US...it will ask you for a Zip Code...just enter the one for Sault Michigan and you're all good...49783...have fun and you're welcome...
In local music news......

...the Speakeasy...be there and throw bras at the boys...they like that...come and marvel at the new skinny Mr. West...witness the continuing battle of who is a side project to whom...be amazed at the drummer who can drink a beer faster than a speeding bullet...it's a freak show not to be missed!!
Unfortunately, I will miss it...I will be playing the part of bar wench that evening at LopLops...type-casting be damned!
...also, Mr. Mark Kunsti will be doing a solo gig at the Downbeat Lounge this Thursday evening. I believe he also sent me a poster but I accidently deleted it from my e-mail...sorry dude...my bad... Mark has a smooth sweet voice like butter and he always plays "Eat My Brain" for me...thanks Mark! Maybe Lord Pugh will show up and they can do "Silver Water"...possibly the greatest local country song DLP doesn't remember writing...
This Friday night at the Downbeat Lounge,
Controller Controller will be performing once again. If you missed them the last time, this is your chance to see an amazing band that is sure to go big. (their music can be found on Pandora, which I thought was pretty cool...) High energy, multi-talented and a lot of freakin' fun!! And you can definitely dance to it... I will be playing the roll of video assistant to Mr. Dan Nystedt that evening...a roll I would love to have permanently. See y'all there!
Finally, this Sunday evening get ready to rock out with your cock out!...the
Ultimate Power Duo will be performing at the Downbeat Lounge. With obvious influences like the Ramones and Spinal Tap, a good time is unavoidable. Raise a glass and a fist to the Ultimate power Duo!!
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Nar-Nar!...for the last time...promise...

This was at the country house/ranch/farm/whatever it was...Sandro said this was typically how the average Dominican person lived, although this particular family did a bit better than most because a few of these tours stopped at their house and bought their products...I'm sure the tour company kicked in a couple of bucks as well...

The kitchen...that blue seemed to be a very common colour down there for houses and such...the home had natural gas and electricity, but no running water. A very large percentage of homes have natural gas, a lot have electricity but the running water seems to be the issue. As we entered the home, Sandro said Dominican people are extremely clean even though the general impression by outsiders is that it is a dirty country..."If you want to know what kind of person someone is, look at how clean their house is" he said, I think trying to dispel the idea that these people and others like them are "lower class"...the house was spotless...

This family grew coconuts, mangos, sweet lemons, pineapples, coffee, bananas, cocoa, oregano and aloe vera...they also raised roosters...that's coming up in just a minute...I think I saw a goat or two hangin' around as well...that's a cocoa tree posing with Sandro...
We got to sample most of it...I have never tasted cocoa or coffee even close to what we had there...WOW! is all I can say...and fruit so fresh and delicious it pinched me on the butt...

Yep...that's a cock fight...I said "cock" (teehee)...apparently it is a very lucrative business down there, perfectly legal and a good cock (teehee) sells for around $1000.00 US. Renegging on a cock (teehee) fight bet results in a fate worse than death...shame and dishonour...
They wash the cocks (teehee) in rum to toughen the skin...Weird...
This battle was not to the death and only lasted about 5 minutes, but it was cool none the less...

This is the view of the mountains from the ranch where we ate a lunch of beans and rice, BBQed pork and bread...YUMMMM! We also went horseback riding...I got bit on the leg by the asshole horse the Greek lady was riding...OUCH!!...then he tried another two or three times to get me...that horse was a dick head...maybe he thought I has an apple...I am pretty fuckin' sweet...
We hung out there for a bit looking at the alligators, flamingos, various other birds and the terrified monkey in the cage...oh yeah...and the really sad sickly looking dogs...
I found my favourite souvenir there...a really gnarley piece of beach glass that I will be making into a pendant...I love free....

That's Dave in the thick of the school children feeding frenzy of candy...they completely surrounded and ambushed the truck, their tiny hands reaching in and grabbing at us like something out of a nightmare...it was CRAZY...a lot of the people on the tour brought candy to hand out...I forgot mine at the resort but I did bring school supplies and they loved it..."A mi, a mi, Senora, a mi!" they would scream, meaning "to me". I did end up buying a bag of candy at the store behind Dave and tried to hand the sweets out in an orderly fashion, making sure to get to the really little ones but by the time my hand got down to them it was always empty.
Off to the side, Rob and Sandro were discussing the situation. This practice used to bother Sandro a great deal until he remembered what it was like when he was young and his uncle would visit from New York and bring him candy. Sandro and the driver let this craziness go on for a bit and then they would step in and chill things out...the kids always listened to them and order was returned...

On the ride back to the main truck loading place (I talk good English, eh?) Sandro spent most of the journey asleep in the front of the truck...he was a bit hung over, I think...it seems the local baseball team won some sort of National championship and the whole town celebrated...very loudly...we could hear the ruckus at the resort...
The gang in the back of the truck did not mind...we emptied the beer cooler thanks to the French guy who was a champ at opening beer bottles with a lighter...VIVE LA FRANCE!!
The excursion and the beautiful wedding made going into debt toally worth while. The resort was beautiful and awesome and fun, but I am so happy we got to see the real Dominican Republic. I would do it again in a heart beat.
Now for a few more general fun photos of high jinx and stuff...

...not there 4 hours yet and drunk already...Graeme is the champ...

...at the swim up bar...of course...

...best bed buddies in the lobby bar...

...me with a monkey on my back...uh, shoulder...

...three fingers at the buffet bar...Rob, Donna and Dave...

Kelvin...Jay's Spanish teacher and bartender and friend to all...

...Speedo Steve-O and the Princess...

...my God we were happy to be there!
Thursday, February 09, 2006
More Dominican Tid-Bits

Rob, Dave and I took a day long tour of the country side the day following the wedding. The first stop was a HUGE sugar cane field...I mean it was ginormous! We drove through it for almost an hour...acres and acres of sugar cane...they let us sample raw sugar cane as Sandro, our guide, explained the history, cultivation and economic relavance of the sugar cane industry...quite interesting. After eating the sugar cane, Sandro then went on to discuss the production of Rum, during which we consumed a large portion of said liquid form of sugar cane...it was 9:30 in the morning and I had a serious buzz going on...

That's Sandro riding the back of the truck with a few local children who had hitched a ride in the hopes of getting some candy. There were kids at every speed bump...the truck had to slow down at these spots, so they would hang out there so the tourist would throw candy to them.

Our next stop was the Cigar Museum where we were given a shot of Mamajuana, an absolutely mouth watering combination of dried, cured roots and herbs steeped in a mixture of rum, red wine and honey. We drank A LOT of Mamajuana on this vacation...they call it the Dominican Viagra...hummmm.
Pictured above is a typical Dominican butcher shop. We passed through a lot of small villages and towns during our tour and these were everywhere. Sandro said that a lot of tourists are grossed out by the meat just hanging there...they eat it every day and he said if we ate it it would not make us sick...it was all in our heads...would you risk it?

...same butcher shop...one pig, two heads...'nuff said...

On the way to a typical country farm, we saw some AMAZING scenery. The ride was long, rough, dusty and hot and I LOVED every minute of it! What a beautiful country. Passing through some of the villages was difficult...a lot of these people are so poor it would break your heart. I got stabbed with pangs of guilt as Johnny Rottens voice echoed in my head..."You shouldn't holiday in other people's misery"...

I wanted to scoop up all the children and take them home with me...
On this note, I will sign off. Time to return to reality and get shit done. More to come soon so stay tuned folks!
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
FINALLY....some notes on the trip....
We've been back for almost two weeks now and I haven't written anything about the trip to the Dominican. Sorry 'bout that. The thing is, I was in the Dominican for about two hours when I completely forgot it was winter and I had climatized to the heat and humidity....I still have not re-climatized to the cold and snow...this place SUCKS ass...at least in the winter...
It is almost impossible to put into words just how freakin' awesome the trip was and how beautiful a country it is....so I will show you.
Here are some highlights........

This was the view of the Island as we made our descent. I commented to Rob that even the clouds looked exotic...

We just arrived at the resort after a 40 minute ride from the airport. Carlos, our guide, explained a bit about life in the Dominican and issued some warnings to tourists...where to shop, where not to shop...stay away from the Casinos...what to buy and how to tell if it is real...he was good, spoke English quite well and was VERY easy on the eyes...where is my photo of him and I, Mr. Olsen?

Yup...I was actually there...that's me on our ocean view balcony in my new bikini...we spent a good portion of our mornings hanging out on the balcony staring at the ocean...and laughing at fat guys in speedos...and pointing out naked boobies...

...some of the gang at the swim up pool bar...we spent A LOT of time there...unfortunately it closed every day at 6:00, so we would go eat and then head to the bar at the lobby. it closed at midnight, so we would then head to the bar in the buffet restaurant which was open all night...uh-oh...

That's me sitting on the pool bar with Alex, the bartender. he was great, a lot of fun and also worked in the lobby bar so he saw A LOT of this crew...

This is the market about 15 minutes down the beach from our resort...one of the places Carlos warned us about...the Amber and Larimar (the National stone of the Dominican Republic only found there) are all fake although they'll tell you otherwise. The vendors are very aggressive, yelling things like "Cheapy cheapy!", "Almost free!", "For you, special price" and "Boxing week sale!". There were about a dozen different shops but they all had exactly the same things. Jodi even got an offer of marriage from one of the vendors..."You are like milk and I am like coffee. Our skin looks beautiful together. If you want to stay I will marry you." How could she pass that up?

Mr. and Mrs. Cooper during the ring exchange ceremony on the beach. It was beautiful and touching...not a dry eye on the beach...

A Mariachi band played as they had their first dance on the beach...everything was picture perfect...and hot...did I mention it was really freakin' hot that day?...yup...definitely hot...
Part two of the Dominican will be posted shortly. There is much more to show. Until then...NAR NAR!!...
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Nar Nar....
In other news, I voted today. I commented to Rob this morning that it has been years that I have actually voted FOR someone....not since Ed Broadbent was the leader of the NDP, actually. I have settled onto the routine of voting in the hopes that the evilest of many do not gain power. I don't want any of our current parties to have absolute power, but I had to pick the one I felt had the best chance of beating the Conservatives....or at least keep them from having a majority government.
......Craig West, don't forget about "Operation Ex-Pat" if the Conservatives do win.....I will be keeping a close eye on my e-mail, buddy.....
I must go and attend to my laundry. I have to wash all my summer clothes to bring with me.....nar nar.....
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Letterman and O'Reilly Duke It Out
I guess the highlight would have been when Letterman told O'Reilly, "I think about 60% of what you say is crap." When O'Reilly asked Letterman to back up his statement, David told him "that would be impossible" because he doesn't watch the show.
Then there is always, "I don't believe this is an actual threat. I think this is something that happened here and it happened there and so people like you are trying to make us think that it's a threat." which is what David said to O'Reilly regarding the War on Christmas....you go Dave!!
Neither Bill nor David looked very happy during the interview, and at the end of it David swung his chair around and stared at the papers on his desk...no during commercial banter for Mr. O'Reilly, I guess.
To view the full clip, click here. You will have to scroll down to almost the bottom of the page to find it, but it is sooo worth it.
Vive la Letterman!!!
Saturday, December 31, 2005
BREAKING NEWS...

Mr. James Case has a website. I repeat, Mr. James (I cut off my own fingers and I can still play mean fuckin' guitar) Case has a smokin' hot website.
I only see one flaw with this synario...it will now be impossible to keep our home grown guitar God to ourselves here in modest Sault Ste. Marie. Jay, meet World. World, meet Jay.
With a voice than can make a nun rip her clothes off and grab the nearest male to engage in unspeakable acts of passion coupled with his unique and undeniable talents as a musician and song writer, it will not be long before he is noticed and whisked away to bigger and brighter stuff and things. Just remember all us little people when you're a big rock star, Jay. I'll even work for you, if you like. I'm assuming the position of "Personal Ball Sanitation Engineer" has been taken by George Ravlich, so I'll have to find something else I can do...maybe I could be your sound technician...that looks like a pretty easy gig...a no brainer, really...
...excuse me, but I must run and hide from Mr. Ravlich now...
Anyway, congratulations Jay. The site looks stellar! The site was of course, designed by Curt O'Neil of Murderfly Multimedia. Nice job, CO. However, the pictures could use some work. I think you should give me that junk camera you've been using and get a new one...*wink wink*
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Holiday in a Nutshell

Hope evryone had a glorious holiday. My Christmas was fantastic full of friends, family and good times.

Rob loved his gift. I had Robbie Adamson burn the record onto CD for me so on Christmas morning Rob awoke to Johnny Cash belting out "Hey Good Lookin'". He emerged perplexed from the bedroom in his boxers wondering where the hell I had found Johnny singing Hank Williams. He was more than pleasantly surprized to see the autographed LP resting on the fireplace mantle. All went according to plan... bwah ha ha ha....

He gave me the awesome book pictured above...The Weekly World News ROCKS!!!...and the special edition 2 DVD set of "Sin City", plus a stocking full of fun games, toys and music...Bedouin Sound Clash and Death From Above...fun fun fun...
But stay tuned folks, for the holiday season is not quite through. We still have New Year's Eve ahead and you KNOW I will be talking tons of photos that night. If I will not be seeing you that evening, be safe and I wish you all the best in the new year.
...oh yes...and look what Jay Case got for Christmas...

...a passed out George Ravlich ripe for the sodomy...lucky Jay...
Saturday, December 24, 2005
HAPPY HAPPY HO HO HO!!
Friday, December 16, 2005
Merry happy Christmas holidays
As of late, Mr. O'Reilly has been discussing and debating the apparent American war on Christmas. He claims that Americans are trying to eliminate Christmas because some people say "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas". While discussing this issue on his show, he agreed that it would be silly for individuals to be insulted by the term "Merry Christmas" if said greeting was directed at someone of other-than-Christian faith...someone Jewish or Hindu, perhaps. In the next breath he demanded the phrase "Happy Holidays" was utterly insulting to individuals of Christian faith.
...huh...interesting...Jon Stewart thought it was interesting too.
I think Bill O'Reilly needs to lighten the fuck up and try to find real news to talk about. What he is trying to do is make a non-issue into an issue. He is picking and scratching and clawing at a freckle until it bleeds and then claims it's cancer.
His main support for his argument are major national department stores such as Gap, Walmart and Sears that post "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings" in their windows rather than "Merry Christmas". I think it's a cost issue, not a secular issue. This time of year boasts two holidays; Christmas and New Years Eve. Two is plural. Saying "Happy Holidays" is just more time and cost effective than saying "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year".
OK. So I am partially joking about the whole cost effective thing. The truth is the "Christ" has been slowly slipping out of "Christmas" for quite some time. Although the holiday still carries His name, many individuals forget, or better yet "disregard" what the day is supposed to represent. Ya know why? Because a large portion of the population don't care. If they cared, the "Christ" would not be slipping out of "Christmas".
For those who do care, no one is stopping you from going to church and honouring the birthday of baby Jesus by killing a tree. By all means, have at it. But I'll let you in on a little secret...December 25 was not Christ's birthday.
(I love Wikipedia and here's why...)
On or around December 25 ancient Romans celebrated the festival of Saturnalia in honour of--you guessed it--Saturn, the God of farming or agriculture. They would cut down evergreens (signifigant because they did not die in the winter) and decorate them to pay homage to Saturn...a sacrafice, as it were.
The festival was mostly a lot of goofing around, something like April Fool's Day, when masters and slaves would switch roles and the like. It was so much fun that the holiday expanded to almost a week long. Always trying to out do themselves as the Romans often did, the festival gradually degraded into utter debauchery. So much so that soon the word "saturnalia" came to mean "orgy" to the Christians.
AWESOME!!!
It is widely believed that in the fourth century, the Christians assigned December 25 as Christ's birthday in a effort to "Christianize" the pagans celebrating Saturnalia. Rather than eliminate an already popular holiday and try to get them to celebrate an entirely new one, they must have thought it was easier to just replace it. How'd they stop the orgies, that's what I wanna know.
By the way, December 25 is also the secular holiday "Newtonmas" in honour of Sir Isaac Newton.
So getting back to Mr. Bill O'Reilly, I have this to say to him this holiday season; (in honour of Christmas) "Seasons Greetings you self righteous moron", (in honour of Newtonmas) "Happy Genius You Will Never Be Day" and (in honour of Saturnalia) "Go fuck yourself." How ever you want to celebrate is entirely up to you, but leave the rest of us alone and find some real news to talk about.
Long live Jon Stewart!