Two Thousand and Nine

Dec 15, 2009

So my touring adventures for 2009 are done, and I am now at home. The last couple trips I haven’t written much and now is the time for me to make a note about the year for myself, and those who like to read about it. Ha. I usually keep it all in order but this time I will start with the most recent and leave with the most distant.

I just ended a tour with the freak show known as Propagandhi. Ha. Together with another bunch of other goofs- Strike Anywhere/ Protest The Hero we journeyed across the lands of the UK/ Ireland. Fun times were had everywhere but funner times were had in Ireland for sure. The UK needs to tighten up on it’s comedy, food, culture, and loosen up a little at its venues. Barricades, and security guards dressed in black with ear pieces are never any fun.

Like I said…….Ireland….you ruled hard! And always do!!

So in 1999 I moved to Santa Cruz from my fathers house in southern California to begin a life of my own. I had come across music-punk- about 5 years ago while leaving middle school. I had always like music but never really “knew” music until that time.

There were times as a child I would sit in the back of our car with my parents having the stereo on and I would air drum with McDonalds straws to the tunes being heard. Ha.

So when I moved to Santa Cruz I ended up selling my car, which my Dad gave me, to travel Europe for a little bit. My Dad wasn’t pumped but I did what I did and went with it. On my adventures in Europe I stayed with my friends Erol, and Nasrin for a good week in…geez I can’t even remember the name now- its near Hamburg. Erol had this Strike Anywhere LP “Chorus of One” which I recorded on cassette and brought with me for the remainder of the trip.
Once back in Santa Cruz I ended up getting a job at Sessions Records, as their promo fellow and also as someone who booked tours for bands. A bunch of friends of mine from southern California named the Missing 23rd had signed with Sessions records so I started booking them tours. I had since bought and owned the Strike Anywhere LP so when it came time to booking a show for the M23 in Virginia I emailed the address on the Strike Anywhere album. After a week or so a reply was made by Garth and an agreement was made to have both the Strike Anywhere, and M23 play together in Virginia.

Months later I received a call from Thomas- Stike Anywhere- to book them a west coast tour, which I did, and ended up going on about half of. Fun times. After getting to know the SA’s for awhile I ended up moving to Richmond, VA to continue our adventures together, and to begin a new chapter.

After a couple of tours Strike Anywhere ended up doing the “Anchors Aweigh” tour with the Bouncing Souls which began my friendship and future adventures with that incredible family.
Before this tour I do remember many drives in the SA van listening to both the Souls, and Propagandhi just imagining us all touring with both bands.

The anchors aweigh tour happened within due time and was incredible and lead to me later on touring with the Bouncing Souls whom I last toured with in Oct. Rad. Rad. Rad!

I have toured with a handful of bands and the 3 most important bands to me from this little list are bands that I have been able to share part of 2009 with.

So 2009 ended with Strike Anywhere, and Propagandhi again touring together for the 2nd time this year. Totally weird. Who would have thought?

About 8 years ago I get a call from Thomas which lead to a special friendship, then another special friendship with the Bouncing Souls, and now another special friendship with Propagadnhi. Life is super wild, and interesting how it all works out.
10 Years ago never would I have thought that I would be able to travel the world with friends and bands I grew up listening to who these friends also play in. Its been a wild a crazy journey and 2009 has been special. So….right on!!


Saturday, Nov 28, 2009


So I am about 2.5 hours into a 6.5 hour flight from Montreal to Paris, and then onto London where I will meet up with the other animals for our next, and last circus of 2009.

This plane for today’s flight is a very older model 747 with no individual TV’s in which makes for quite a boring trip. Get it together Air France! Good money is spent for these flights and in this day and age of competition your loosing due to other airlines currently having state of the art entertainment systems. Oh well only a couple more hours to go.

On a side note is a little annoying sometimes when the person next to you thinks its okay for them to take more then their space. Here I am passively fighting for some more arm room so I don’t feel so cramped but it’s not working. Haha. Also a couple months ago I went to the Dr. to get some pills for flights to relax me and my forgetful butt forget them in my bag below, and I decided to drink a cup of coffee on this flight which isn’t good due to the adrenaline I get during the bumps.

The food thus far was okay- braised tofu dish over rice with green beans, a baguette, salad, a nice glass of red wine, and some fruit as desert.

I am really excited about this next tour of ours for numerous reasons. Sharing the adventures with us is Strike Anywhere who are some really close friends of mine and old buddies from Richmond. This will be the first time out of all my touring where I have shared adventures with the SA boys in the Eastern hemisphere. Pumped!
Last time Propagandhi/ Strike Anywhere toured together it was a blast but I had to remain pretty alert/ responsible due to driving and the responsibilities of taking care of the soldiers. On this tour we will be in a bus which means I don’t have to worry about any driving at all which is a good good thing. Much hanging will be had.
Also it’s going to be quite interesting for our freak show-Propagandhi- as we are sharing a bus with a band/ people we have never met named Protest the Hero. I am sure it will be fine but it’s going to be interesting non-the less. At first upon hearing that this band-PTH- was our main support it was something I have always kind of thought to myself “huh?” as I really don’t find them that good of a band plus I am so close to SA and think that this tour would have been fine without PTH. What can you do? I am sure once we all get into the same spaceship and spend a couple days together all will be well. As long as these new fellows don’t mind the crazy smells, and chaos that comes with us it will run smoothly.

On this trip we will tour most of the UK, and head over to Ireland for a show in Dublin, and Belfast, which will be a first for me. Can’t wait actually and we have a day off in that city as well. I also heard last night of a professional ice hockey team from Belfast and it turns out that they are playing the night of our day off there so I think there will be a group of us going.

After this tour is done I have no plans in the immediate future and need to think of something to do with my time. Treat myself to a possible vacation. I will use this trip to brain storm my next personal destination which could be places such as India, Coast Rica, Belize, or somewhere in south America. Not too long ago I would treat myself with a solo adventure at least once a year and haven’t had one of these in the last couple of years. I’ll admit that in the past going alone has been not that big of a deal. Sure sometimes you get lonely but I have also met some amazing people who I traveled with and those experiences wouldn’t have been what they were if I was traveling with someone. For some reason these days I can tell that I am a little nervous to get up and leave by myself although I have numerous times. Not sure why? Maybe it has something to do with being gone all the time, away from or who knows what. Oh well.

Where is the Love and Compassion?

Oct 13, 2009

This is truly completely mind blowing.

My friend Ali who I met years ago on the mind numbing Warped Tour is currently going through what I would say is probably the most insane thing she has or ever will go through.

It was 2006 when our paths crossed and still to this day I am thankful for this crossing.
Ali is one of the cutest, sweetest people to walk this planet. Truly. Its why she is my friend and its why all my friends are my friends.

For 2 months straight from 8 in the morning until 10 at night we would seriously be at arms reach watching, and commenting on the circus passing us by. There was 1 particular show when I looked out into the crowd and saw some tool running with a cash box in hand which I recognized as Ali’s. I hopped over my table,, and ran as fast as I could into the huge festival crowd chasing this douche bag down to get Ali’s money back. I did catch the dude, threw him up against a fence, retrieved the loot, and handed him over to the authorities.
Ali didn’t even know the dude had taken her money when I returned but I know she was relieved when it was returned. Poor thing.

Since then Ali has been working for a catering company touring with acts as Nine Inch Nails, Eagles, Blink 182 and many other big time acts who can afford to bring out catering companies. Some health issues un-expectedly overcame Ali on tour a couple months ago and now the poor thing is left with a $43 000 health bill. INSANE!

I can’t believe people have stood for such a crock for so long. Something needs to be done as this is just the most de-humanizing thing imaginable. Your born, you live your life how you choose, you get sick, and you can’t afford to keep yourself healthy so you go in debt or die.

And Obama just won the Nobel Peace Prize. Hahaha.

Anyhoo please check out Ali’s situation and if you can help out with anything please do.

http://thealivattermatter.blogspot.com

End of the Souls

Oct 10, 2009

So I am sitting here at my fathers house sitting in his living room by myself listening to a brand new Bouncing Souls song named “Like The Sun” and have goose bumps.

I just ended a 2 week tour with the Souls family 3 days ago and am already sitting here thinking about the times, and the memories. Ha. There are some tours when I come home and the last thing that I want to do is listen to the music that I just saw night after night, and think about the tour. Some people call this de-compression which is a suitable word.

This past tour we did of Canada was really a lot fun and I am so fortunate to have been apart of it. The feeling that I get every night the Souls take the stage is something that I can’t explain and something that truly takes me into another world. I may be tired, not feeling the evening due to who knows why but as soon as those 4 dudes take the stage something comes over me which leaves me with a monstrous grin while I sing along to every song.

I don’t like going to deep into my touring lifestyle because I don’t want it to come across to cocky, or elitist, or even annoying but getting to be apart of something special as such by a group of friends who make music which I hold to the highest is something that has changed my life.

This month I will have gotten to share the road with 2 groups of friends whose bands have impacted my life to the fullest. I’ve mentioned this before but I’ll do it again, both the Bouncing Souls, and Propagandhi are bands that I have listened to for the last 15-16 years or so and who are also now good friends. Ha. I can’t think of any other group of people who play music which have had this effect.

Seeing these fellows every night do their thing on stage and how this impacts the people viewing these spectacles is something that is untouchable and is the beauty of live music. It’s an experience that will never be able to be described as it is something that is felt so deeply that it truly takes people into another world for that evening. “Music Saves”

So….ha ha…the Souls tour ended the other night in beautiful Vancouver, BC at the Rickshaw Theater. The last show was a good last show for a tour as such. The venue was packed with very sweaty excited people whom were there for their experience. Last shows of tours are always usually pretty special as everyone knows “this is it” and that this chapter is now over so its usually quite the party. Vancouver was this.

The Boucing Souls are celebrating their 20 year anniversary this year and truly they are still on top of their game. I was talking to my friend Devon the other day while walking in Vancouver after tour and I was mentioning how I am not sure if the Bouncing Souls have even peaked yet. 20 years later their shows are still sold out, people are still loosing their minds, and from personally being apart of their last 4 years (or so) I know that their fan base is still growing because I meet these new comers every night.

Okay now for a quick wrap up of where I left off of the Souls across Canada-driving west bound.

In Winnipeg I got to see my good friends whom I have been sharing adventures with this entire year. Well most of them at least. Beaver and Sammy met me for a good vegan dinner at the legendary Royal Albert, Barney came out to the show to hang, and Jord also showed up to hang out which was all super nice. Unfortunately the stay in Winnipeg wasn’t longer as there was definitely and will always be more hanging to be done there.

Once we were above the great lakes and heading west, both of the trucks seemed to start acting up in the cold mornings and were never the same. It sucked as the trucks weren’t working properly but it also became amusing as every time we let the sit for awhile one or the other just wouldn’t start. This last the remainder of the trip and happened every single day. Thankfully one would always start so we would pull it around wherever we were, and jump the other truck then off we would go.

Regina was a good show but was at a University which usually have weird stale vibes but when your in the middle of the Prairies Canada I guess you just take what you can get.

Next on the list was Edmonton in which we drove to over night after the Regina show due to seeing our bud Dr. Bob who is also known as the “punk rock” dentist. Bob has been so touched by music, and the Souls that a couple years ago he offered some bands free dental work when they came through Edmonton. He is one of the most gracious people I have come across and I know others feel this way too. Bob is a perfect example of what music is, what it does to all of us, and why we live our lives the way we do. So we went for a dental visit in the morning to get our teeth cleaned, check out, someone got fangs (no names mentioned), and a couple of fillings were replaced. Bob and his wife just brought into this world a baby girl whom they named Sarah after “Sarah Saturday” by the Souls so while some were getting worked on the others of us were hanging out with mum and daughter. Fun times.
This show was also super special for me personally as my little brother and my sister in law made the trip down south to hang out and take in the festivities. What made things that much better is I know both of them are big Bouncing Souls fans and this would be their first time getting to see them live. As soon as I saw both of them I knew they were pumped and it would be a special night. I was able to quickly grab some food with them before I had to report to duty.

The crowd at this show was really pumped up. The Starlite Ballroom venue was as packed as it could be with kids were loosing their minds, dancing, and singing along to the in-house music louder then the PA before the Souls came on stage. It was as if a band was really playing. Again something that needs to be witnessed as it will leave your heart pumping with excitement. I would say the Edmonton experience was a top one on this tour.

The raddest part was during the Souls set seeing my little brother jump on stage twice, singing as loud as he could into the air, and into the mic eventually stage diving both times. Honestly this was a special experience and brought this show to a whole other level for me. After the show both Travis, and Olena (bro, and sista in law) came up to me completely drenched in sweat and the energy that was radiating from them both I could tell they just had a night they will never forget. This made me happy and the next day both of them were the talk of the tour. “They ruled so much!”

After Edmonton we played Calgary, Banff and then had a day off to drive through the mountains of BC/ Alberta before we caught a ferry to Vancouver Island-Victoria for a show, and then finally our last show in Vancouver.

That tour, the laughs, the memories is something I will have forever and for that I am thankful.

Next up is the same trip across Canada with Propagandhi which is going to be as equaling exciting. I can’t wait.

souls across canada #1

Sept 29, 2009

McDermott, Dubs and myself are currently driving in #2 following the White Castle heading west from Wawa, Ont towards Winnipeg, MB. We left Toronto yesterday, drove 12 hours-600 miles, and pulled over in Wawa for a quick snooze. Today we will do another 12 hours or so of driving and then do the remainder to Winnipeg tomorrow morning.

I am out here with the Bouncing Souls on their Canadian tour (w/ Youth Brigade, Saint Alvia, Off With Their Heads) which thus far is ruling hard. Its been about year since I last toured with the Souls so its super fun, and nice to be back in the family, driving in #2, and seeing another Souls show every night.

Usually with the Souls I head down to Jersey for a pre-tour adventures of packing, and organizing however due to our first show being in Montreal. With me living in Montreal it worked out logistically to just meet everyone at the hotel the morning of our first show.
I hopped in #2, gave her some love, and drove on over to the venue.

I have always enjoyed the Souls do their thing by having their own trucks, and being pretty self-sustained so it was actually pretty cool opening up the back of #2, and there everything was for the show to happen.

The venue in which the Souls played is a pretty cool punk bar located in downtown Montreal named Foufs Foufs Electriques. Years ago when I first visited Montreal I remember my friends Eric, Garth, and I going to that place thinking it was a pretty rad place. On some days the place actually has a ½ pipe set up on the 2nd floor for people to skateboard on. Crazy.

The Montreal show was something I had been looking forward to for a long time. First show of tour, the Bouncing Souls, Montreal, the venue it was at, and then I had most of my friends coming out to the show. Fun. The entire night was incredible. Kids were loosing their minds so much so that a couple of times Greg actually said “whoa you all are stoked!” I managed to see a good chunk of the set where there was a lot of rocking to be had and there was a lot of people stage diving. For a first show I would say Montreal was pretty incredible and the sentiment is felt by all.

Next we headed to Ottawa where we played the Opera House which the Souls played last time they came across and Propagandhi has just played there a couple months ago. A venue which has a pretty brutal load in (up stairs) and has very sticky floors. There is a neat little organic market next door so I picked up a couple of tour-vitamin- essentials for the travels.
The Ottawa show was definitely quite opposite of the Motnreal show. At first everything seemed okay and having been there before there was a comfortable/ familiar vibe to the place. Wrong. I know Lisi before the show got completely yelled at by the venue owner possibly for looking for the “backstage” room. Ha! Any venue which is not super hospitable at first always needs to be questioned. If someone is cruising around looking for something you either say “no, yes, or over there”. You do not be a prick to them.
Well then doors were opened and all seemed to be going good until Youth Brigade was on stage. I didn’t see what happened but in between songs Shawn had to say something to the security guards in regards to taking it easy, and relaxing. Youth Brigade finished so up came the Souls to do their thing. At first everything seemed okay again until half way through their set when they abrubtly stopped, and starting looking into the crowd yelling “relax, security chill the fuck out!!” This lasted for a couple minutes with Bryan, Pete, and Greg telling the security to chill out and to let the kid they had just kicked out back in. Then I see Bryan, and Pete both put down their instruments, walk off stage and go confront the security guards. I wasn’t their but supposedly the security guards then became that much more aggressive and got into Bryan/ Pete’s face and literally said “I don’t give the fuck who you are so get back on stage”. From what I hear the security guards went completely crazy on kids, and actually beat some of them up.

Okay…this should never ever happen at shows. NEVER! If you are playing, or doing a show at a venue all parties need to be on the same page, and have a relationship as such. The band did what they had to do by confronting security because no one else did but that shouldn’t have been the case. Everyone always need to be on the same page in these situations, this needs to be known, and this needs to happen before the show even begins. It sucked and it ruined the show. I did manage to get some good Indian though before all of the mayhem.

Net on the list was Guelph, ONT in a smaller venue then the first two named Vinyl. We arrived and there was already “sold out” signs posted which always leaves you thinking “cool!” This venue was super tiny with even a tinier stage so from what DJ was saying he had to take some gear cases to extend the stage. Ha. You have to love the good ol small staged punk shows especially with a band as the Souls. Nothing to crazy about that show except that for some reason the show had to be done at 10 pm sharp. I never get that stuff. Venues who have sold out shows but a strict curfew for a club night afterwards which usually leaves everyone rushing to eventually open their doors to ¼ the amount of people who were just in there. Scratch the curfew, and have a late show because you will make that money you would have with the club night in bar sales at the show. Oh well. Guelph was cool.

London, ONT was next on the list at thee ol Call the Office which is always a good time. A small venue with these weird beams throughout it which sometimes obstructs the view. London is always a pretty fun time as people there seem to get a little over the top wild. I have a few friends in Montreal from London who definitely always bring it one step up. Ha!

The drive above the Great Lakes is a long, very scenic drive which finds you driving for hours upon hours in the middle of nowhere not even seeing another car for 5 + mins or so. Its nice to be in an area as such with nothing but untouched nature however our view point is strictly from the highway. We have passed a couple of mines, big dirt roads, and logging trucks so you never know what is beyond what we are looking at. Most likely there are a couple of huge chunks of clear-cuts, and other industrial developments doing their part in destroying what’s left.

Its going to be pretty cool to arrive in Winnipeg tomorrow where I will get to hang out with some pretty good friends who I also share the traveling adventures with. I know non of them have seen the Souls before, so they are going to come to the show and hang.
And…the Royal Albert/ Mondragon Café which is always a nice vegan treats while in Winnipeg.

the killers- bell center

This past weekend i was able to catch the KILLERS at the Bell Center in Montreal. What a great band!
I really enjoyed the show but was seated in the back, up in the bleachers so was missing the "umph" of the sound and getting hit hard by the show.
Non the less it was still good but I must say that using confetti, and not re-using it- if that is the case- is lame!

west coast travels

August 24, 2009

Peter Gabriel- a true genious!!!

So its been sometime since I have sat down and written anything. In the past I have usually just written thoughts, and happenings on the adventures that I find myself on.

Usually tour adventures as I haven’t done many personal travels recently.

I have always tried to shy away from the word “blog” as I wouldn’t consider myself anything as such (a blogger- yeah right!). My writing is really a way to keep my friends and family up to date with my where a bouts and happenings and that is really the extent of it.

I am hitching a ride from New York City back up north on the Greyhound bus today which actually has been out-fitted with wireless internet. Us poor folk like to travel in style eh.
It’s been a little over 2 weeks since I left Montreal to head out west with my friend Helene whom was in California doing a drawing class.

California is a pretty special place when it comes to climates, and geography. Its one of the only places in the world where you can be in the snow and then be at the beach in the same day. I was fortunate enough to grow up, and spend a good 10+ years of my life on the coast of California.

The coast of Cali is really like no other. In the Southern part of the state you have the flat, warm, and sandy Hollywood type beaches and then once you get to around Santa Barbara, CA the geography of the coast changes to a more rocky, cliffy type beach which progresses the farther up the coast you go. Once you reach the San Fran area its some of the prettiest scenery that the mind has seen with hills, cliffs, and Redwood forest working its way right to the water.

On this most recent trip Helene and I made our way to the Academy of Sciences in San Fran. It’s a pretty new complex for that area which is done with as many green technologies as possible. The entire roofing system is green with many different plants, and mosses growing on top and then there are these neat looking bubble vents which air condition the entire complex. No energy used for the air flow in this complex.

Inside the Academy there is an entire Rainforest ecosystem replicated with live birds, and butterflies flying around plus frogs, lizards, fauna, and an albino alligator in displays.
Unfortunately when we were there the Planetarium was closed.
I enjoyed the Academy a lot especially the green design of the building however in Montreal there is the Bio-dome which is actually bigger and has 4 different ecosystems. There is a rainforest exhibit with little monkeys running around plus an arctic, prairie, and Alberta boreal forest ecosystem plus right across the street is the insectarium and botanical gardens.

Next stop on the agenda would be Muir Woods located 10 miles north of the Golden Gate bridge. A couple of years ago while traveling through this area with the Bouncing Souls Kate took us on a little field trip and it was something I will never forget. Muir Woods is home to some of the biggest, oldest, most prestine redwood tree’s in the area. Some of these tree’s are 1000’s of years old and are still growing strong. When you enter a forest as such your mind, and body can sense the change in the air, the energy, the beauty and a calming sensation automatically takes over you where life seems to cease. Redwoods are such majestic trees, and so huge however when your up next to one and you rub the bark its some of the softest flakiest bark I’ve touched.

While we were in the area there was a huge forest fire in the Santa Cruz mountains south of San Fran. Forests naturally are fire resistant and in most cases fires actually help the forests out. What is not natural though is logging, clear cutting which erode the soil, make open space within the forest which actually invite and help fires progress.

After our time in the “city” we made our way to Santa Cruz, CA which was a home of mine for 3+ years. Santa Cruz is located about 70 miles south of San Fran directly on the coast of the Monterey Bay. SC is a place that I am glad to have lived and glad that it was my first time being on my own after leaving papa bear’s den.

The bay area is a pretty unique area when it comes to it climate. It’s in the middle of California on the coast which makes for some of the brightest blue days however once that temperature lowers and mixes with the temperature of the ocean off the coast a thick fog/ ocean haze takes over the surrounding area. You can leave the house in the mid afternoon time with a temperature of 32 C and once evening comes it can drop down to 15 C. In a matter of only a couple hours this drastic change is what makes the bay area “the bay area”/

Santa Cruz is home to one of the most famous surf spots in the surfing world this place is named Steamers Lane and is known for its “right ride”. It’s a wave that comes in hugging the cliffs of the Santa Cruz coast which means you can only go right to avoid ramming into the cliffs to the left.
Before we headed to Steamers Lane we drove along the coastal rode to a beach named Natural Bridges because of the 2 huge rock formations in the water which have their centers carved out making natural bridges due to years off water/ wave erosion. Just inland from this beach is a monarch butterfly migration stop located in a little ravine away from the Ocean and her salty mist. I remember a certain time period when I would grab my bike, strap on my headphones to Strike Anywhere’s- Change is a Sound, ride down to Natural Bridges to check out the butterflies and watch the sunset.
Unfortunately while Helene and I were in this area it did not coincide with the monarch migration so we did not to get the tree’s and branches covered with what would look like leaves but actually be the monarchs. Oh well

and so it goes

July 20, 2009

Sitting here in the upstairs dressing room part of the Sputnikhalle venue in Munster, Germany where we are playing this evening, and where we spent the day off yesterday.

Thus far we have played 4 shows and now have 6 left until the end of this leg of the tour. I must say that I have enjoyed each and every show as I do for most of them. It’s what you call being a fan. However being directly involved in the show and with these dudes as “the band” sometimes there are certain things in which you look at differently. Since we have been here I have had some thoughts about how involved or not involved some of our Europian “behind the scenes” people are.

So last night we all sat in front of the bus for a couple hours while we watched Barney entertain us all with a drinking game he volunteered to play. The name of this game is called Centurion. The mission of the game is to drink 100 shots of beer in 1 hour 40 mins. 1 shot of beer every minute. You have to sit in the same seat, and not pee or you would be disqualified. If Barney was to pull this off there was a $150 in prize money. At 10:00 PM we started the Centurion festivities . I was the “official” poured which meant every minute for 2 hours I had to pour Barney a shot of beer for him to work his way up to being a Centurion. Out of any of us the only person that I know could pull this off would be Barney and it was something he was definitely into due to the prize. Off days of tour can be pretty fun! At about shot 30 we could all notice a change in Barney and from then on it just went downhill, or uphill which ever you may. Chris documented each shot with his camera and looking back at those pictures is quite something. The first picture Barney just looks like himself but as the shots continue his face/ expressions in the pictures definitely start to change/ melt drastically. At around shot 80 Barney was definitely officially hammered and had mentioned the urination feeling a couple of times. The quotes and one liners coming from him during this entire mission were unbelievable and had most of us almost on the ground laughing. Well a couple of hours later Barney had officially become a Centurion and was for sure feeling this alcohol. At shot 100 it was then offered to him for every 10 more shots he would received 20 Euro’s from Jord so Barney who likes to bet/ gamble chose to keep em coming. He made it to 110 in a definite drunken state and kept it going to 122 until he finally called it quits. Amazing!! Truly something to see, witness, and take in. Watching Barney get up with 10 + beers in hs stomach with out peeing and finally walk away to take a pee was something else as well. This was our day off in Munster, Germany. Centurion!!!!


July, 31, 2009

Sitting here at Dulles Airport after spending a week here in DC with Helene on a layover from my Frankfurt to Montreal flight.

Tour ended last week in Stuttgart, Germany and now Propagandhi is taking 2 months off due to a lil Propagandhi entering this world next month. Our adventures will continue in Oct with a tour of Western Canada/ Northwest US.

Last Monday when I landed here in DC I exited the plane, walked thru customs where I was greeted with a “welcome back” and thought to myself “welcome back to where?”. I guess having a US Passport will get you a welcome home greeting. Aahh. Thanks US of A.

One thing I noticed while I was walking up to customs was outside a couple of border/ customs guards with a couple of German Shepard dog next to this flat trailer storage trailer with separate compartments. The only thing I could really think was this was the dogs kennel and is where these American “soldiers against war/ terrorism” sleep every night.

Now I definitely have many issues with mans domination over animals in which I will go into in a bit but I also thought that both officer and dog were to have a certain bond with one another. Meaning these canines would accompany their masters home after a day of protecting the homeland. I guess not? Thanks for the sniffing and keeping the country clean now back to your trailer.

After being “welcomed” back home I then proceeded to the baggage check which was jam-packed with travelers waiting to retrieve their bags before continuing on. Out of nowhere I see 3 custom/ border guards with a dog come zig zagging thru a huge line of travelers very hurriedly with no word of warning. Each person continued just standing where they were waiting for their bags while these border guards and their dog went about their business of sniffing out every single person in the line. No warning. No discussion. No permission. Everyone including myself were to sit their obediently and let this animal and its handlers invade our space searching for what exactly.

My thoughts other then being completely frustrated with this invasive act were this: What if you have just arrived from a completely foreign land, you don’t know any English, and at some point in your life you have had a horrendous traumatic encounter with a dog? This is highly possible! Trauma is a real thing and when the brain has been affected by something deeply it will do whatever it can to protect itself and its human body.
Now a dog coming to close to someone who possibly has had a horrific experience with an animal as such could potentially cause someone to freak out which would not be good for that person or the dog next to them who has been trained to be aggressive in threatening situations.

The US Border Protection system and really honestly its entire system in general one day needs to be really deeply looked at. There is a very high possibility that it does more harm then good to itself.

Back at it#1

**ive been slow with this stuff but here is the latest and below some stuff from the past


July 13, 2009

So it’s been sometime now that I have sat down to record some of my adventures, travels, and stories. The last 2 tours that we (Propagandhi for those just arriving) have done have been in North America which means most of my daytime are stuck behind the wheel driving and then upon arrival at the venue I am then consumed with show related work.

It actually seems as of recently that the most time I have to write is actually in an airplane going from one destination to the next. So in normal fashion here I am high above the Atlantic on my way to Frankfurt, Germany to meet the other dudes for a 2 week (10 shows) run of Germany, Hungary, Austria, Netherlands, and France. The only place I have not been on this run is Budapest, Hungary so this I am pretty pumped about and looking at the map today in this airline magazine Budapest is definitely pretty east in Europe which rules.

Oh….they are bringing out the “special meals” which means its time to eat.

I must say that vegan airplane food honestly is really okay stuff and what makes it just a tad better is when the flight attendants bring you your food first. Sorry everyone but we just roll with the punches.


Before today’s flight I thought the airline to Frankfurt was going to be United and wondered how entertaining the entertainment system was going to be. Once I got my boarding pass I realized that the airline was Lufthansa and instantly thought “oh yeah” there is going to be some quality entertainment more so then United.

Wow was I wrong. No individual TV screens which means you are forced to watch (or not) the movie which the airline has chosen which is probably very family friendly. Oh well. Roll with those punches.

It’s pretty wild that I and 200 or so other people are here 35 000 ft in the air flying to another continent. Think about even 60 years ago and what technology offered then and what it offers now. Pretty wild stuff eh.

Last night I watched a documentary on the NFB website named Kahnasatake (spelling?) 270 Years of Resistance. The NFB website is unreal and you can actually watch 95% of the films they have released which is something else. So this documentary was about the Oka stand off which took place in July of 1990 outside of Montreal. The city of Oka had plans to construct a 9 hole golf course over ancient Mohawk burial grounds. In response to this the natives barricaded themselves in their land to fight for what was going to be taken. For the next 3 months there would be a heated standoff between the Mohawk warriors, the Quebec police (SQ), and eventually the Canadian army all over land in which was rightfully native land.
I remember as a child sitting in my downstairs TV room with my Dad watching this unfold on the news. At the time I was only about 10 so didn’t really understand what was happening until years later when I read a book named “the people of the pines” and also viewing a couple of NFB docu’s.



MAY 13, 2009

“Some say that our connection to Orca whales is deeper and goes back further then we could ever understand.” I am currently watching a documentary named “Saving Luna” on a flight from Montreal to Los Angeles.
Luna is a baby Orca that was born to a pod of whales known as the Southern Residents but soon after his birth became an orphan and found himself lost 200 km’s in Nootka Sound in the Vancouver Island Chain.
Orca’s are one of the most socialized creatures on the planet and need that socializing to survive.
The documentary follows 3 years of Luna’s life interacting with boats, people, dogs, and rubber toys in the water. Luna had no family so turned to humans for friendship and family. Throughout the story all humans had one objective in mind which was to keep Luna safe. Some of these groups wanted to offer a “tough love” approach and not pay attention to the whale at all. Another group (Department of Fisheries) wanted to net the whale, try to return him back to his pod, and if this didn’t work into capitivity. And another group (First Nations, Scientists, and just your regular Joe, and Jane) wanted to protect the whale through friendship, love, and companionship. Its such an amazing documentary showing the bond between this whale/ humans, the bureaucracy of governments, and the 3 years of life of this orphaned whale.
The story of Luna ends tragically when he is hit by a tug boats rotor and doesn’t survive.

A must see!!

This little thought and what I am currently watching isn’t going to win me many friends at the moment. Oh well!!!

I am now watching a Coldplay (whom I hope to see live one day) concert on this entertainment system on the plane as we currently are flying over the Grand Canyon.
A couple years ago I did a trip across the US with some of the Bouncing Souls where we were meeting the others on the West Coast. Kate, Matt, DJ, Dubs, and Myself found ourselves arriving and stopping at the Grand Canyon for sunrise and it was one of the coolest things ever. I had never been to the Grand Canyon before so what a better way to take it in all by ourselves, not a person in sight, watching the sunrise over this deeply carved out wonder.

So I am flying to Los Angeles to spend a couple days with my Dad who recently has decided to move back to the Vancouver after him and I moved there in 1992. He has currently hit a point in his life where he needs a change and I have to be in LA to pick up a van in a couple of days to drive to Dallas, TX for tour so it’s all worked out where I can hang out with Dad, and then head off to another tour.

The circus continues!! This next Propagandhi tour starts in Dallas, TX works its way west though Arizona, Nevada, and then up and down the coast of California. Yet again like any of the tours we have done, or are doing this one will certainly have its surprises and good times. Touring the west coast especially California to me is a pretty sweet thing due to it being the place I grew up from 12-22 yrs old and the amazing Mexican food that California has to offer.

May 18, 2009

So we (Philippe and I) have finally made it to Dallas, TX. 1450 miles which took a good 3 long hot dry days in the desert of south west US of A.

I landed in Los Angeles about 6 days ago and spent all my time with my father visiting and keeping him company before his move back to Canada. When it was time for my Dad to hit the sack I would meet up with my friends John, and John to catch up on our happenings, and hang out. Fun times.
John and I were going to go surfing one day but due to the flatness of the ocean and the chilliness we stayed out of the water. Hanging out in So Cal was definitely a lot of fun and nice to be back in the place I called home for a good 10 years of my life.

On Saturday my Dad drove me back into LA so I could pick up our tour vehicle, Philippe from the airport, a trailer, and our backline gear for this run. After we were packed up we searched out a Whole Foods- stocked up on some travel snacks and hit the road.

The first night we made it as far as Phoenix which was nice because it was all night driving. The temperature at 11PM was a full 95F/ 35 C so driving in this heat in the full on day would have been rough on us, and the van plus the temp would have even been higher. Nothing like driving down a highway, not to many cars around, windows down blowing in warm air, a sky full of stars, and music just blaring as we make our way eastward.

The next day we stopped off in Tucson, AZ for some good healthy eats at a place named Loving Spoonfuls which was a full vegan café/ restaurant. For breakfast I had myself a burrito stuffed with potatoes, soy chorizo, scrambled tofu, and beans. Yum. There is nothing like South Western Mexican food and this tour will definitely be top notch when it comes to such.
After eating I grabbed myself an Acai smoothie and continued on through the 104F/ 40C to Pesco, TX where we stayed last night.

Today we did the remainder of the drive to Dallas and are now just sitting here relaxing for the evening. Everyone else flies in tomorrow evening so Philippe and I will run some errands- picking up merch, checking into our Dallas hotel and then head to the airport to pick up the rest of the circus. Pumped!

June 5, 2009

Currently flying from Seattle where I had a layover from Vancouver, BC on my way to Washington DC to go camping with my buddy Helene.
The last couple weeks have been pretty busy with me not finding or setting aside some time to capture some thoughts, and adventures.
Tour ended about 5 days ago and went as well as most of them do.
We started in Dallas, TX for the first of tour, then made our way to Austin, TX for the Chaos in Tejas fest which we were part of with many other punk bands around this planet. Austin is a pretty cool city and with a fest as such you are always going to run into many people you actually know. The day we were there Ted (Leo) was in town playing which was cool because him and I hadn’t seen or talked to each other since the tour I did with him/ them (The Pharmacists). Ted was playing in Austin solo so this meant I wouldn’t get to see the others which was unfortunate but you take what you can get. He ended up coming to the venue where Propagandhi was playing and hung out with us for awhile before his set which was at the same time as Propagandhi but at a different venue. Oh well. The next morning we picked him up so we could all go out and grab a nice vegan brunch before we all went our own ways. The highlights in Austin were hanging out with Ted, and the show Propagandhi played to 700 wild, crazy kids pumped out of their minds.
Next we headed west into Arizona stopping off in Tucson, Phoenix for shows, and then onto Vegas for a show.
The Vegas show was pretty interesting. It was the show of the tour which we were all worried about due to venue changes, permit problems, and PA problems. The show happened which is all you can ask for but it happened after I personally, and some others in our circus actually got into a verbal argument/ conflict with the venue owner who was a total freak. Long story short the venue was basically just a room with 2 speakers and a sound board which could have been a childs toy. The owner claimed the PA was incredibly amazing even while right in front of him it was making the most horrific crackling noises. Oh well. You win some you loose some but it was pretty entertaining afterwards thinking about myself, and some others all having our own interactions/ conflicts with this venue owner.
After the show Todd, Chris, Ethan, and myself ventured over to the Stratosphere so we could ride the rides on top of it. Lets just say I had done one of these rides years ago but it was by far scarier this time and even at that time I told myself I would never do it again. Well I did and I am not sure why. Looking back on it, it was fun but some times certain things are just a little much especially while getting older. Haha. Old Fart I am.
Onto California we went where the show in SLO, San Diego were a little interesting however all the rest and over all California was amazing.

After the tour I headed to my fathers house in Oxnard, CA where I hopped in his car, he hopped in a U-haul truck and in 2 days we drove to Vancouver, BC.

I was in Vancouver for 1 full day before this current trip to Washington DC where this evening Helene, and I will head to the mountains of Virginia for 4 days of camping before I have to head to Pennsylvania to pick up a van/ trailer to drive to Minneapolis to start another leg with the dudes. Go go go.

Yesterday while my Dad and I were driving for some food in Chilliwack, BC I felt my Dad coming to a pretty abrupt stop. I looked ahead and just a couple of meters in front of us I see a mother duck with her 2 ducklings crossing a very busy 2 lane street. I quickly stuck my arm outside my window as far as I could to signal the other lane to stop which the car next to us did very quickly. Phew!! These ducks were naturally doing what they do by walking to a little swamp however they had to cross a man made obstruction (asphalt road) which almost cost them their lives. Totally crazy to come across, be apart of, and then think about. It was pretty amazing. The mother duck was definitely in front of her ducklings, leading the way, but also protecting them and she definitely seemed to be looking directly at traffic in a way of “Hey. STOP!!!” Fortunately my Dad, the people in the lane next to ours were paying attention and stopped or it would have been a fatal crossing and something that I would never want to witness or be apart of.

The Nature of Things?

June 12, 2009

On a train from Washington DC to Lancaster, PA rocking out to the REGULATIONS from thee almighty Sweden where I am heading to pick up a spaceship for Propagandhi’s next space mission here on planet Dearth. After I am suited up and inside this space craft I will then head westward towards Minneapolis, MN where everyone else arrives from Winnipeg for a 9 show tour of the mid-west and then 5 shows in Canada.

This next tour is an adventure I am super pumped on because it’s with some very close friends from Richmond, VA who like to STRIKE ANYWHERE with their rock. Pumped.
Years ago while touring with Strike Anyere I was fortunate enough to do a tour with them, and the Bouncing Souls (before I actually toured with the Souls) which at that time was something we were all so incredibly pumped on due to us being huge fans of the Souls. How rad? Here we are getting to tour with one of our favorite bands.
Fast-forward to today and the same thing holds true however on this run I am with Propagandhi who has Strike Anywhere out as support. Good times lay ahead.

On this tour we are going to have Substance/ Rainforest Action Network out with us on the whole run bringing attention to the tar sands in Alberta. An issue which hits home for me due to being “Alberta born, Prairie raised” and that environment in which I grew up in.
Grande Prairie, Alberta in the 1980’s was not a big place at all compared to where I have lived since. If my memory hole holds true it was a town of around 25000 people which main industries were forestry-lumber-logging/ and oil which is still the case today. Once you were outside of G.P. there was to the east the Prairies of Canada and to the West (1 hour) the beginning of the Rocky Mountains. I grew up in an outdoorsy type setting with forests, hills, mountains, lakes, rivers, streams, marshes, and wildlife. When not in school you could usually find me outside playing with friends, building forts, playing war, playing ice/ or street hockey, playing baseball, and just being outside as much as possible. During holidays my family and I would make the trek from Northern Alberta to South Western British Columbia to visit relatives. At the time there was Highway 40 which made the trip a couple of hours shorter however it was still a dirt road at the time which we would take for about 4 hours or so to the main highway. Driving through the mountains, forests, seeing moose, elk, deer, mountain goats, and bears will have an affect on you especially when you don’t see much of these creatures in these parts today.
It’s a scientific fact that the decline of wildlife in this part of the world is due to logging, and oil.
Alberta is now a major player in the world market due it being home to the 2nd biggest oil deposit in the world which is located in the tar sands and underneath the forests of the province. Seeing how our world has/ is approaching its peak oil production this means that the tar sands in Alberta will be the last thing lubricating the wheels of this earth.

The RAN/Substance people have named our tour “Freedom from Oil- Tar Sands Resistance Tour” which is pretty rad if you ask me. On this tour as all of our tours we will have plenty of organizations/ groups some of them being: speakers from Rainforest Action Network, Canada Haiti Action Network, Indigenous Resistance and support groups, Liberty over Violence, plus some Animal right groups. All in all many different groups but ultimately one cause I would say- enough of the bullshit.

Okay. So tonight is a big night in NHL. Game number 7 in the Stanley Cup finals will unfold between Detroit and Pittsburgh. I am not sure how much of the game I will get to watch due to driving to Minneapolis but I am hoping to catch some of it on the radio while driving through Pennsylvania and there is a good possibility that I’ll pull over to watch the game. My fingers are crossed that the Penguins take the game but they are up against the almighty wall known as Detroit.

The Circus of Propagandhi in Europe- April/ May 2009

April 17, 2009

Sitting here in our / my (Propagandhi) new home-a bus- for the next 2 weeks while we travel across the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and the Czech Republic bringing the kids an ear dose of the heavy thrash.

April 19, 2009

On this tour we have
Chris, Todd, Beaver, Jord
Ethan-stage, Barney-sound, Stern-merch fellow from Germany-old Propagandhi friend, Franklin- our cool German bus driver, and myself.

Just waking up after a good 10 hour sleep which in a way was needed but also due to it’s length and with the time change I still feel like I could use more.
We are here in London, UK today for the 3rd show of this Circus tour. The sky is blue and the sun is out.

This is Propagandhi’s (as they are now) first bus tour which is quite neat. Not really a band that would choose to be in a bus but in the long run logistically with out drives, our 8 (9 with driver) person circus, most of the venues having showers which cuts out day rooms-hotels, and then also just having a coffin-bed to sleep in whenever you want.

On a bus you are definitely around everyone at pretty much all times which means you have to respect everyone else’s space. Not a problem here.

The last 2 shows have been pretty interesting in the least.

The first show was in Sheffield, UK at a place called the Academy which I is a big chain of venues here in the UK. Carling Academy. The venue was big, very professional, and all the staff were super nice.
It was the first day with all of this backline over here so everyone spent a little extra time tweaking their gear and I myself spent some time tweaking some files/ spreadsheets that I will need for this adventure.
We found a vegan café just a walk away from the venue named the Blue Moon Café. Basically in a deli case they had a couple hot items, and a couple cold items in which you just pick the items you want. I had given my dinner money to Chris because I wasn’t sure if I was going to make dinner due to having to have a security meeting with the folks at the Academy Club. Chris got me this sweet potatoe, peanut sauce dish, with cous cous, coleslaw salad, and macaroni salad. All amazing food however the best item was by far the sweet potato dish with peanut sauce. You can never go wrong with peanut sauce.

So the first show went fine until around ½ way point in Propagandhi’s set I see Ethan over at the monitor board look to my direction of the stage, point, and tell something to the in house monitor fellow. I then smell a heavy dose of electrical (fire) smoke and proceed to turn on my flashlight to hunt it down. After a couple seconds I find smoke coming out of what I hear later is a big distro box for the lighting system. No flames just a bunch of smoke which has now caused the entire stage to wreak of fire smoke. The band is playing but is also concerned as they start smelling it as well. The venue manager runs on stage, turns off a fuse box and then all of a sudden this whole distro box gets engulfed in flames all again while the thrash continues. At this time the locals are running on stage with a fire extinguisher and telling me “the band HAS TO STOP NOW” so I catch eyes with Jord and have them stop their song half way in…….to be continued

April 20, 2009

So…the band leaves the stage, security tells the crowd to evacuate the building which the crowd was not pumped on. Glasses started getting thrown so I was told that everyone had to evacuate due to the fire brigade being on its way. I saw that things could potentially get a little out of hand and I was told that once everyone was out of the venue they would be allowed back in so I go onto the mic and tell the 600 people booing that “please evacuate, its not our fault, and once things are safe the show will be continued”.
We were then evacuated ourselves through some back exit to the bus and watched the chaos ensue.

The fire brigade showed up while 600 kids huddled around outside without jackets due to them being inside the coat check waiting to see what would happen.
Propagandhi and the crowd were being fed 2 different stories by many different people.

-once the fire brigade deems it safe the show will go on.
- no the show will not continue.

It was pretty hectic and the freezing people outside were not pumped. So in typical UK drinking fashion the crowd started getting rowdy which caused the entire police force to arrive while windows were getting kicked in, and all of us sat around our bus waiting for a riot to ensue.

The fire brigade deemed the venue safe however due to the crowd clashing with the antagonizing entire Sheffield Police force arriving the show was cut off. Boooo!!

First day blues!!!

We proceeded to eventually make our way back into the venue, pack up our gear, and some of us sat up until 3 in the morning watching Pittsburgh play Philly in the NHL playoffs.

So since the “burning down the house” we have played 2 other shows.

The first being in Bristol UK which was quite the punk show indeed.


A venue packed with 500 people (capacity 450) most of which had been drinking quite a bit of alcohol and add to that no barricade. Non of us are fans of barricades during live shows because they definitely contribute to a lack of energy, and interaction.’’

April 21, 2009

Todd and I are sitting in our hotel room here in Cologne watching some weird German television game show. Wild!
The first week of tour has been crazy.
Propagandhi has had a fire at a venue, kids almost rioting outside with the police, 2 security guards run on our stage to brutally tackle some young kid, and last night we had some male during the last song come flying over the barrier, head first but upside down landing brutally on monitor majorly breaking his leg….we are now outside of the UK. Let’s see what happens.

So last night I am sitting side stage during the show and see some dude come flying over the crow, the barricade and land head first with his leg snapping over the monitor.
The band was in the middle of a song, I ran over to the kid, the band stopped playing and I tried to communicate with the dude who was very injured. He couldn’t move his leg, or his toes and was in bad shape. I ran onto stage, grabbed some waters and ran back over to him. Another fellow in the crowd was an over duty paramedic so came running over. This kid was down for the count and this could be bad. Meanwhile there are 300 loud sweaty kids literally crammed against the barricade. I ask the medic if we can move the barricade back to give him, and the injured dude more breathing room. The medic says it was okay and held the body of the dude in case of neck injuries while we moved the barricade back.

The show was over and it definitely brought everyone from pure rock show mode to a very somber deep sad mood.
The room was cleared and the paramedics spent about the next 45 mins working him, cutting his jeans while he yelled in an English accent “those jeans just cost me 60 quid you fucking cunts”, shot him up with morphine and then loaded his mangled leg up and took him away. Before being loaded up Chris, and Todd went out to say hello at the dudes request and then off he went.

We are now in Cologne where we arrived around 3:30 this afternoon to a nice, bright blue, clear day.
Tonight the Montreal Canadiens play game 4 with the Boston Bruins. Boston is up in the series 3-0 so tonight very likely could be Montreal’s last game of the season. Jord, Chris and I are going to be watching the game here in 1 hour (1AM Cologne time) on the computer with an internet feed..

April 25, 2009

Its 3:54 in the morning and we are driving from Munich, Germany where there was a show this evening to Solothurn, Switzerland for a show tomorrow night.
I am the only one awake at the moment so I have my headphones on listening to tunes I haven’t had the chance to listen to because I lost my ipod on the flight over here to Europe. It happens. Ill buy a new one when I get home.

The 2 German shows have been well attended and we have been treated amazing. Both shows drew about 850 kids each and the hospitality here in Germany as always is like no other. When you arrive at a venue there is a feast of breads, spreads, juices, fruits, veggies and chips waiting to get devoured. The local crews at all these places are extremely helpful and into what they are doing.

Back in North America at every venue you arrive at the promoter gives you a buy-out which is money for dinner that evening. Very impersonal and in a way its kind of like “here’s your money. Get out of here”. And then the whole hospitality vibe in North America is quite opposite with plenty of venue people just being completely burned out and pretty rude.

April 25, 2009

Here on a beautiful, very clear blue skied, very warm day in Solothurn, Switzerland.
A neutral country in which at one time the bridges leading into the country could be destroyed if needed during World War 2 to protect itself from invaders.

A couple of us walked into the city center with this girl named Lana from the venue where we are playing tonight named Kofmehl.
Solothurn is a pretty small town hugging a river which originates in Bern, Switzerland from the glaciers in the alps. The city center is a nice little courtyard/ square which is the usual meeting place for the locals in town. There is a huge cathedral which is located in this square that we all went inside to check out.
Cathedrals are such intense structures that you can never truly describe. What’s even more interesting is almost all cathedrals have almost the same feel to them- the air is chilled, moist, and still. The amount of artistry that goes into these structures is also beyond comprehension. The statues, paintings, engravings, marble work, and wood work were all super intricate and must have take years to do.

On our walk back to the venue Todd, Ethan and myself discussed jumping off of one of the bridges into the river in which hugged our walk back. I walked down to the bank to check out the temperature which was no where near anything close to cool. Just upstream from here was the winter melt off from the glaciers so this was very cold, crystal clear water. There was a bridge pretty close to the venue however was actually higher then the bridges we had talked about jumping off of. I was quite nervous but Ethan had decided he would be the first to jump so we went to the bus, got into our undies, grabbed a towel, and headed to the bridge. It’s always pretty scary jumping off of a high structure into the water when you haven’t seen anyone do it before and to be honest there is a good possibility that we were the first ones to jump off this particular bridge. The bridge was built in Oct which would have been winter time here and I don’t think any of the locals are as stupid as we were with the temperature of the water.
Ethan jumped first which was a relief for me but when he surfaced we could tell by his movement, and facial expression that the water was brutally cold. I was next and was pretty nervous about the jump and the impact in this cold water. This thought only lasted about 5 seconds when I just didn’t even think about it and let go. Whoa!! Landing in this water was like landing in a pool filled with needles. The bank of the river was about 35 ft away so I just put every bit of effort I had into my body to get there as quickly as possible. If the distance was twice this it would have been extremely hard with the potential of disaster. Todd jumped after me and has mentioned a couple times that he “thought he was going to die” and “has never experienced anything as cold”.

We all lived and are all pumped on the adventure we chose.
Now its time for another thrash show however this one this evening will be a little quiter then most due to a sound limit at this venue. Propagandhi’s actual stage sound with no sound system as a factor is actually louder then the limit….We will see.

April 29th, 2009

We are just leaving the venue/ squat/ fort we played tonight in Rome. I am sitting in the front lounge of the bus listening to some tunes-Dead Can Dance, and catching up on some solo time.
The last couple of days have been pretty interesting, intense and fun.

It’s pretty crazy being so far away from friends and family during certain situations that you can’t really be apart of or there fore. Currently I have someone special in my life who I try my hardest to keep in touch with and be there for the best I can but it definitely is not in the slightest sense easy. I won’t go deeply into it because these writings are more so I can keep in touch with friend/ family and they can keep track of me. I have a pen, and journal that is better for the personal thoughts then these travel journals of mine.

So we arrived in Roma, Italia yesterday after our drive/ show in Bologna, Italia the night before. As soon as the bus arrived at the hotel yesterday everyone woke up instantly, gathered their belongings, and we all went straight to our rooms to pre pare for our day off. ROME!!!
I have been to Italy now about 4 times however have never been to far South never being to Roma, or Venice where we will be tomorrow.
Exciting!
Edder Vedder “Rise”- amazing

So after we were all showered and prepared for our day Todd, Jord, Beaver, Franklin, Ethan and myself all packed into the hotel shuttle and headed to the city center of Roma.
The architecture (Helene!!) was really something I was pumped on viewing and experiencing.

Our first destination was the Vatican and the St Pietro Basillica. We walked along the main river in the city named River Tevere which was this peculiar nice green colored river but also had a very dirty vibe to it. The colors of the buildings and the river down below had a definite “Rome, Italy” vibe- whatever that means.
Walking up to the St. Pietro Basillica was definitely pretty amazing. A long busy street with lights, and statues stacked along both sides of the street running all the way down to the Cathedral. There in front of us lies the Vatican.
Before we ventured much further we decided to try and find some food to quench our hungry stomachs. Eating food which contains no animal products is amazing, and fun but when you are in the center of a huge tourist spot in the middle of Roma sometimes your choices are very slim. Oh well. What can you do but just keep on keeping on.
We found a place that served just regular tomato slices of pizza which was a jackpot at that moment for us. A couple of warm slices later we were now fueled up for the day ahead of us. We walked to the Basillica, which is definitely an amazing place to see while standing in the middle of the court yard which is a huge circle surrounded my huge white pillars. The home of thee ol lil fellow most refer to as the poop…Oopps I mean the “Pope”..My bad.
Obviously at a place as such there is a lot of security so after screening our bags, and walking through metal detectors “we were in”.
I will never fully be able to describe what the inside of this Cathedral was like. Impossible to even imagine actually. Its bigger then big!
I had a random thought about what the actual capacity of a place as such was and now that I think of my 20 000 estimate I do think it’s probably even double that. Again this isn’t a sports stadium but a cathedral.
The statues, art work, engravings, marble work, tile work, and flooring was something that would have taken days and days to fully examine. Then in different sections of the place they actually have embalmed bodies of dead popes. Nuts!
Honestly I wish I would have known more about what I was looking at, the statues I was viewing, and the place I was walking inside of. Maybe ill read up on it a little now that I have been there. Seeing all of that art work, with a religious twist was pretty neat but also erie and dark as well. That’s the beauty of it I guess?


May 2nd, 2009

The last couple of days of tour have been something else.

I have started so many of my writings with me being on a plane going to my next destination or home as I am now. Flights are flights however I am having a first here today. My friend Bettina is a flight attendant for Swiss Airlines which I happen to be flying today so it worked out that she is on my flight to Montreal. When I checked in and was told I had an “upgrade” and they gave me a new ticket. Thanx Bettina! I am flying 1st class (a first) on an international flight and let me just say its really cool. Actually now that I look at things it seems to be “business class” and not “1st” Hhmm. Strange because honestly this definitely has a 1st class vibe not that I know what that vibe would really mean or business class. The seat in front of me I can’t even touch even when leaning forward trying to. There are some pretty crazy settings for the seat positions which makes for more of a relaxing trip. You have a choice of extending a leg rest, lowering the seat up and down, lowering the back of the seat up and down, and there is even a air bag that you can fill up for lower back support. Damn! Again I am not sure how often or if this will happen again so yes it’s a nice treat and ill take it.

I still need want to capture more of our adventures in Rome and the show we played the following day at the Forte Prenestino squat but that will come soon or not.

Yesterday we played our last show in Prague, Czech Republic which I had never been to in the past and this incredibly beautiful city did not disappoint.
We left Venice right after our show to make the 12 hour drive to the Czech Republic. The promoter Milan in Prague had been in touch with me about our arrival time in the city and getting in touch with him when we are close because he has our hotel-apartment- keys. So I lost my phone in Rome which meant I had no way of making contact with anyone if there wasn’t internet.
While we were getting close to Prague I looked in the tour book to see no number for Milan at all. After some more investigation I came across 2 numbers- 1 for a record store in Prague, and another for the hotel we were supposed to be staying in. Both of these numbers came back faulty and we were getting closer to the city. What adventures lie ahead? Our bus driver was on a tight schedule due to high tailing it back to Germany after dropping us off and the time restrictions that drivers in Europe have while driving their bus. We arrived in Prague around 3PM and had no clue about what was going on, and if this was all just something sketchy that was set up. After more investigation while sitting on a street with the bus parked and everyone just hanging out on the sidewalk for a good hour + we managed to find Milan and head to our hotel which was actually in a completely different spot then what I was told. A “last minute” change. Oh well.

We got the keys and went up to our apartment which turned out to be pretty cool All of us in the same house however there was still rooms for groups to have their own space.
After showering Jord, Barney, Stern, and myself walked across the river to go eat at a place named Veg Food. Quite interesting though was the other dudes-Chris, Todd, Ethan, and Beaver were heading to the same spot but left earlier because I don’t think they were into waiting for everyone to shower. We’ll when we arrived at the restaurant they were not there and ended up not being able to find it. That sucks because we walked straight to the place with not even a question of where it was. Patience is a virtue but I have done the same thing and had the same outcome.

Our show in Prague was an Anti Fascist show for the May Day festivities. For those in the dark about this May 1st is the International Day of the worker however in North America for some reason we have strayed paths and have never recognized this day as the rest of the world. It’s a very historic day in most parts of the world when it comes to the working class, union organizing, anti-fascism and leftist thought.

I have never been that far east in Europe before so this was all a new experience for me and that it was. This fest was the real deal. It was on an Island in the city of Prague and was put on by the Anti- Fascist group in Prague. We had been told that the same day as our fest the Nazi’s in Czech were having their huge gathering 200 km’s away and that there is the potential that things could get interesting/ violent if these boneheads chose to come into the City. We were also informed about the security situation and the pre-cautions that were in store for our event. The Nazi’s were 1 threat and then the Police were another threat as well.
Arriving at the venue yesterday we passed about 8-10 male figures all dressed in black, wearing sunglasses and no part of their actual being showing. These dudes were the “armed” (yes armed) security getting into the Island for the fest to stand guard in case any trouble started between the fascist sectors. This whole situation is something that was pretty neat to witness and experience because honestly back at home this stuff really doesn’t happen and I am not saying I would want it to happen either. Everyone working the show were 1000% down with the cause of fighting fascism and fighting the right wing. It was the offical workers holiday and there at this fest there was a good 200 people working-volunteering- at this fest with cooking, setting up, security, driving around the city to make sure the Nazi’s weren’t on their way, and protecting everyone else at the fest. The main security leader was this tough looking eastern European dude who I talked to for a bit and the dude ruled. He was a a ju-jitsu/ kung fu/ UFC fighter and was ready for anything. Backstage they had an area with tons of steal pipes in case the Island/ Festival was invaded. Most of the security guards were also armed with guns and were all wearing earpieces for communication with each other. Crazyeee!!

It’s so crazy to think there is still a huge Nazi problem in this world but on the other hand I am not surprised due to right wing politics in the past, and currently. Boneheads. Boneheads. Boneheads.

During Propagandhi’s soundcheck in the morning the Police had their helicopter hovering above just checking things out- you know…city money well spent- and I saw a couple of people walking around with this huge meter by meter mirror type board. What this was for was to reflect the sunlight towards the helicopter to block their camera from taking pictures of the people, activities at the fest. I had also heard that before the doors were open there were a couple police officers spotted wearing normal civilian clothes walking around the perimeter taking pictures of people inside the fenced off fest area. Boooo!

This fest was a really amazing experience and everyone involved were truly something else. I guess this years fest did double of what last year did where my Swede buds in the INC played last year. This year there was about 5500 people from what the organizers said when we left and the whole thing was FREE for everyone who came. Everyone worked for free, the stage, the PA system were donated for the day for free, and no Nazi’s showed up which was good however all 5500 of us were prepared. POWER IN NUMBERS.


You know what rules?! When I help everyone out on stage including the show goers up front I try my best to look out for everyone and people realize this and thank me after the show. I like that. I try to do what I can to make everyones show experience fun fun fun. I keep an eye on everyone but honestly most of the times it is these sweaty, smelly, males so I do try and keep my sisters up front a lil extra safe by sking if they are okay. This evening in Roma there was quite a bit of females up front which rules however that soon changed with all the dudes who decided to stage dive, and float. Relax gents!!!!

The Mess We Are In

So I just did a load in here in Montreal for a band with yet another one of the whackest names ever.

The Devil Wears Prada.

Honestly I can't really think of a better name at the moment and honestly for a band as such there can't really be a better name.

I would think personally if you were in a band that you respected, gave your heart/ soul too, and was a part of your history you would actually sit at that coffee table with your other band mates say a couple minutes longer to come up with a better name.

From what I read on Wikipedia the band is a "Christian "Metal"core band".

This world as we se every single day is an extremely weird weird place.
Christian Metal=Nazi Reggae pretty much sums this all up.

These days in this musical world of our when it comes to a specific type of band/ genre (flouresceent colors) they usually all bring like 4-5 other bands on tour with them. Its like the thing to do or something. Like your band isn't crappy enough you decide to subjugate everyone else with another 4 to 5 other bands. Boring.

And almost every band on tours like such actually go way over board and show up with way to much gear. They are all packed in their nice little cozy buses with their huge trailers, carrying their 4 different guitar amps, their lighting rig, and all the other up to the date gadgets to make their show "something else".
We are talking about children here.

Anyhoo....long story short. Its pathetic and it's usually always the most horrific bands out there doing this.

Then you have the whole money aspect. How can any of these bands even come close to breaking even? Yes you may think its cool to ride in a bus, and bring with you all your fancy lights but honestly at the end of the day you have literally just thrown thousands of dollars down the drain for nothing.

Bye now

Land Down Under 2

Feb 20, 2009

Melbourne is where you will find us for the next 2 nights playing at the Corner Hotel both of which are sold out. Nice.
It’s always really nice to be in a city playing 2 nights because it means that after the first show number there isn’t really too much to do. Tonight I will wind up some chords, pack up the guitars and leave the rest of the gear in place for an easy day tomorrow.

The last couple of days have been pretty fun with an amazing soundtrack blasting through my ears of singer songwriters such as Peter Gabriel, Jose Gonzalez, Kate Bush, and Sinead O’ Connor. Yowzers!

We played 2 University’s in Newcastle, and Wollongong which are always interesting shows. The show in Newcastle smoked hard but I felt that the show in Wollongong was a little lack luster due to the University- Student Union Hall vibe. Again you can’t win them all and the good thing always is the show wasn’t super horrible at all.

The morning after our Wollongong show this girl named Souli who works for the promoter- Blue Murder took Beaver, Todd, Chris and myself to the beach so we could surf. Hahaha. Souli’s brother is actually a surf instructor and was kind enough to lend us all boards plus a quick lesson. I know all of us had sharks on our minds due to the recent shark attacks here on the east coast of Australia but it was more of a joking matter in the sense of “it’s a good day to die”….As it was. Super blue sky, sun out in full force and the beach. What more can you ask for?

I wasn’t quite sure the night before if I would be up for the morning beach run but I did set my alarm just in case so once that went off I felt okay, got a call from Chris/ Beave and off we went.

I can’t remember the last time I had a chance to swim in the Ocean as we did that day. Souli’s brother wasn’t at the beach yet so we all made our way to the water until he arrived. I definitely thought the water would be warmer as we all did but after a good 2 minutes swimming around it felt amazing and wasn’t that cold at all. The waves were pretty good so we all swam out to the surf, tried to body surf, and just play around in the waves. Getting pummeled and tossed around under water by waves is truly a neat thing however I guess you have to know your limits. These waves weren’t anything to huge and for the most part the ocean floor seemed like nothing but sand so there was no real risk of hitting rocks.

Soon after Souli’s brother arrived so we made our way to the parking lot to grab our boards that we would try and surf on for the remainder of our beach “sesh”. I have only tried surfing a couple times in the past while living in California as a teenager but it wasn’t something I ever picked up. Surfing is a pretty hard/ tiring thing that takes patience so while living in California I actually was really into body-boarding going a couple times a week for years. “Spongers unite!”

It was pretty hard actually getting out to where the real sets were breaking due to the ocean being covered in sea weed that would get bunched up and tangled in your leg leash. It was pretty insane actually trying to get out to the waves but you weren’t going anywhere because you had tons of sea weed tangled around you. Booo!

The first wave I managed to catch I actually stood up for a good 3-5 seconds which was pretty rad. I wasn’t able to catch the actual wave due to the problems expressed above however I caught the white water which was fine.
We all managed to stand up at least once or twice during our “sesh” but Beaver definitely had himself the best ride out of all us. At a certain point I looked behind me and Beaver was standing up, riding a wave that kept going taking him with it. Amazing!! Hang ten bra!!


Our “sesh” had to end shortly afterwards due to meeting the rest of the circus for lunch a at the Nan Tien Buddhist Temple (largest Buddhist temple in Southern hemisphere from what I hear) and then eventually driving to the next show which was in Canberra- last night. Canberra turns out to be the capitol of Australia which I had no clue about. For lunch I had myself a Curry Laksa, and some vegi drum sticks.

The show last night was definitely the “punkest” show of the tour which was pretty rad. The show was located at a community center in Canberra which was basically a hall with no barricade. Finally! All the shows thus far have been amazing but have had barricades which like I have mentioned before definitely holds back some of the energy. There is nothing like a show, with kids going nuts right up in front of your face and I knew for myself I would have a little more work on my hands which is also a plus.
Nothing to crazy happened and the show was a little “tamer” then I thought it would be but I am also comparing it to a lot of other shows with no barricades. With Propagandhi some of the shows are truly completely off the wall insane where others are still crazy but not off the wall.

Land Down Under

FEB 8TH, 2009

So I am currently sitting on an Airbus 321 where I left Montreal, QC about 1.5 hours ago on my way to Vancouver, BC where we should arrive in about 3.5 hours. It’s a nice day outside with blue skies on both sides of the plane and thus far a pretty smooth flight which I always enjoy. I am sitting towards to rear of the plane just by coincidence which is funny because about 4 weeks ago I was listening to a podcast from Howstuffworks.com entitled “How to Survive a Plane Crash”.

One of the things mentioned in this episode was that you are more likely to survive a plane crash if you are sitting in the back of the plane. A couple of other facts in this episode were
- more likely to be involved in an auto accident then a plane accident.
- chances of being in a plane crash are 1 in 1 million which at that rate you would have to fly every single day for about 1500 years to be guaranteed something as such.
- also when sitting in a plane count the number of rows between you and the emergency exit in case there comes a time which this vehicle is filled with smoke.

Okay I’ll end this here. I am truly not sitting here thinking of a plane crash although there are times on flights when I think of such things. A natural thought for someone as myself who gets nervous every once and awhile on these flights.

I am flying to Vancouver to meet up with my brothers in Propagandhi at which time we will jump on another plane to fly over the mighty Pacific Ocean (yes the whole thing!), land in Auckland, New Zealand, and then board yet another flight with a final destination of Wellington, New Zealand.
Crazyeeeee!

We are heading to New Zealand to play 2 shows and then over to Australia for 9 more shows including about 3-4 days off. I have never been to either NZ or AU ever so as you could imagine this is going to be quite the trip and I know only a couple of the other dudes have been to AU once which was about 10 years ago.

Cities that will be getting their heads rocked like no other will be Wellington/ Auckland-New Zealand, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney, New Castle, Wollongong, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth- Australia.

On this adventure we will have:

Jord, Chris, Beave, Todd, Barney, Myself plus in each country we will be with 2 locals acting as Promoter/Tour Manager and Merchandise.

Missing on this run will be the one and only Sammy who usually is head Field Marshall of these operations however he now has himself a contract/ job at a nice little rock venue in Winnipeg, MB named the Royal Albert- which I have been voting for recently in the CBC Best Rock Venue in Canada…Good luck Albert! They have a good little BBQ Tofu Burger and have started making Vegan Cinnamon Donuts so if there is ever a place that should win the Albert is the place.

The last couple weeks back home have been pretty chilled for myself. Literally chilled if we want to talk about the weather as well which is why this trip is going to rule. The average temp that I have seen for the next 2 weeks is about 20c which is nice compared to the -15 to -20c we have gone through back in Montreal. The sunscreen, flip flops, and swim trunks have been packed and are ready for their use in the next couple of days.

Feb 12th, 2009

So we have now been in Aotearoa for 3 days now and I must say New Zealand has a super amazingly chilled vibe.
We arrived in Wellington after a (for myself) 5 hour flight to Vancouver, a 13 hour flight from Vancouver to Auckland, and then finally a 1 hour flight from Auckland, NZ to Wellington, NZ.

Feb 13th, 2009

Brisbane, Australia is the location for our touring circus today where we are playing a venue named Arena this evening. Thus far our time here has been amazing, and I know will continue being amazing however I think most of us are still trying to catch up on some rest which hasn’t come so easy as of late.

Once we arrived in Wellington, NZ we all decided that the best course of action wasn’t sleep and was to stay awake the whole day so our bodies would still be some sort of a day time/ night time schedule. The promoter in NZ had arranged for a shuttle van to pick us up and take us to the hotel which was located in the center of Wellington. This hotel was definitely a 5 star hotel which was pretty funny for all of us. I myself have stayed in some pretty nice hotels throughout my touring travels however the Prop boys I know haven’t stayed in many places as such. The reason being is truly there is no need for it. Why stay in a extremely stale posh hotel which charges you for everything including internet when you could stay in a cheaper place, still have 2 beds to sleep on, free continental breakfast, and internet?
Again non of us truly really cared because ultimately a bed is a bed and when you are trying to catch up on sleep you’ll sleep anywhere.

After we were checked in we all headed out to a vegan/ vegi Malaysian food restaurant which was pretty decent. I ordered myself a tofu gado gado.

Once lunch was consumed we took aCable car to the top of some mountain and headed to the Botanical Gardens of Wellington. The fauna here, plus the ecological system here makes for some amazing plants, and trees.
It was cloudy, and raining when we arrived and still is 3 days later as I write. Its actually a nice feel being in a tropical country where its super warm and there is a rain. Since our arrival the temp hasn’t dropped down below 20C and in fact yesterday in Auckland it was record breaking 32C which they haven’t seen since 1872. Crazy!

Botanical gardens are always such amazing places no matter which country they are located in however these particular gardens definitely had a very rainforest, jungle vibe to which I have never seen before. Huge greens leaves with beads of water just resting on top of them. I was walking around and would randomly take my hand, brush it against the leaves, and the water which was pretty neat. We stayed at the gardens for a good couple hours which was a work out in itself due to the terrain here being extremely mountainous so our legs plus our tired bodies made for some heavy breathing.

The road we followed ended up taking us back into the downtown area and at that time all of us were super hungry again which was weird seeing how we all had huge meals 2 hours prior. We found an Indian food place back on Cuba street which was the name of the street the venue was on, plus the Malaysian place we ate at earlier. The Indian place didn’t open for a couple hours so most of us indulged in local Wellington beer before eating.
Later that night I actually ended up going to the beach and getting in the water in the dark of night. The water wasn’t super cold however with the cloud cover, my loopy sleep deprived mind, and the nighttime it was a chilly experience. But…..I did get into the mighty Pacific in New Zealand and that is not something I will get to do that often.

The next day we had our first show on this tour which was at a venue named the San Fran Bathhouse. Propagandhi had never played NZ before so non of us were sure what to expect. First shows can always be interesting especially while traveling long distances.
The venue was packed with stoked kids and all in all I thought the show went well but again it was the first show of a tour.

After Wellington we had a 7AM lobby call the next morning so we could catch our 1 hour flight to Auckland where we played yesterday. After we arrived in Auckland we were picked up by a girl named Lucy who drove us into where first before we went to our hotel we actually drove up a volcano located in the middle of Auckland overlooking the entire city span. Amazing. I guess just in that city alone there are at least 7 different non active volcano’s.
The hotel we stayed at yesterday was definitely more posh then the night before which we were warned about. The promoter in NZ told us “this hotel is where Presidents stay”. Crazy!! Again these places were not our choice and were booked by locals.

Once we were checked in we went to a place named Revel in the downtown area of Auckland and had a nice café style meal. My dish was named “Beans, and Avo” which was 2 different kinds of beans, with a sauce, on top of 2 slices of seeded bread, with avocado.

The show last night was in a bigger venue (named Studio) then the night before however there wasn’t as many people at the show. There was a handful of kids at the show who were there the night before in Wellington which was cool to see. In fact we ran into a couple of the kids actually in the airport waiting to catch their flights to Auckland.

After the show last night we loaded out as quick as we could because we had a lobby call at 6:50AM for a 3.5 hour flight from NZ to Brisbane, AUS where we find ourselves currently.

Feb 15, 2009

“Baby once I thought I knew. Everything I needed to know about you.”-Lonesome Day- Bruce Springsteen.

I must say that thee almighty Bruce Springsteen is truly like no other. Every time I listen to this genius of a man I seriously get goose bumps. Amazing.

So we are in Sydney, AUS this evening at a venue named the Metro which is sold out at 1200. Cool eh!?

We flew here this morning from the Gold Coast, AUS where we played last night. Last nights show thus far was the mellowest show yet. The kids were definitely into it but there was definitely something lacking on their part which ultimately sometimes affects the bands show itself. I thought the show was good but definitely saw that the kids were just there and that was pretty much it.
The Gold Coast seemed like a pretty cool place being located right on the coast. Yesterday it was yet another day with rain but the waves seemed to be pretty good which caused for surfers everywhere.

Feb 15, 2009

Sitting on the balcony on the 20th floor of some high rise hotel in downtown Sydney where we are staying at for the next 2 days on a sort of vacation due to no shows. I woke up still feeling a little groggy which is getting old. The jet lag plus for the last 3-4 days I have been nursing a cold, cough which sucks but it hasn’t truly stopped me from givin’er.

Last nights show was incredible. 1200 kids going nuts and singing as loud as they could sometimes louder then the PA system during certain parts of certain songs. Amazing.

Flying yesterday was pretty crazy. We woke up and left the Gold Coast around 8 AM to stop at an amazing whole foods/ vegan café named the Magic Apple where we had also ate dinner the night before. I had myself a scrambled tofu on sour dough which was okay however I have had much much better. The dinner the night before was definitely quality but the breakfast was lacking just that.

We arrived at the airport 1 hour exactly before our flight but we still had to fuel up the rental vans, and load in 37 pieces of gear, luggage into the airport. Crazy! Never have any of us flown with so much gear/ backline but the promoter here in AUS said this is the way its got to be down. We literally were down to the minute with the lady saying “You’ve got 1 minute to get all this on the belt” so after some running and everyone doing their part we were loaded up, checked through security and on our flight.

When we landed we drove straight to the venue and that’s where I found myself all day. I must say I miss shows with no barricade and miss the work that comes along with it. Every show so far has had a barricade so basically during Prop’s set I just sit on the side of the stage keeping a watchful eye on all the dudes making sure that everything is set with their gear, and nothing goes wrong. At shows with no barricades there is nothing but chaos with kids jumping on stage/ diving off stage, pedals getting stepped on, mic stands falling, chords getting ripped out of pedals the list goes on and on. By the end of nights like these I am usually drenched from head to toe in my and others sweat which is a sign of a true work out. All these shows I haven’t broken a sweat yet so I am patiently waiting for that one show with no barricade.

Last week here in Sydney at the main city beach there was a shark attack with a surfer loosing his hand plus another shark attack the same week on a Navy diver.

Feb 17, 2009

So we are on our 2nd day off and thus far our little holiday from what is already pretty much a holiday has ruled.
Woke up thi morning with what I still think is slight symptoms of jet lag. I went to bed at 2 AM and woke up at 9 AM….7 hours exactly on a day off. I feel like I should just do to the vacation factor I should have slept at least 10 however at the moment I do feel fine.
Once up Todd, Jord and I hung around for awhile checking the internerd, and I caught up on some much needed yoga and then eventually we went out for the day with Barney, and Robbie as well.
We discovered this Thai restaurant yesterday named Peace Harmony which is an amazing vegan Thai joint that has hands down really good food, juices, appetizers at pretty cheap prices which is nice at the moment due to most of our funds running low from higher prices here. After eating Thai we headed towards the Sydney Harbor where we walked around the Opera house, checked out the Sydney Harbor bridge but didn’t walk across it, and then headed to the Botanical Gardens of Sydney.

Gardens are such amazing places whether they are in your backyard, man made exhibits or just in their natural settings. Tree’s and their roots just working their way through the earth and planting themselves firmly into the soil.

We were walking through the greenery when we came across a big group of Cockatoo birds. Beaver had mentioned something yesterday about seeing them so it was something we were all hoping to see today. Beaver slowly made is way super close to one of the birds and ended up feeding it leaves, and grass. Wild. These birds were extremely tame and eventually got a lot tamer. We were sitting there around a group of about 12 of them when all of a sudden 1 just jumps right onto Beavers arm and another onto his head. Wild! Talk about super cool. Barney then was next with the same sort of thing. A cockatoo just out of nowhere comes swooping in and lands right on his shoulder.
I was trying to creep closer and closer to any bird near me to try so I could try to get one of them on my arms. When you lowered your hand most birds would nibble- bite (hard) your hand, and fingers. Their birds were I guess as hard as any bird bite so you had to be careful. Having a full finger in the way of their beaks would be an extremely painful experience. No cockatoo was having my arm so I kept trying when eventually a bird out of nowhere just lands directly on my hat. Within the first 5 seconds of this bird making a temporary home on top of my head the sucker decides to drop a load of its excrement directly onto my shoulder. Haha. Classic! At this time another bird decides to swoop over, land on my arm making for now 2 birds trying to balance on my body. Earlier when Beave, Todd, and Barney each had birds on them these suckers would bite anything they could so the birds that were on me started trying to bite my ear lobes which wouldn’t have felt to good.

After a little while longer chilling with these fellow creatures we made our way over to another little section of the garden where all the trees around were being used as sleeping spots by huge gigantic bats. Definitely the biggest bats any of us had ever seen and they were everywhere. It is safe to say there were hundreds possibly even 1000 of them. Most were hanging in the tree’s sleeping, cleaning themselves, while many more were actually flying around the sky. Rad. Batman! We were all fine with birds randomly swooping down landing on our shoulders but there is no way any of us wanted bats on us. Thankfully non did.

Last night while watching TV here some of us saw a pretty crazy, really deep down disturbing commercial come on. It was as such.
A black screen saying “Have you seen something suspicious or do you suspect suspicious activity?” , and a couple more fearful quotes as such. The next thing to come up was
“If you suspect activity as such please call, and inform the National Security Agency” and left a 1 800 number. I’ve never seen something as such. This was full on the real deal and something that was straight up trying to instill fear into people, and keep on with this whole “Terrorism” situation you here so much about.
Back home yes we have Canadian Forces commercials everywhere including on coaches corner and in the US you have military commercials with the same vibe. Very quick, bright colored, almost video game like simulations of war to attract peoples fragile minds. But I have never seen a commercial as such saying “If so please contact the CIA” or the “NSA” or even “CSIS”.

You can walk through a garden, have wild exotic birds just land on you out of nowhere and then come home to turn on thee tube to be inundated with fear which ultimately boils down to profit. Friggin eh what a crazy mess we have gotten ourselves into.