Metal Maiden says "Get those horns up in the air!!"

So here I am reporting back from one of the best music fests I have been to in god knows how long. Sounds of the Underground landed here in S'toon at the "Credit Union" Center yesterday at noon & ended at 11:30 pm. (Yes my feet & neck are sore) Unfortunately we (jordy & I) got there after Devil Driver just finished *shucks* so no clue how crappie they were...although being an old skool Coal Chamber fan I still wouldn't have minded seeing them. Here's a little something I've thrown together as some of my best/worst moments...

Bands I enjoyed:/ Bands I hurt my neck to/or danced my feet off:
Lamb of God/ Clutch
Opeth/ Poison the Well
All that Remains/ Every Time I Die
GWAR/ Throwdown
Strapping Young Lad

Bands that were too heavy (yes it's possible!):
Norma Jean
Chimaira

Bands I don't remember:/ Bands I don't ever wanna hear again:
Unearth/ Madball
Terror/ High on Fire
A Life Once Lost/

Most Memorable Moments:

-hearing Throwdown cover Sepultura's Roots *hell ya!*
-seeing Devin Townsend create the biggest circle pit EVER!
-hearing Botchla (when does PTW ever play that live???!)
-seeing Gene Hoglan from SYL play drums for Opeth
-Norma Jean paying homage to Nirvana's Radio Friendly Unit Shifter
-seeing my old friend Terry from HMV Cornwall days *haven't seen him in 5 YEARS!!*
-anything Gwar did, oh the blood...
-when Neil Fallon pointed & sang at me through the whole of Clutch's set *I was the only fool dancing my ass off & shouting every word back to the mf'ers!*

Man I saw all sorts of crazy shite...Saskatoon has some wierd metal crowds. Ferlen Berenick was there!!!! LOL I also saw this chick sniffing solvent through one of those dust mask thingys. How she could walk I have no idea. Also the security tried to confiscated all metal objects such as wallet chains, studded belts, & necklaces as well as backpacks. I'd hate to see them have to sort through it all later?? Why not stipulate that on the ticket...oh credit union nazies...I guess we don;t have to worry about anyone getting rowdy at Taste of Chaos just let them have their fashion accessories!

All in all, I was more than satisfied. I will DEFINATELY seek out this tour next year, hopefully it comes back. The kool thing is every band was so appreciative of the crowd & gave an extra song or two even though they only were suppose to be 20 min sets. I'm sad From Autumn to Ashes was not there...but hey!! I saw FUCKIN OPETH!!!

So metal kats, weep for the madness you did not have the pleasure to see, but here's a pic of my metal king to help you imagine how AWESOME THIS DAY WAS!!! MY SWORD IS MADE OF METAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

only 2 more days

I'm pretty stoked for some metal madness here in a few sleeps...Clutch here I come to rock out til my body aches HELL YEAH!!

dear god....

...you know you love someone infinitely when you spend all night cleaning up their projectile vomit in your bathroom that is pretty much in your bedroom...

nothing could have prepared me for the sheer smell & horror...or my own gagging. i'm quite proud of the fact even though how intoxicated i was myself, i still managed to clean it all up without adding to the mess myself.

happy birthday jordan.

This is the end, my only friend

Well in spirit of my co-partner in crime's last day at the HMV I have compiled a list of top 10 people the Bono can be happie he'll never have to deal with again...

*ahem* Drum roll please...

10. Clinton Thiel
----damn no more lists of crappie metal to look up & fax back to him at the Bruno Credit Union. Should I just go ahead & fax them to you at Metrotown?

9. Laddie from the Hairstyle Inn
---Darn you'll never get to see his horrible self portraits at the Ex this year!

8. Laddie's Demon-Spawn Daughter
---*snaps fingers in face* "Can I get some f'n service here?!!? I'm a f'n hairstylist in a MALL, I demand you lick my shoes, lowlife music store employee!!" Ick, you lucky bastard for leaving this behind...

7. Irresistable Encore Lady
---Ok it's too bad I'll have no one to make fun of Ms. Penguin. God I hope she never wears that flippin dress again!

6. Swagger King
---Ok this one really doesn't count cuz I don't even really get to see him anymore, unless I take a trip to Market Mall I guess. Maybe I will, for old times sake.

5. Quatch
---I don't even know where to begin on this guy. The hair, the glasses, the horrible Bruce Springsteen references...."Hello Victoria!!"

4. The "Dontcha Know" Man
---Hey Jon, I heard that THE vinyl factory burnt down. Shoot where are we going to get our vinyl now?? Dontcha know Elvis is the King??

3. Jean "Bat"ko
---I swear to god I will forever be afraid of the sound of an approaching shopping cart. Should I send you a Marilyn Monroe collection on VHS so you can reminise? Oh wait how about the D.V.D.??

2. Asshole in a Suit
---Sorry I never caught his name, but be SO fuckin thankful you don't work tomorrow!!! Hey Space 1999 came out before you were BORN Jon!!

And the #1 person you should be so amazingly-thank-my-fucking-stars happie to never EVER see again....

1. Rick Reddekopp
---Wow no more clefty, no more woman shaped glasses, no more "I've shut down bigger operations than this before", no more staring into your soul with those damn stupid eyes pretending to give a crap...whoa Natty stop, stop...what are you.....AH RICK WATCH OUT SHE'S GONNA CLUB YA WITH THAT BAT!!!!!!

Other honorable mentions include...the biblical-movies woman, the tantric master, the creep who talks real slow & LOVES Sheryl Crow, the People's cart freak, & our very own mallrat in the blue t-shirt & ball cap. I'm sure there's a 1000 more...there has to be after 6 yrs but I can't bring myself to continue. The bottom line is they & I, Natty-Bo-Batty, will miss you very very much Jono. Here's to you & the fact that you survived this madness!!

*please save me...*

Blank

...i have nothing to say...i don't even know why i'm here, i guess i'm lonely. jordan is out somewhere, mins is sleeping, so i seek comfort from a computer screen? oh well...can anyone believe its actually mid july already..? i'm freaked out by how fast time is moving, i feel like i'm running out.


big changes are in the air, the question is do i want them?

Love/Hate Relationship

Dear Minou,

If you f*&!ing pee in the downstairs bathroom one more time, I will slowly pull out all of your whiskers one by one!!!!!

And thanks for biting my nose last night, it was muchly appreciated. Do you want to remind me why the hell I put up with your antics?

Oh right, cuz your cute.

Just remember who feeds you...

Love,
Natty

SucKing vorteX

I don't understand how the city of Saskatoon trys to "clean-up" it's streets. The bus mall downtown has been quite a problem for sometime with it's closed store fronts & loitering vagrants/gangsta wannabes. There was a time when the city was going to move the entire location & revamp the area into parking/open businesses. But that seems to be on the backburner...instead they blare obscenly loud victorian-era classical music throughout the whole area through outdoor speakers. Is this detering crime?? I don't think playing bad string arrangements in making me feel anymore protected from the skidish crackouts. If anything, its making everyone more so on edge! Hey but doesn't it make the pidgeon shit covered sidewalk & crazy bag lady rifling through the garbage cans all that more enjoyable?

I mean come on, Clockwork Orange anyone?

Shambhala here I come

Well it is officially 24 days until I depart for the trip of a lifetime this summer. I still can't believe I'm making it to one of the koolest music fests Canada has to offer, & in the mountains to boot! I have very little idea who's who that's playing but I can ensure you the d & b area will be frequented due to some awesome talent there (Tipper, Likwid, Ruairi Lazers, & Ed Rush & Optical to name a few) I'm prepared to lose a few brain & ear cells to the onslaught of immense diversity at Shambhala.

Can I take a minute to scream here....AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Too awesome...I so wish that all of my close friends can be there with me this August...ah well guys you'll have to save up & come next year. (It'll be just a little hop for you Jono)

The list of acts I'm intrigued to see are as follows:

Raiden
Stickybuds
The Milk Pipes
JustB Murge & Ishkan
Adham Shaikh

Yeah they just sound interesting, who knows if I'll like them...but at least I can groove to the Fine Options if I get homesick cuz theyll be playing the Sk8 Pit!!

I may just have to stay living in the mountains...

I like the WHip

Hey here's something you all should check out...now you all can see how freekin awesome the Bassment was on Sunday

LAZERS

Lucky Chica

My friends rock.

I had the pleasure to watch one of them on Sunday night at the Bassment. He rocked our socks off to his twitchy samples mixed with his own madness on the drumkit. Very Autechre like. I had no idea a lil guy like Ruairi could bust through 6 pairs of drumsticks in 45 mins! And the constant aggression on the kit with too many drumrolls to count. I have alot of friends that are dj's spinnin' the wax but to see one of them to take it to a whole new level & actually incorporate his entire BODY into it blew me away. I wish everyone could've been there. It was so wild too especially that he played right in the middle of an indie rock show; some people had no idea how to react. Yet by the end he had the roof raised with cheers & mad applause, even people dancing which included a few mid 50 yrs old ladies! Kudos to you my fuzzy sweatered friend!

I tried to find his stuff on the wide inter-web but alas to no avail. But you can check out these guys here whom also rocked hailing from Victoria. I've never seen musicians multi-tasking so much in one night! This duo incorporated a guitarist who sang & played keyboards all at once as well as a drummer who drummed with one side of his body & tickled the keyboard with the other.

Maybe I should live in Victoria instead of Leeds. It seems to be the new Montreal...

brain SizzlE

It is currently 35 degrees in my house as I speak. That's 15 degrees hotter than outside. How is this liveable?? (side note: I am NOT complaining about the heat outside, Mrs. Mother Nature, so please remember our deal & don't blast my ass with cold this winter)

I found Minou on the kitchen floor; I had to PEEL her off. *shudder* I should go put ice cubes in her water dish now....thanks for the idea Kim.

I guess this is what happens when no one is home all day until midnight & the house had no circulation moving through. I would leave a fan running but that just seems so unsafe...what if Mins got her whiskers caught?

I think I'll sleep on my cold basement bathroom floor. 'Night fans. This is "sweaty" Natz reporting to Sleepsville.

Yoga-tastic

Yay! I deserve a cookie...I actually finished my yoga book today "Richard Hittleman's Yoga 28 Day Exercise Plan" I have been trying to complete this book for 4 yrs now& just couldn't get past week 1! All it is is learning a few new stretches each day until you've learned all exercises for Hatha Yoga. I just kept getting so lazy with it, but now I'm proud to say I can do a shoulder stand for 2.5 minutes & bend myself in half (somewhat).

Mind you I'm sure this insane heat does help me be more flexible huh?

You can purchase this wonderful text here

An Intervention May Be In Order

Ah Mins....I love how grouchy you are when you eat catnip...yesterday she found some growing in my backyard & decided to get high. Then I couldn't even pick her up for 10 minutes because she was trippin out so hard & thought I was some big evil mean dog trying to kill her. I hope the scratch & bite marks don't become infected on my poor arms, & Mins realizes that she just can't handle the herb! At least after coming back inside she stuffed her face with catfood, passed out for 20 mins, & then try to kick the crap out of the cheap styrofoam airplane I got from Ruckers. At least it wasn't my arms....now I must go "Mins-proof" my yard. Junkie.

Ode to JordyZ

Sometimes I feel like the entire universe is crushed on my shoulders; every which way I need to either make a life altering decision or lose a close friend. I sometimes feel like I haven't been able to smile or be myself in over a full 2 yrs but I then I look to the one who has been beside me through it all...it's hard to believe we almost lost each other that spring & it's so amazing that we have our whole path ahead of us...here's to us

"In a phone booth we will hide....squished together we don't mind..."