I've morphed into an HMV robot

I just finished my 12 1/2 hour shift today receiving & repricing campaigns...
how do people work in assembly line work?? i seriously lost my brain at about 8:30 tonight

I got to eat 4 hrs past my usual feeding, where I went to the HATED Pita Pit (cuz Extreme Pita was closed...& YES there IS a difference!) Some bobo of a female species coughed like a man on my hummus pita before handing it to me...if I wasn't so hungry I might've just punched her in the tit. Ah the glory...

....ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........
(that's me sleeping in blissfully for it's my day off tomorrow)

Oh yeah and....

Ok this is TOO catchy!

Blink Kong Girls

Stoner Rock Goodness

I've only heard a couple tracks from these guys but it definately was right up my "I-love-stoner-rock" alley. It reminds me alot of where it all started for me (Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin) even twinges of newer stuff like Kings of Leon, & Black Rebel. Anyways it's kool that they hail from Canada!! Check it out here. I'll keep you all posted with my thoughts once I bring this baby home tomorrow!

Could I be a bar-star?

Last night was spent at "the Scuz"...yes I know I can hear the gasps & comments of "what the hell was she thinking"; my sister convinced me to come along & my brother from Edmonton was in town so I thought "meh?"

Of course we were greeted with a huge lineup of drunken fools waiting for the all-mighty bouncer man to pick them to go through. So we wait. We encounter two drunkards from some small town who try to start up a rousing conversation involving the NHL. Ha! Of course Jordy & I are clueless, loathing the sport, but my brother tries to humour the guy. It ends with the two drunkies arguing over why Tampa Bay sucks. Thankfully my cousin sees us & pulls us up to the front of a shorter "VIP" line to get in faster...but it'll cost us $5/piece instead of $2. I give the bouncer the evilest eye I can muster...jerkface.

The place is PACKED! It feels like Shambhala all over again except wait a minute..the music sucks, the people are all slutted out to the max & oh yes I'm in SASKATOON! Strangely through the mass of backfat & sideways hats I see a familiar face. It's Bdan's bro, Kevin. He pushes his way over & we both are just as shocked & clueless as to why we're both there. I'm about to introduce my sister to him when she loudly "whispers" above the crowd to me "Who are you talking to?? He looks like DAN!"

"Yes this is Dan's brother Kevin"

"Oh wow you sure look like Dan! Omigod did I mention you look like Dan??" she looks at me "I can't believe how much he looks like Dan"

Kevin says "It's alright" kinda looks away

My sister then pulls a Will Ferrell from Old School & whispers (loudly) with her hand to the side of her mouth to me "He even SOUNDS like Dan!!"

Eek the awkwardness of a drunk sibling. She wanders off, & Kevin escapes. I'm so sorry!!! The night continues...

We finally find a table to the back of the bar & have a couple drinks. The 3 of us decide at some point that this sucks huge & wait for my sister to return so we get hit the road. People watching is so much fun!!

This guy comes by the table, stops, points at me & exclaims "HMV right?" He then pulls up a chair & makes himself at home.

"So what kinda music comes out this week, anything good?"

I hate this question. 1)I'm not at work so don't ask 2)As if I can remember with blasting J-Lo over the crap speakers 3)They won't know the bands I'll mention anyways...he looks like a Theoryofanickelcreed kinda guy

I shrug "Sept. a bigger release month. I can only remember DVD releases right now"

"Oh....so like....what you doing....later? Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Yeah"

"Oh shit is he here??"

"Yeah right there" I point to an oblivious Jordy across the table laughing at some random hooch

"oh shit uh....."

Laughing "it's ok...this doesn't have to be awkward!!"

The guy then calls for a friend to bail him out & he spends the rest of the night wistfully looking at me from across the bar. Right so this is why I don't come to these places...the meat market isn't fun for a veggie like me! & I was even dressed incognito...my dreads up in a toque & my black patched sweater. Ah well...I guess I'd have to show more skin to be a TRUE bar star.

I can't get those damn J-Lo horns outta my head!!!!

Ack

Me so hungry....

What a LONG day at work. Good thing it's only one more day (ack I hear Nickelback somewhere!!! Who leaves the tv on that godforsaken channel??) where was I?? Oh yes...2 days off coming up!! (after tom.)

I shall be checking out the farmer's market Sat morn, then catching Brothers Grimm late afternoon, to be followed with a farewell gathering *sniff sniff* for my two best buds Bono & BdaN.

*throwing tantrum* PLEASE DON'T GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*ahem* Sorry 'bout that...I'm usually so much more controlled.

Don't know what I'm doing Sunday yet...so if anyone wants to chill with a bored hippie lemme know...

Oooo I can't wait for Jordy's vegetarian rendition of Chicken Parmesan....with Spongecake Fruit Cups for dessert...isn't love grand?

Jumpin on the bandwagon OR re-visiting my youth

Well Dan you've convinced me...here's who has stolen my heart. All I need to do now is save up enough pesos for the darlin'...

I love rainy days off. I've done NOTHING today except walk to the vid store to rent Sin City...damn Jordy for having to work, I have to wait before he gets home to watch. I was sad however that they did not have this to watch...I'm dying to know what's happening!!!!

Day 1 Down

So today was first day back at work since my holidays.

......

It went pretty fast considering. I've promised myself to stay positive throughout this next whole year of emprisonment...but I will say this; it sucks when you feel like you're babysitting your new boss. I hope at some point he stops feeling so guilty & treating me like a walking timebomb & lies in the bed he's made for himself. I kinda laughed when I read the note this morning asking me to outline all the things he's done wrong...it seems so messed up.

At least I had alot of visitors today, friends & regulars. The general consensus was everyone missed me & were glad I was back....AAAAAaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

On a sidenote...I found out last night an old friend was killed in a car wreck in Edmonton last week. The funeral was today. I obviously couldn't attend. His name was Daniel Sicotte. He was my first "boyfriend" in Kindergarten. He stole his mom's wedding ring to give to me during naptime. I haven't spoken to him since I moved away from Gravelbourg 7 yrs ago. I'm sad we won't ever see each other again. RIP Danny...

Where is my mind

Well folks here I am, safe back at home in good ol' S'toon! We rolled in about 11pm last night & I've been spending the day on my futon trying to regain my emotional/mental conciousness. I stare at this computer screen & don't even know where to begin!! You know how you hear of people having life-changing experiences n all....well this chica right here sure had some priorities set straight! After the week I had had prior to leaving for Shambhala, being out in the mountains, surrounded by 12,000 people going off, & seeing some amazing creations in nature on the way home, things are really so much LESS significant in my doldrum life. I will no longer be sitting here pining over the fact as to why I'm not rewarded here, I'll now go out & TAKE it from the places that will give it to me. Yes, my time here in Saskatoon & HMV are now coming to a close. I now begin the countdown to when I can get my life in order to be living in the type of life I've always wanted, which consequently I have found in BC. Anyways enough of that mumbo jumbo...you fools prolly want details huh??

So the drive up Wed. was pretty frantic. We (jordy, john d, & i) left here around 11am & drove straight to Creston BC to set up camp. We arrived at about 12am BC time. EESH! But the ride did not feel that long at all! (Thank you Mr Cheebah) We stayed at Little Joe's Fruitstand (which was also a campground). It was pretty surreal cuz the highway was up on this cliff over our tents so all night it felt like big logger trucks were flying through the air over our heads. We got barely any sleep.

Then up at 8am we continued to Shambhala which was another 2-3 hr drive just outside of Salmo. We had to climb this tiny gravel road up this mountain to then be greeted by the longest car line up EVER! It was a good opportunity to stretch our legs & breathe in that fresh mountain air. We finally arrived into the gates about early afternoon. We quickly found our campsite luckily saved by our other S'toon buddies Jake, Wynona, Vanderloos, Bartsch, Timmy, Ruairi. I wish I could describe the amount of people already there. It felt like the amount of people you'd have at Connect's peak point. This was actually a day BEFORE the festival started. Yikes! So we set up base camp & begin lounging.

Throughout the course of the day, more & more tents pop up to the point where if you leave your site it's hard to find again. It's crazy! Around late afternoon, the ranch gets hit with a crazy thunderstorm transforming the entire site into one big mud puddle. People are scrambling, all of the lighting gear is in jeopardy, & one of the main stages isn't even up & running yet. The festival is looking grim. We wonder if we're even going to be seeing any acts tonight. Ruairi doesn't even get to play as well as Likwid & Rasta. We try to keep warm & dry.

Eventually Ewok VIllage is opened but everything is delayed. It's turning out to be a long cold night for us. It's quite comical to watch all the messed up people trying to make their way through 1/2 foot of muddy water in the dark, I felt like I was in a zombie movie. But the beer & the 80s keep me truckin. Soon we're watching Aphrodite pummel the crowd with his bass lines & people are going OFF! Watching the stage you felt like it was electric circus, the women in their bikinis & raver gear girating theit pelvis' in Aphrodite's ear. Too awesome. I must say though for me, Aphro's set was a bit dated for me. I'm glad I saw him but he really wasn';t that special.

After 3 hrs we are blessed with Ed Rush & Optical. AH!!!! It's was too f'n GOOD to write about! I danced like a fiend & gritted my teeth to the deep dirty dankness. I luved it. & on a sidenote here....it was roughly 2am & people were still waiting in line to get in at the gates...nonstop since morning. Chew on that huh? All that aside I was in bed around 4am & unable to sleep. The beats kept going so you had to train your ears to not hear it & sleep. Or doze as we all did.

After about 5 hours of rest we got up & fed the camp with tasty eats. (yeah we brought WAY too much food) If I thought yesterday there was no room, today you couldn;t even see ground with all the tents. Insane! We spent the day on the beach by the creek laying on rocks (suprisingly comfie with the 90s) watching all the asst of people. I've seen so much breasts & weiners to go around for a lifetime!! Lots of people with no shame. John D amused me with his syncro in the river while Timmy & Jordy basked. It was glorious.

At 6pm we caught up with everyone to watch Abstract Rude & Tribe Unique in the Village. Very awesome...here's a pic for you to see! I was so happie to see so many dreddies, I felt so much at home...


.Tipper. was then on at 10pm. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! He was the highlight by far!!!! Nice breaks layered with phat drum & bass it was so funky & the crowd was eating it up. Jordy, John D, & I def. partied up a storm that night...we didn't crash til the sun came up. We spent the whole night checking out all sorts of stages ending it with what we call "the unknown dj" at the Village whom played awesome awesome deep funk house.

Sunday day was spent recup-ing & me nursing a nosebleed. (too dry & too much excitment!)At 1pm we finally got to see Ruairi play in the Village. We made sure to cheer ever so loudly being not alot of people were up at that time, & it was really hard for the lil guy to treck his drumkit to the mountains. I'll say boo to the organizers for not giving Ruairi a better timeslot. The evening we got to see .Tipper. again with a downtempo set on the beach. It felt like we were in Cirque du Soleil with all the hippies on stilts, firespinners, & hullahoopers swaying to Boards of Canada. Thinking back on it brings tears to my eyes, it was such an amazing beautiful moment. I didn;t want this experience to end.

The rest of the night we saw BC/DC an AC/DC cover band at the Village, followed by Vinyl Ritchie. This guy was spinning Pantera into drum & bass with Slayer & White Zombie. Then he changed it up to Zepp into Black Sabbath. It was f'n awesome. Def. a set geared to me. I felt very special!

This next picture is when we were at the Fractal Forest watching Lioness & the Stanton Warriors. This was another fave part of the weekend...you felt like you were inside of a club the way it was set up. You're in a huge circle of trees with screens projecting images. In the middle is this massive tree stump that has a dj booth inside...there's lazers, disco balls, lights everywhere. It truly was a mind altering experience. Oh yeah & cram about 6000 people into that space...


Well I've felt I've exhausted myself & this post. It's hard to cram 4 amazing days into words on a screen. We left Shambhala quite sad but glad to not have to use outhouses or be stalked by weirdos on acid. The ride home was equally awesome. We crashed in Nelson at the Hume Hotel (highly reccomended!) Monday night & the next day made our way to Clagary taking the GOlden/Lake Louise route. Not to be taken if your scared of heights! There were times you had to drive 30km & pray for your soul...~

Well folks my brain is still fuzzy, thankfully I'm still on vacation til Sat. I CAN'T wait til next year. This trip has made me a Shambhala lifer...hopefully next year I'll remember to bring warmer clothes & pace myself. Don't know if I'll get used to the amount of people mind you. I'm glad to be back in the wide open prairies for now.

Till next time....

Off she goes!

Oh man oh man I made it through today, I'm almost finished packing, I leave in 10 hours!!!! How awesome.

Well faithful readers, I shall return in 1 week to regale you with tales from the dark side of drum & bass & my corrupted mind.

WIsh you all could be there! ('specially Bono & Shu)

Here's Natz saying "See ya latR fiends...this grrrl is out!"

Strength & Speed

Dear Masters of the Universe,

This is my last day at work before I embark on the "trip of a lifetime" to BC. All I ask is that the day whips by, I don't have to speak to Mr Weasle, & I'm reminded throughout the day of the people who I live for.

Oh I wish I could call in sick. That place is so tainted for me now.

So do your biddings....

Natty

When it rains it f'n pours

Well...

I don't even know where to begin. Yesterday was a true test of my strength in character, that's for sure. I was told that I didn't have what it takes to manage the shop I've being slaving my soul at for the last 4 yrs...we'll just give it to the "new guy" instead. Really though I can't even be upset at who it was given to because he's prolly one of the nicest guys I've ever met & he definately didn't set it up that way. My disappointment lies in the guy whom has burnt me before in a very similiar situation 2 1/2 yrs ago. (We'll leave names out of it but what a WEASLE!) It sux. I hate my emotions as well; I'm the type of person that when I get angry or frustrated I can't stop crying, how flippin embarrassing. I wish I was tougher in that way. Too much of a feeler I guess. Doesn't help either with the fact that everyone of my friends ROCK so when I see them out come the waterworks.

I wish I could tell Ian where to shove his so called "promotion" Seriously I'm finally getting paid for what I've been doing for the last 2 years. Gee thanks guy.

So after all that hoo-ha I was suppose to be bound for good quality family time at the lake. Lake Deifenbaker to be exact. For my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary meaning all the aunts, uncles, cousins I haven't seen in awhile would be there, loving me up, making me feel better. For those of you that don't want any "downers" please stop reading now.

At first it was awesome. My mom consoled me, my sister made me some drinks, & I was able to sit around a roaring campfire with my fave uncle whose surpassed some pretty amazing hurdles this last year. It was good. Yet I started to notice some tension from my other uncle Ronalt whose married into the fam to my mom's sis. He tends to get quite drunk (all the time I guess) & proceeds to make a big ass out himself to the point where people are uncomfortable. The great thing about my fam is they can be big ignorers. SO the night continues.

My drunk uncle then starts to get real obnoxious & starts to call all of us "canadians" boring wimps. (hes native to brazil) we can;t handle the heat & such nonsense; while he's piling so much wood on the fire poeples faces are burning off. I try to break the ice & make fun of the situ. & comment man how are we wimps, we live in bloody Sask where it's one extreme to the other.

He then starts to swear up a storm of gibberish & my other uncle asks him to tone it down a bit, there's little kids around. Drunk uncle retorts, my own f'n kids are around I can f'n swear if i want, f***, f***, F***!!!! It's getting heated, I'm sitting between the two so I tell them to both stop it. I tell my kool uncle to forget about it, it isn't worth it. Then drunk uncle looks at me & tells me

"shut the f*ck up. just shut up shut up shut up shut the F*** up!"

I'm so close to tears & ask him why would he say that he's my uncle. He tells me again. He keeps telling me over & over again so I can't even open my mouth. Now after the day I've had I can't take it. I tell him no i'm not taking this I WILL NOT shut up. Things escalate my aunt gets involved & then my unlce tells her to shut up as well. He looks like he's going to hit her. The family is appalled. All hell is breaking lose. My uncle gets irrate & starts throwing logs into the fire to the point where he may hurt someone. He's yelling his head off. He wants to hurt my aunt. My dad gets in & takes him down. My aunt screams its done, they're over, yes he beats her. My gramma is screaming at my uncle to never tell her own daughter to shut up. I'm shaking. Fitting end to a wonderful day.

Today everyone woke up to a beautiful warm day on the beach but walking on eggshells. My aunt looks so sad & broken, my asshole of an uncle has the tenacity to hang out with everyone all day like nothings happened. He looks at me with defiance throughout the day , no sign of apologies there. What have I ever done to him? I'm now home. I asked my dad to drive me back tonight. I couldn;t handle watching my uncle drink again. I f'n hate binge alcoholics, & no one in my family is stepping up. He needs to be removed. NOW.

Wow did I ever spew out personal shite on this "blog" tonight. I guess I'm lonely, & need release. I need fucking gratification right now that I'm a good person. What a fucked up couple of days. How am I to face work tomorrow?? Thank god only 3 more days. I'm going to Shambhala to recharge & come back a somewhat patched together me.

Bono I'm going to miss you....thanks for coming by work on friday. It's so amazing how much energy & strength you give me, I've never been able to communicate that to you (i suck with feelings) i'm sure counting down the days til jordy & i hop on that u'haul to vancouver.

9 days 2 hours 2 minutes 45 seconds

I can't believe this is where I'll be hanging out soon!!!!!