DAM BBQ and (Special) Olympics

Today is going to be a great day!! We are holding the 1st Annual Giggle Dam Family BBQ & (Special) Olympics. The venue has changed three times now due to fire restrictions in parks and is now being held in Mark and Sheila's backyard...and on their new deck...Mark has a large "Man-B-Q" where there will be steaks, Tandoori Chicken breasts, wings, hot dogs and Lord only knows what else a-cookin'...I've made a pasta salad and Cassie has made a cake...the food will be a-plenty as will the drinks I'm sure! Employees and family/friends have been divided into 3 colour-coded teams and there will be all sorts of "games" as each team garners points and works toward being the first to be awarded the soon-to-be-much-coveted "Beaver Cup".

I have no idea what the games will be but I will give a full report and post results (and hopefully some pics) soon. I do hope there isn't Lawn Darts though....as Jeff Foxworthy says "you catch one of those with your head and you'll be getting colouring books for Christmas for the rest of your life"...

Rock on.
J-Rock

M.I.A.

Wow. It’s been way too long since I’ve blogged. It’s not that I haven’t had anything to say…those that know me know I’ve pretty much always got something to say…it’s just that I just haven’t had the will to sit down and actually write anything of any relevance. I really need to take my friend Michelle’s advice and just blog something small every day. Even if it’s just a list of things I am doing that day. It keeps the mind fresh and will satisfy the need to write. Easier said than done Michelle…but I’ll try.

The day job has been keeping me increasingly busy. I’ve made 2 trips to the Okanagan recently and will be making at least one more in the next two weeks. I’ve also been over to Vancouver Island twice. I haven’t been there since 1988 and now I’ve been twice…in 3 weeks! And what is with the ferry prices? Holy shit they’re expensive. And why do they charge separate fares for cars and people? Shouldn’t the car fare include one person? It’s not like the car is going over alone…”Just one today?”…”No, just the car. I’m staying on the mainland.” Give me a headache. The events this year have been pretty fun though I must say. I’ve done 3 music festivals so far and have 2 more coming up. I only wish I could actually stay and attend some of these festivals and enjoy the music…and I “took the summer show off” so that I could do just that. Which brings me to the night job, and as you just read I have taken the summer show “off”. Yeah right. The “regular” drummer at the theatre also plays with one of Canada’s premier classic rock groups and they tour extensively in the summer which means he has to find a replacement. I said I’d fill in for the odd nights the replacement couldn’t do. Turns out I’m actually playing more than the replacement!! Then, one of the actors decided he wanted a holiday and I ended up doing 2 weekends on stage for him. So by “taking the summer show off” I am actually performing every weekend in July and 2 of the 4 weekends in August. Hardly a break if you ask me! But it’s fun and I am totally loving playing the drums regularly again. I’ve missed it!!

Rock on.
J-Rock

Congratulations Megan and Jason!

My niece got married last weekend in Alberta and I couldn’t go. Turns out my wife’s work screwed her out of 6 weeks of work right after her mat leave ended so the funds just weren’t available. We were so looking forward to seeing everyone again…and of course, showing off our adorable son ;) but it was not to be. So we’ve ended up missing both of my eldest sister’s kid’s weddings…and all because of money…and neither time has been our fault.

Rock on.
J-Rock

I hope he's living with Elvis somewhere

Did you hear that Michael Jackson died? I almost missed that. Was it highly reported? Seems he died the same day as Farrah. All kidding aside, I am surprised at how sad I am about it. He was a weird one for sure. And there were a lot of allegations against him…and I’m a firm believer of the “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” saying. However, he was never convicted and the courts did prove that the family that accused him were only after a payday. But again, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. But he was, IMHO a musical and marketing genius. He took his talent and totally exploited it using the new media that was MTV. He took the simple idea of a rock video and totally used it to his advantage and he succeeded. Boy did he!! It’s strange to know already that no one album will ever outsell “Thriller”. In today’s day and age, with P2P filesharing it just won’t happen. I think at last count “Thriller” has sold something like 4 hundred-thousand-bazillion copies. And it is one of only 3 albums that I know of to ever achieve “diamond” status for sales in the US. The other two are the Bee Gee’s soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever and Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet. RIP MJ…there will never be another like you.

Rock on.
J-Rock

Callous? What callous?

Farrah Fawcett died. So sad. She was my first ever celebrity crush. And I had it bad for her. Posters and pictures on 3 of the 4 walls of my bedroom when I was a kid (the 4th wall was for KISS). I think one of the walls of that room in my Mom’s house still has “JAL + FFM” written on it. She was, as my friend Steve says, my first callous. RIP Farrah. Love the hair. Hope you win.

Rock on.

J-Rock