Buckets of Awesomeness

So for those of you that are into online bloging and all that...you have to check out this:

http://www.youtube.com/user/communitychannel

All I can say is that Natalie is funny, cute, full of awesome, epic win and absolutely 1000% droolable.

Watch it, love it...

Peter Murphy

So over the weekend I was lucky enough to see Peter Murphy live at the Opera House in Toronto. It was a good show...not great. There were definite high points. But a few factors that spoilt it a little bit.

So I luckily missed the majority of the guy that opened the show. No idea what his name is and I hope that I never hear him again. He kind of sounded like a combination of The Cure and Coldplay...so utter shite in other words. All the songs sort of sounded the same and he comes across like quite the douche. He pushed his cd at the beginning of every song and then proceeded to chat with people all through Peter's set...talk about disrespectful and ignorant. In fact the whole group of people that seemed there to support him seemed like a clique of douches.

But hey, onto Peter. It was his birthday on the 11th. I'd have to check but I think that he is 51, perhaps 52. And you really couldn't tell. He jumps around, does his strange bird thing, struts like Mick Jagger and his voice is as good as ever. In fact I think that as he gets older the deeper registers of his voice get better. He can hold a note forever and all in all puts on a good show. The mix was off a bit, his voice when talking or singing more softly tended to get totally lost. But most of the time he is singing quite loud so that was all good.

The new material was meh. Seems like it is more straight ahead rock than he has done in the past. And it might just be the live mix but it seemed a little bit...mundane. A little bit less vibrant and dynamic than I would expect from someone that put out Dust, Alive: Just for Love, Holy Smoke and of course all the Bauhaus material. But I might change that opinion once I have heard the studio versions.

Once he started pulling out the Bauhaus material that is when the crowd really got into it. That must be a little bit frustrating for Peter, he has done so much else in his career. But they are good songs and he put little twists in here and there that hopefully keep the songs at least a little bit fresh for him. The singing of Bela Lugosi's Dead over the 12 string acoustic chording for A Strange Kind of Love was a high point. As was his attempt at Heart of Gold by Neil Young. Sure he messed up the lyrics, but the fact that Peter Murphy sang a Neil young song is cool enough. Throw in the new cover of Instant Karma, a few lines of No Woman No Cry and Jammin' by Bob Marley and then end the night with a strange spoken word/electronic cover of Space Oddity and it was a really great show.

I can't wait to hear the new album, and the other 2 covers that he is supposedly doing.

Anyone who stumbles across this and doesn't know. Both Instant Karma and Space Oddity are on iTunes.

Sorry..

I got a little more in depth in that last entry than I normally ever would. Not that there is anyone reading any of this. But in the event that someone does stumble across this blog and my oh so exciting life grabs your attention long enough to read all this crap, then I wanted to say that I am not going to ramble about my issues and how they make me feel and all that crap.

I'm going to keep this mostly upbeat, mostly talking about the few social activities I get up to and the not so social activities that I get up to...well not all of those because I'm sure you don't want to read about certain things...and if you do, well naughty pervy you.

Blood work...

So no matter how many times I go and get it done, I get nervous every time I need to go and have blood drawn.

I don't know what it is but something about it freaks me out. I've tried to figure it out and the only solution that I can come up with is that I am frightened by what the results might be, not the actual needle. I mean sure I hate needles a lot...though you'd think that after...I dunno 30 hours of tattooing I would be ok with them, but really I think that it's what can happen if the results of the blood work are not good that really frightens me.

See the thing is that I have IGA Nephritis. Which is basically a kidney disease that slowly reduces kidney function. Currently I have enough function to survive, though on many pills to keep my blood pressure down, but my kidney function seems to be slipping. Whether that is due to bad diet or not controlling the blood pressure well enough or just that nothing will stop the decline...we are not sure yet. So my future looks grim no matter what. Sad to say I know, but the fact is that my options are basically...kidney transplant or kidney transplant. The only real questions are when and what happens between now and that event.

If I am lucky (which I rarely am) I will manage another couple of years before my function gets to the point where I need dialysis. That in itself is a shitty situation. Firstly, I am a young man...well young-ish. And spending hours a week having my blood filtered is not the way I want to spend my time. Secondly, that's more needles to deal with...more time in a hospital to deal with. But the more realistic scenario is that within a year I will need dialysis. At that point I can be put on the transplant list, or if I am really lucky have a family member donate one to me.

Then the real fun starts. Immuno-suppressants for the rest of my life. And a million things that I have to be careful of so that the body doesn't reject the new organ. And that is for years until it finally gives out.

So yeah. Not a fun time. And I try to just not think about this stuff. I try to hide my worries and how much it affects me. But there are times where I find it difficult. Like before I give blood...Day to day I can almost ignore my condition, or at least live with the few minor side effects of the meds that I am on. Mostly dizziness and the lack of energy. But damnit, this really sucks sometimes.

So until things really turn to shit...off i go, living my life as best I can.

Ugh...I better have access to a laptop and the internet while I am in the hospital for all that crap. Otherwise on top of treating me for that they are going to have to treat me for insanity as well.

Introduction

Hi everyone, well actually no one because I know that at least for the moment there is no one at all reading this. But to those of you that eventually and perhaps unfortunately (for you) stumble across this page, welcome to me.

Confessions of an Everyman. That is where you have found yourself and that Everyman would be me...perhaps that is aggrandizing myself a touch, but I think that for the most part it is accurate. I am neither stunningly handsome, nor a ugly chud. I believe myself to be quick witted (at least after my morning coffee) and physically able, but I am not the hero type. I don't get the girl and I make clumsy mistakes...

Of course, I don't find myself in extraordinary circumstances very often, unless you count life in general as extraordinary, which I suppose that sometimes it can be. But sadly (I think), there are no vampires or other beasties I fight, no grand adventures to take part in. At least not of the epic Tolkiensque type...

So what kind of things will I post about here. I'm really not too sure yet. Tidbits about my life...opinions I have about various topics. Perhaps the odd concert review.

So pretty much nothing that will be of that much interest to most people. On the outside, I'm a bit of a punk. Literally. Lots of tattoos, pompadour, wallet chain...

But dig a little deeper, and you'll find that I am a man of varying tastes and interests. In many ways, I'm a geek. I am a huge fan of Joss Whedon, I own several hundred comic books, some collectibles, and even though I have no skill whatsoever, I like to play video games, and I love fantasy art. I was reading Robert E Howard and Stephen King by the time I was 11. And I still love to sit back with a good book and read. I have a fondness for the sword and sorcery type story. Conan is still top of the heap for me, but I love works by Michael Moorcock, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lin Carter, and a host of others including Spider Robinson, Piers Anthony, Tanith Lee, Douglas Adams and Lloyd Alexander.

To some degree I am also a musician. I have been playing guitar since I was 11. Of course, that doesn't mean that I am any good. I am a hack. But I can strum out a few tunes and have even attempted to write a few myself. I can also play bass a little bit.

I like to think of myself as a poet too. As a teen I wrote a lot of the usual angsty crap that teenagers tend to write. But also wrote a few things inspired by the sci-fi I was reading and watching. And as I got older I began to read Charles Bukowski and Allen Ginsberg. And that heavily influenced my style of writing. To this day I write in a way As it Comes Out sort of style with no consistently at all. Am I any good? Meh. I think that I have my moments where I write some damned good things. And then I also think that about 80% of it is total garbage.

I love tattoos. And I hate them. I love having them, I hate getting them. I hate that everyone has them now and that few people care about the history of tattooing, that it has become nothing but a fashion statement. I recently met a great tattooer. Sailor Jerry Swallow. A legend. Been tattooing for 50 years and has some amazing and cool stories about the old days. He trained under real real old school guys and is a master. If you care about tattooing, he is a man to get tattooed by for sure. He is excellent at both Traditional and Japanese styles...

I have a full Japanese style sleeve. It's not really traditional Japanese. But sort of a take of Japanese style. There are still a few bits to finish on it, but it is nearly complete. And I have started my other arm, which is going to be a traditional arm. All old school stuff. I have a large anchor, a swallow, a big jaguar head and my piece done by Jerry, a skull and sword with a snake. Classic...

As long as I can afford it I will keep getting tattooed...and as long as I can stand the pain too!!

Hmm, what else do you need to know...I'm certain that if you have made it this far though this mess you are eager for it to be over. So maybe I'll just leave it there for now.

I lied. Music. I love music. I have it on constantly and depending on my mood I will listen to a huge range of thing. I like punk(in all its various genres: ska, hardcore etc), metal and blues are good. Jazz is awesome...some classical. Generally, I like to think that I'm a fan of Rock N Roll. But I don't limit myself...though I will say that I hate Top 40. And I have my guilty pleasures too, but you'll have to ask about those...

I'm a laid back kind of guy too. You won't find me hitting the bar every weekend, or heading out to a club. If I want a beer, I'll go to a pub. I like just hanging out with friends and having a chat as I have my pint. And I love to cook. If it wasn't for having to clean up and do all...those...freaking...dishes!! I would love to have people over all the time and make awesome dinners for them.

I have few people that I really call friends and I like it that way. I'll never be the life of the party, but I will gladly listen if you need me to and I am always willing to help out in any way that I can.

So there you go. I am going to stop now. I could keep going but then you would probably be bored into a coma.

So that's me...in a nutshell. A large, large nutshell, with an index...and several footnotes.

Come back soon for more riviting stuff...ha ha.