So... turns out I was right about everything this year. Woohoo! The last three bands to be announced for this year's Festival of Lights were indeed Hedley, Theory of a Dead Man, and Three Days Grace. Disgusted? No. Thrilled? No. Buy tickets for this second night? No. I just bought a pair of tickets for the June 30th show, with Mays, Roberts, and The Hip. Comes to $82.39 or something like that with taxes. I figured it was a better deal than having to pay $110.64 for both nights. I guess, in a way, an extra $14+ bucks each to see the other three bands is pretty good, now that I think of it, but I just don't really want to see any of them. So, I took the money I "saved" and bought the latest CDs from Ron Sexsmith and Ron Hynes. It's Ron day!


It stinks that there's no third night of concerts this year. Every year of the FoL so far has always been 3 nights + free music on Canada Day. I hope it goes back to three nights next year. Canada Day is free again, though, as it should be. The acts for CD are pretty good, too. Joel Plaskett, Two Hours Traffic, and Lennie Gallant. I'm excited about Joel, 'cause I love his solo stuff and haven't seen him since I saw him with Thrush Hermit, I'm curious about THT, 'cause I hear they're good, they're local, and Joel produces them, and I'm curious a bit about local Lennie, too. I want to see how he's survived and apparently made a living all these years. I've never quite grasped why he was successful.

So... one night of paid fun, and one night of free fun. It'll be great anyway. Woohoo!

Well... sure, it's only the night before the rest of the Festival of Lights bands are announced. But, hey, at least I found out some of the rest of the bands a wee bit early. I won't say exactly who, to protect my source(s) (like it's really gonna matter at this point, heh), but I will say that none of them make me absolutely wretch like Lifehouse or Staind last year. However, none of them make me want to go, either. This year could end up being a one-night stand with the Hip, Sammy and Matt (aside from Canada Day with Joel! Woo!).
As hints for the other three bands, have a gander at these kaleidoscope images:

Today was pretty normal... well, the first part anyway. School was fine, even the buggers who said they were going to try and get kicked out. Everything just slides off my back, you know? I think, at least at work, it's a strong point and a necessity for mental health.
I got home, checked the mail, and I got my acceptance letter for my science teacher trip in August. It's pretty cool, because it's 100% paid for, it should be fun, and it looks good on a resume. I'll be in Nova Scotia and PEI for 4 days, looking at everything from forestry practices to a turtle farm. As much as I may already know, I fully expect to have my eyes opened much wider on many things.

Then, things started to go downhill.


I checked the bank account. I expected a certain amount to be in there, and as you may guess, there was a little less in there. No REAL worry, but I hate not having it as high as I think it should be. Of course, I then go down the last couple of weeks, seeing where the money's gone. My Mrs. spent a few hundred bucks on stuff I'd deem to be just "stuff". Clothes, craft supplies, snacks/food, and things I deem unnecessary. Of course, then I start to feel a bit bitter. I try to live, overall, pretty basically. I don't squeeze a nickel hard enough to make the beaver shit, but I like to save more than spend. Sure, I see lots of stuff I'd like to buy (mostly music), but for the most part, I hold off, because I don't "need" it. Then, I see what my Mrs. has been spending on, and I wish I could do the same. Because she spends more, I kind of feel like I should spend less, to balance it out. I don't think it's fair, but I impose it on myself... can't blame her for my feelings on it. I wish I could just buy stuff I want, but then, I think that if I did, and she still did the same, our account would just go straight to pot, and we'd have no money. I just feel kind of screwed. She always gets defensive when we talk about money (in a way, she has a right to, since she spends more than I think she needs to), so I don't like to bring it up, unless I want to feel like the enemy for a while. So, anyway, I feel a bit financially wronged/not in control, I wish she'd spend less, I wish I could spend more, and I don't see a real way around it without me sounding like a control freak and then getting grumbled at.

I decided to play a little XBOX in my room. So, I sat on the couch in my office and f'd the virtual dog for a while (not a real game, just a figure of speech). After a little bit, the phone rang. I sprang up to get it, and stumbled. My lower leg (well, the lower half of one of them... you know what I mean) was asleep, and my knee apparently tranquilized. I tried to step again, or balance myself or something, but I went for a big slip on the new hardwood floor. I landed right on my arse/tailbone, and wrist. It was my Mrs. on the phone. She phoned from the hair place, to see if we needed any groceries. I didn't think we did (but she'd get some stuff we needed and didn't need anyway). I said I'd probably wait for her to come home for supper. As we talked, I also started to get pretty sore. My wrist/arm and lower back especially are still fairly sore. I hope I didn't do something major to myself.

The phone rang again, and I got up more gingerly this time. I talked to my ma, arranged some stuff for the weekend, and that was that.

By this time, I'm getting pretty hungry. My Mrs. comes home, and even though I'm the one who's grumbly inside, I get grumbled at because she imagined coming home to a cleaned-up kitchen / house. So, of course, I feel guilty. I tell her about my aches (maybe digging for a bit of a back rub or some sympathy, since I was aching a fair bit), but get all but ignored on that front. Don't get me wrong. My Mrs. is great, but I'm just trying to establish how I'm feeling progressively worse overall. She's very hungry, and we talk about supper. She then decides to go see a friend for supper. So, I feel like I have to eat hot dogs to use the buns that go bad in a couple days... meanwhile, I'm thinking she's spending money on pizza or something delicious. Terrible, ain't I? So, it was then 7:45, I was hungry as heck, waiting for her to come home, and I get blah hot dogs. By myself. Plus, when I was making them, one of them fell on the floor. And then some condiments fell on my jeans. And when I went out to dress up one of the dogs, and I re-opened the mustard, it shot me... in the eye! I was like, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" What the Hell can make me feel any worse? I was achey, alone, feeling guilty or envious or both about money stuff, with stinging mustard in my eye.

Add onto this the fact that there are two concerts and a party I'd like to be at tonight, and now I won't be at any of them. My life ain't so bad, I know... I've got a pretty darn swell, blessed, and cool life. For a while tonight, though, things sure did seem to suck. I just needed to write it out of my system here. Ain't that supposed to be one of the main things a blog's for anyway?

Reason #whatever for not vacationing in the US of A...

"We come down on the conservative side when it comes to closing campgrounds.... we just like to be sure when it comes to plague."

That's right, bubonic plague. Our Island critters may have fleas and other parasites, but if one gets in your tent, at least you won't be at risk of gettin' the blueberry runs while your lymph nodes billow.

In honour of my 69th post, a '69 Dodge Charger! Ahh, the General Lee. Sweet memories of my youth.

Steverinoland has just learned (sounds more official this way, don't it?) that Joel Plaskett is confirmed for a July 1st performance during Charlottetown's Festival of Lights.

As released publicly, earlier, The Tragically Hip, Sam Roberts, and Matt Mays & El Torpedo will be playing on June 30th. This still leaves more people for July 1st to be announced, as well as all of July 2nd. The Capital Commission's site makes it sound as if this year will only have 2 shows outside of Canada Day this year, although they still list the festival ending on July 3rd. Maybe they blew their wad on June 30th? We'll have to wait and see. Until then, if I hear anything, you'll know. To paraphrase Ludacris, when I know, you'll know, just like that.

Sugar, corn syrup, carbon dioxide... yep, it's all safe! This is what I decided while I was eating a small packet of grape-flavoured Pop Rocks-style candy this evening. Was I concerned about my own safety? No, my cat's.

(Not my cat)

You see, it's fun to leave your mouth agape when you eat them, so you can hear and feel the popping better. I opened my mouth near my cat, who was sitting on top of the couch. He was fascinated, nose sniffing frantically, belly bulging in and out with every sniff. He was so intrigued that I decided to let him try one. I fished out a big rock, being careful to not let a wet finger touch it and ruin the effect. I laid it down in front of him, and he smelled it quite a bit. He licked it, and it just barely crackled. He was like, "wha?" This is about when I checked the ingredients. Some normal foods are just bad for animals, so before he ate it, I wanted to be sure it was OK. Sugar, corn syrup, carbon dioxide... yep, it's all safe! So, I let him forge on.

He sniffed some more, patted it and got it stuck on the bottom of a paw. I pulled it off for him so that he could eat it. Finally, success! He put it in his mouth and did that exaggerated licking thing animals do when they eat something they're unsure of. "Pop! Pop!" went the candy and out it came. It sat there on the couch, him staring at it. It snapped once more, just sitting there, and he was like, "What. The Hell." He stared at it for a solid 30 seconds anyway, in an awkward position, with his head facing down at it, face all scrunched up & fuzzy. He tried it again, and may have even finished it. He looked around for it, or maybe for more, but either way it was a huge success. The cat kind of liked it, and his reaction was priceless. Cats & Pop Rocks? I highly recommend it. It's a winning combination!

Thought of the day: If we are all made of dust, and to dust we will return, shouldn't we all be a bit more afraid of dustbusters?

(Natural born, cold-hearted killers?)

(The Grim Reaper?)

P.S. - I'm liking this new MSN Messenger 7.5 that I finally took the (long) time to download on dial-up. I especially like the fact that people can see what I'm listening to at any given second! Too cool. My superior musical tastes shall spread even faster now (mwah ha ha haaaa)!

Holy Fuck...


...is just one of the many bands slated to play this year's Shoreline Music and Arts Festival in Rollo Bay, PEI. Last year had a good (and pretty similar) lineup, but I didn't go. I won't go this year, either. Enduring the experience of camping in a gypsy community of artsy (& drunk?) potheads for 3 days, just to see good music... to the tune of $69 bucks is not my bag, baby. I think it's a good deal, and a cool event and all, but it's not for me. Going for some of the acts would be cool, if possible, but I don't want to be stuck there for three days.

There's some serious talent again this year, with Joel Plaskett, Matt Mays, The Novaks, some good local groups, and some international representation including... De La Soul. De La Soul. In Rollo Bay. Cool, legendary hip-hoppers from back in the day. In Rollo Bay. Minutes from Souris. You know, "Me, Myself, and I" De La Soul. In Rollo Bay... Kings County, PEI. Boy, that's pretty awesome. Very weird, but awesome. Any time I ever watched the Chaisson family or Great Big Sea or whoever at Rollo Bay's Fiddle Festival grounds, I never ever would have expected an act of the (different) coolness and size of De La Soul to be there. It's just really rather absurd. Kind of like The Sex Pistols playing St. Dunstan's Basilica. Or... Lennie Gallant playing MSG in New York. I can see him there now... "Everybody!! Rust & scrapes & dents & fender benders is our business, come on down to Dalziel's Auto Body! Woo!" OK, maybe not the "Woo!"

(They all just blend together seamlessly, don't they?)

I guess it's just another indication of how the world's changed. It's gotten smaller, and things are available to people in places that they never would have been before. It seems any act could swing through here now. I like it.

The 2006 Festival of Lights, in Charlottetown, PEI.

Over the years, there have been some amazing and big musical acts that have come for this festival and put on amazing shows. Two years ago, Sam Roberts braved a lightning and rain storm of Biblical proportions to rock us into the red mud. Hootie and the Blowfish surprised everyone by first proving that they were alive, and then proving that they're a great-sounding and fun live band. A few years ago, Blue Rodeo kicked some country-twinged butt, too. During these Canada Day weekends, we've seen everyone from Kim Mitchell to David Usher to April Wine to Rufus Wainwright.

There have been some questionable choices lately, though. Default and Nickelback weren't awe-inspiring musicians or songwriters. At least the latter put on a good special effects show to overshadow their crappiness. And, they were an internationally-famous big Canadian band, so that was cool. Live was seemingly a good choice. Millions of records sold, some good tunes... but, they sucked. They were boring. Last year was the worst of all. Staind, Lifehouse, 3 Doors Down. The unholy trinity of radio crap. That was the only year we've never bought weekend passes.

I was a bit nervous about this year, but after hearing four of the acts (not officially confirmed by media yet), my faith is renewed. It doesn't really matter who else comes this year. If these four turn out to be legit, I'll be a happy, paying concert-goer.

Rap tunes are funny when covered by the right kind of people. When I say "the right kind of people", I mean (of course) white folks with something like an acoustic guitar or a banjo.
Most people know a very popular example of what I mean. "Gin & Juice" was done by Phish ages ago, and it came off really well. Somtimes it almost seems to be a pub band standard nowadays. This tune isn't as upbeat, but it's still good. It's quiet, pretty, and rather funny in its unbridled offensiveness.


From Nina Gordon (formerly of Veruca Salt) comes NWA's "Straight Outta Compton".
Here are the lyrics for your "campfire Kumbaya"-like singalong.

Straight outta Compton, crazy motherfucker named Ice Cube
From the gang called Niggaz With Attitudes
When I'm called off, I got a sawed off
Squeeze the trigger, and bodies are hauled off
You too, boy, if ya fuck with me
The police are gonna hafta come and get me
Off yo ass, that's how I'm goin out
For the punk motherfuckers that's showin out
Niggaz start to mumble, they wanna rumble
Mix em and cook em in a pot like gumbo
Goin off on a motherfucker like that
with a gat that's pointed at yo ass
So give it up smooth
Ain't no tellin when I'm down for a jack move
Here's a murder rap to keep yo dancin
with a crime record like Charles Manson
AK-47 is the tool
Don't make me act the motherfuckin fool
Me you can go toe to toe, no maybe
I'm knockin niggaz out tha box, daily
yo weekly, monthly and yearly
until them dumb motherfuckers see clearly
that I'm down with the capital C-P-T
Boy you can't fuck with me
So when I'm in your neighborhood, you better duck
Coz Ice Cube is crazy as fuck
As I leave, believe I'm stompin
but when I come back, boy, I'm comin straight outta Compton

As a bonus, here is Jonathan Coulton doing Sir Mix-a-lot's "Baby Got Back".