It’s The Weekend

Last night, we headed to a Photo Exhibit sponsored by Wold Vision. The pictures were of kids in El Salvador & Africa. They had Free Food & Drinks from El Salvador, which was pretty good.

After that, we went across the street to share a Gelato. What better way to honour starving kids in El Salvador than by treating ourselves to a Gelato. We shared a cup of Chocolate & Creme Brulee. It was damn good.

From there, we headed to the Sparks Street Mall for the Busker Festival. We managed to see one full show. The one that we saw were The Flame Ons. It featured two guys & two girls from Australia doing various things with fire. I’ve seen TONS of fire shows in my life, but they were pretty good.

We headed home after that & watched America’s Got Talent that I recorded the night before. Next Tuesday, the LIVE shows will start airing, which mean the acts are set to perform. I’m looking forward to that actually.

Tonight, we’re heading to the Rideau Canal Festival if it doesn’t rain.

Well, that’s it for now, but I hope you all have a good weekend.
If it’s a long weekend for you, I hope you enjoy the extra day off.

Thanks for reading.

Busy Day!

My Wife managed to get Train Tickets for us to go to Montreal for a day trip on August 22nd. I think Montreal’s a beautiful city, especially Old Montreal. It’s not exactly overly Wheelchair Accessible, but I always have a good time there.

Actually, today’s childhood memory has to do with Montreal, but I’ll get to that later.

So, I had a busy day so far.
I went to the Bank this morning to pay bills. This Afternoon, I went to Walmart to buy household items. So long story short, I’m a poor man.

Tonight, my Wife & I are heading to a Photo Exhibit sponsored by World Vision. We actually sponsor a Child from Africa, and it’s been just over a year now. I have to admit it’s kinda fun hearing from her & being sent drawings from her. It’s pretty rewarding too. I suggest that if you can afford it, give it a try.

After the Exhibit, we’ll be heading to The Sparks Street Mall for the Busker Festival. Most of the acts were here last year or previous years, but we’ll still check it out. Tomorrow night, we’re heading to the Rideau Canal for the Rideau Canal Festival.

So, I’m gonna be busy for a few days, plus it’s a long weekend here.

So here’s another childhood memory.
My Classmates & I went to Montreal when I was a kid. This was my first time there, so I was pretty excited. One day, we decided to go to Park Safari just outside of Montreal. Our Bus is going down the Highway & we see a barriade set-up by the Police. I think there was an Escaped Convict or something, so the Cops were stopping all Vehicles.

So, put this image in your head cause it’s pretty funny.
Our Bus had four kids in Wheelchairs, including me. We’re all about eleven or twelve years old, give or take a year or so. Also, on the Bus were four Adults, including the Driver. We pull up to the Cop Cars and he’s talking to our Driver. She explained who we were & where we’re going. Next thing I know, the Cop gets on our Bus with a HUGE Revolver Shotgun, which I nearly crapped my Pants looking at. He assured us that nobody would get hurt & he was just looking around.

After we felt safe with the mystery man with a HUGE gun, we asked if he’d take pictures with us. So, sure enough, we all took turns posing with him. There’s a picture of him, me, & the Gun in my Living Room. If I remember right, I look horrified in the picture.

Well, that’s it for now, but I’ll be back tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

I’m A Pretty Big Deal. People Know Me

So last night, I spent the evening with my Wife. We hung out & watched America’s Got Talent. We were hoping to see performances in the second round, but there weren’t any. At least we got to hang out though.

In other news, my Wife & I are trying to plan a day trip to Montreal. So far, the phone lines & website are jammed due to VIA Rail’s 60% sale offer. Last weekend, they went on Strike and this is their way of apologizing for it. The offer was extended until this Friday, so hopefully we can pull it off.

I’m heading to Walmart tomorrow afternoon, because frankly, my life just isn’t funny enough. I have to pick up some household items, and I’m cheap. The answer to that equation is to go to Walmart.

Tomorrow night, my Wife & I are heading out to the Busker Festival on the Sparks Street Mall. I usually have a pretty good time, if I get a good view. I usually try to find Performers who are setting up & I quickly nab a spot in the front. I keep hoping one of them will pick me from the crowd to help them, or at least be part of their show. If any of the Performers are reading this, I have a really big powered wheelchair & I can possibly be used to jump over, or hell, just bang on my table. I’m also a pretty fun guy & know how to get the crowd going. I can do stuff, trust me. I used to be a Stand-Up Comedian.

Use me!

It’s a pretty rainy day here in Ottawa, so it’s time for another childhood memory from when I was living in the Hospital.

Today, I’m gonna talk about the second time that I broke my leg.

I was on my way back to the Hospital after spending the day at the Jack Purchell Community Centre. We were just about to cross the Pretoria Bridge by the Rideau Canal. A Car cut us off, and the Driver had to slam on the brakes.

The Seat of my wheelchair fell forward. I hit the Driver on the back of his head with my face & then I crashed to the floor face first. The Woman that was with me started freaking out and screaming. The Ventilator Tube had come off, so I wasn’t breathing during the ordeal. Luckily, the Woman quickly realized and grabbed the Ambu Bag.

An Ambu-Bag is something that goes on my neck to help me breathe. Everytime someone squeezes it, it fills my lungs with air. Part of my Disability affect my lungs and I can’t breathe on my own. So yadda, yadda, yadda, the Ambu-Bag saved my life.

I laid there on the floor until the Ambulance came. I was moaning in pain. One of the Paramedics asked the Woman if I always moaned or made odd sounds. I managed to yell, No! I’m in pain, damnit! He felt stupid for asking.

As they carried me out on the Stretcher, I asked someone if I was going to be on the TV news. Even as a kid, I was a Media Whore.

So I arrived “home” in an Ambulance, and got wheeled into the ER. The funniest thing about all of this was that the Nurses had no idea who I was. Even though, I had been living there for at least ten or eleven years at this point. They kept asking me where I lived & I kept saying, upstairs, I live upstairs!. I think they believed that I hit my head just a little too hard.

Eventually, they called upstairs and the Nurse vouched for me. I broke both of my legs, and my nose. The Bus Company paid me $3000 and I had a wonderful trip to Toronto.

Thanks for reading.

The Way I Roll

So, I picked up my Wife from work yesterday and we headed downtown for a little while. It looked like it was gonna pour at any moment, so we headed home.
As luck would have it, right after we got off the Bus, the Sun started to return. At least, we didn’t get wet though.

Before my Wife came to meet me, an old Woman came up to my Attendant to talk to her. I didn’t know what she said because I was a few feet away. Apparently the Woman told her that she felt sorry for me. Once we found this out, we all started laughing as we left the Building.

The last thing anyone should do is feel sorry for me. I have a pretty good life these days. I’m married to a wonderful Woman who I love very much, possibly more than she knows. I’m generally a happy person and I have the freedom to do whatever I want. Now, if you want to give me money, that’s a different story.

Just kidding!

Speaking of which, I remember one of the times that we went to Montreal and a Woman gave me two Dollars. All I was doing was sitting outside and waiting for my Wife. Oh wait, I get it, she thought I was panhandling. I thought maybe she wanted my “services”.

My bad!

It’s gonna be a busy weekend coming up.
On Friday night, we’re going to some Dance party for the Rideau Canal Festival. My Wife & I “Adopted-A-Metre” and I’m going to name our metre, Asphaltic. I’m just that damn cool. There’s also the Busker Festival this Weekend on the Sparks Street Mall, plus there’s fireworks at the Casino.

We’re not actually going to the Casino to watch them. We did that last year and they have a HORRIBLE setup for Disabled people. I had a good time when the show was happening though.

So, it’s gonna be a busy one. Hopefully, the weather co-operates.

Thanks for reading.

A Bitter Sweet Symphony

My Wife & I headed to Lebreton Flats to hear some free Beethoven Music. It felt very strange going to the same place where Bluesfest was held a week earlier. There were people sitting in Lawnchairs that were my Parent’s ages & even the age of my Grandparents, and kids & babies.

I had the thought in my head of showing up there with my KISS makeup and thinking that Bluesfest was still on. I would’ve done it too, but I don’t have a Video Camera. That’s the kinda thing that I NEED to capture and put it on youtube. People’s reactions would’ve been simply priceless I think.

We stayed there for about 45 minutes relaxing & enjoying the music. It was kinda odd for us, especially for me because I’m not exactly a fan of Classical Music. At least it was free & outdoors.

It rained earlier today & will probably rain more later tonight.
That means it’s time for another childhood memory.

Today, I’m gonna talk about the first time that I broke my leg.
Yes, even people who can’t move much, can still be spazzy.

I was eleven or twelve years old at the time and just recently got my first powered wheelchair. I was in a friend’s room in the Hospital. We were talking about a cute girl that was staying there at the time. We had both wanted to see which one of us would have the guts to go talk to her. I said that I’d go first. So, off I went.

I left his room and started driving my chair really fast up & down the hallway outside her room. In my head I’m thinking that this is gonna impress her & she’ll fall for me solely based on my Wheelchair driving skills.

Wrong!

In my moment of glory, I forgot to take my finger off of the button & I drove right into the window ledge beside the main entrance to the ward. The ledge was at the perfect level to hit just below my right knee.

I immediately started crying right before the Nurses ran towards me to help. At this point, I slowly returned to my room in pain. The whole time, the girl was sitting by her door & laughing at me. To make matters worse, nobody believed me when I said that I thought I broke my leg.

Two weeks later, a Nurse noticed while giving me a bath, that my leg was blueish. As far as we knew, it’s bad when a body part goes blue. Later that day, I had my right leg x-rayed and sure enough, it was broken.

I’m still not sure how I lasted two weeks with a broken leg without a cast. Back then, I was swimming three times a week, plus all the lifting from bed/chair/pool/bath tub etc etc. It’s a miracle that I didn’t need Surgery to repair the bones.

However, there’s a happy ending.
The girl remembered me the next time she returned to the Hospital. She apologized for laughing at me & we became really good friends for a little while. As for the other guy, as it turned out, she wasn’t too fond of him. Sadly, she passed away a few years later and he soon followed.

I guess it’s a happy/sad ending.

Thanks for reading.

A Ray Of Sunshine

I was happy to see the Sun come out & I took advantage of it. I headed downtown to the Byward Market & walked around people watching. From there, I headed to the Art Gallery to use the bathroom & to enjoy the free air conditioning for a few minutes. After that, I headed across the street to Majors Hill Park. At this point, it was getting really hot out, so I returned home.

As for tonight, I have no real plans.

I have promised myself to start designing my Website starting tomorrow. It’s gonna be tough, especially since I like certain things to be perfect. I hope you people like it because this time, I’ll be the one designing it myself. Needless to say, it’s going to be a reflection of me, but above all, it’s gonna kick ass. I’ll definitely let you all know when it’ll be up & running.

I was gonna post another childhood memory, but I’ll save it for a rainy day.
Don’t worry, that’ll be soon.

Argh!

As I write this, I’m silently wishing that I had enough strength to bang my head against a wall.
Just for half a minute please!

I guess the other option would be to have someone toss a brick into my face.
Wouldn’t that be fun to watch, kids?

So, last night, I stayed home and caught up on shows on The Movie Network/HBO Canada or whatever they call it now. Then, I watched Pineapple Express. For some reason, I referred to it as Polar Express, but it’s slightly different.

Polar Express is about a Train and it’s a kids cartoon with Tom Hanks.
Pineapple Express is about two Potheads running from bad guys, but it’s not for kids.

Long story short…
Don’t do drugs!
I never believed that theory myself.

While I watched the movie, I was tweetering with some people, which was fun.

Here’s another childhood memory.
I remember becoming a Teenager while I was living in the Hospital. Like most normal Teenaged boys, I liked Porn. Every Saturday night, a show called Bleu Nuit would come on the French TV Channel.

Basically, it was a TV show that aired Softcore Porn Movies or shows. When you’re 13 and before Web times, this was a pretty big deal for me. Obviously, this was WAY past my usual bedtime, so every Saturday Night, I’d come up with an excuse as to why I couldn’t sleep. My usual one was that I’m too excited to sleep. Little did they know how honest that excuse was.

I remember one time, I had a mean Nurse or I pissed her off. She made me go to bed early. Luckily, I had a roommate at the time and he agreed to turn my TV on when the show came on. Sure enough, he came over to my bed & turned my TV on.

Our fun only lasted about 20-30 minutes because the Nurse was making the rounds. He managed to shut the TV off and quietly push it back right before she got to our room.

I think I got caught a few times, but I never got punished for it.
What were they gonna do, kick me out?
I kinda wish they had.

Thanks for reading.

Reach Out & Touch Me

I’m not as happy about this weekend, like I usually am.
It’s supposed to rain all weekend.
I think I’d have an easier time getting around on a Boat instead of a Bus or Van.

I’m on a Boat, yo!

Last night, my Wife & I got caught up on America’s Got Talent. One of them was for people on MySpace. I used to contribute regularly there, but now I’m here, because it’s alot more mature & professional looking. Also, because the slut/whore factor is reduced greatly here.

Yup, I said it, you gotta cut back on the whores!

And, you have Twitter…
At first, I didn’t get it or understood the hype. it has its charm, I admit. I often find myself checking back often to see what people are doing in this crazy world. As of now, I have 103 followers and have posted almost 500 tweets.

As for Facebook…
I have 150 friends and I know them ALL in one way or another. Most of them are Comedians that I’ve worked with or seen & talked to afterwards. There’s also other Disabled people, Neighbors, my Sister, & many many more.

I thought I’d finish this post with a childhood memory.
As many of you know, I lived 19 years at the Childrens Hospital Of Eastern Ontario.
For the first six years, I lived in ICU.
In those days, I didn’t have a TV in my room. One of my sources of amusement was BLASTING a record that was just Bagpipe Music.

Anyways, one day I was bored and had a ball nearby. I started looking around for someone to throw it to. The only person near me was my roomate, but he was asleep, or so I thought.

I threw the NERF ball at him, thinking he’d wake up and toss it back, but no. As it turned out, the boy was in a Coma. His Mother was sitting by his bed resting. She woke up and sees the ball on him & I’m sitting there with a shit happy-candy induced grin. Next thing I know, she starts screaming at the Nurse.

I, of course, was clueless about what was going on. By this point, I just wanted my ball back. A few minutes later, a Nurse told me that he wasn’t sleeping. After that talk, I rocked out to Bagpipe Music.

Even as a kid, I wasn’t innocent.

I just felt like sharing that with the masses.

Have a ball this weekend, everyone!

The Pondering Post

I was supposed to have an Appointment today as well, but she cancelled because she went home sick. Luckily, the Clinic called right before I got up in my Wheelchair for the day. It’s a good thing because it meant I could get away with wearing PJ pants and avoid the rain.

Come to think of it, I met the Prime Minister while I had PJ pants on. At least, my Pants are patriotic and people seemed to like my Canada Day attire. I managed to pull it off to a certain degree of success.

My Wife came over last night to watch America’s Got Talent episodes that I recorded.
For those unaware or just new to this blog, my Wife & I don’t live together. The reason for that is because if we did, I’d lose my funding. We’re also not officially married because of the same reason. We consider ourselves married to eachother and that’s why we just say we’re married. It gets kinda awkward if someone asks when or where the Wedding was. If we have the time, we usually explain the whole story, or at least part of it.
The more people that know about that, the better.

I admit that it sucks most of the time, but trust me, we see eachother just as much as most Couples do. Besides, we almost killed eachother when she lived with me for a Month when we first started dating. Long story short, it ain’t not half bad.

Besides that, we both did Laundry and that was about it for the night.

In other news…
I’ve been trying to design my Website, but it’s tough & not to mention, frustrating. I’m a Beginner when it comes to HTML. People have told me that I should do Web Designing or things related to that, as a job. Despite the fact that I spend hours at my Computer, I think I’d lose my mind with a job like that. I prefer to use the Computer to interact, network, have fun, play games, learn, & keep up on Current Events.

So, if & when I figure out how to design, you can expect to see a whole new look & design to this blog. Hopefully, it all works out.

Thanks for reading!

Here Comes The Rain Again

After three days of nice weather, rain’s set to return for a few days.

I went to the Doctor’s today. I always feel kinda awkward in Waiting Rooms. Surrounded by sick people, plus Doctors etc. So far, I haven’t had Swine Flu, so thumbs up to that at least.

As usual, the waiting lasted longer than my actual appointment. It has always drove me nuts making appointments. I never get to see Doctors or anyone like that at the specific time.

So why even set times anymore?
You should be able to call up & say that you want to see the Doctor on a certain day or evening. Not enough Doctors work at Night or Weekends, by the way, at least in my personal experience. More Doctors should work Weekends or Evenings. It’d be MUCH easier for people with jobs then. While you’re at it, do the same for Banks too.
I don’t trust online Banking.
You shouldn’t be doing Personal Financial stuff the same way that you use to look at Porn.
Not that I look at Porn.
I’m married, & married men don’t need porn, right?

*coughs*

Anyways, there’s my 2 cents worth.

Alright, moving on…
Now that the rain’s upon us, I’ll probably stay home tonight and relax. I’m hoping that my Wife will want to watch another episode of America’s Got Talent that I recorded over the past few weeks. That’s a pretty fun show actually. The early shows in the season remind me of The Gong Show.

Besides that, I have no other plans for tonight.

Thanks for reading.

R & R

It felt odd not going to Bluesfest last night. I went out briefly to go to the Bank & the Drug store, but I didn’t feel like staying outdoors after that. I’m just relaxing until tomorrow. I have to get up at 9 for a Doctor’s Appointment. Nothing to worry about, I just need him to sign a form for me.

I’m not really fond of Doctors. In my case, they rarely know what to do with me, even when I have something simple like Allergies or even a Cold. I find that Doctors are sometimes afraid to prescribe me something because they probably think that I might die or react badly to it.

News Flash!
When I was born in 1975, they only gave me a year to live. I love telling people about that, especially Doctors or Nurses. So, I really don’t think something like Allergy Medicine will do me in.

I strongly believe that one of the reasons why I’m still alive is because I’m stubborn. I’m too stubborn to give up on this life, but that’s a good thing. It hasn’t been easy at times, but alot of people can say the same thing. I’d probably get worried if everything ran smoothly. I’d be looking over my shoulder just waiting to see if something bad was coming my way.

No real plans tonight. I’ll probably go to bed early just for my early Doctor’s Appointment. All because so he can sign a form.

That’s it for now.

Thanks for reading.

The Last Day Of The Blues

Yesterday was the last day for the Ottawa Bluesfest 2009.
Before I get to who I saw, I just wanna say something.

Yesterday Afternoon while my Wife & I were walking to the Main Stage, a Woman stopped us to give us somethiing.

She gave us a FRAMED photo of me in my Gene Simmons makeup from the KiSS show last Wednesday. She quickly vanished before we had a chance to properly thank her or get her name. So, if you’re reading this, thank you very very much for that. Please feel free to contact me either by my email address or through this site. I’d love to know who you are and to be able to say thank you for the wonderful gift.

Random acts of kindness from strangers still exists in this world and I’m very happy it does.

Ok

So, having miss Saturday’s show due to Battery problems, I wanted to make up. I was able to see six bands yesterday, so let’s get to it.

Moreland and Arbuckle — This was pretty good. They covered some old Blues & did original stuff. I’d describe them as Blues Rock. A definite hidden gem for me.

Jeff Rogers & The Liquid Sound — This was another Blues Rock band, but a little more of a performance. What I mean by that is that the Lead Singer was wearing a suit. He had a strong voice, good performance, & pretty good band that backed him up.

Bob Corritore & the Rhythm Room All-Stars — This was pretty good & featured a few people that I’ve seen at Bluesfest this year & previous years like David Maxwell & The Texas Horns. This was a pretty groovy show. I consider this another hidden gem.

Handsome Furs — In the “WTF” performance of the day, I got these guy. The band consisted of a guy & a girl singing & dancing to something called “music”. I use the term loosly ecause I had no idea what they were singing about. As far as dancing, it looked like one of them had to pee while the other person smoked a crap load of crack. It was like a mental enema getting stuck in your head with no way to get out. Luckily, I got there near the end.

The Dead Weather — This is what I what I waiting for. For those unaware, this is a super group featuring Jack White from The White Stripes playing Drums. He also did vocals and played guitar for a few songs. This was a pure straight up, no nonsense, rock show and it was great to see & hear.

The Roll Models — And now it’s time for something completely different. This was two guys (Reverend Billy C. Wirtz and Victor Wainwright) having fun on the keyboard/piano. Billy reminded me of Will Ferrell with REALLY long hair, goatee, & tattoos. He was hilarious with both his songs & his songs. At one point, the Popcorn guy walked in with a tall stick of Popcorn attached to it, plus he was wearing a hat with headlights on it. Needless to say, this led to Billy cracking up about it & even using it in a song. Victor Wainright, on the other hand, was more serious and did a great cover of Ray Charles, Georgia On My Mind. This was a great show & it’s another hidden gem to end off this year’s Bluesfest.

So that’s it for another year.
I hope you people keep tuning in every day to see what I’ve been up to.

Thanks for reading and I’ll be back tomorrow with more fun stuff.

The Last Day Of Bluesfest

I didn’t make it to Bluesfest yesterday. My Battery died right before I was gonna leave. Apparently, it rained off & on anyways. So no Ludacris for me. My Wife went down for a few hours, but returned early, so we could spend some time together.

So, today’s the last day of Ottawa Bluesfest 2009.
Here’s the lineup:

Subway Stage
4:15 pm Larry McCray
5:30 pm Eden Brent
7:00 pm Daddy Mack Blues Band
8:00 pm Dave Alvin and The Guilty Women
9:30 pm Buckwheat Zydeco

Bank of America Stage
1:00 pm Lonesome Paul
3:00 pm Peter Voith Trio
5:00 pm Jeff Rogers & The Liquid Sound
7:00 pm Handsome Furs
9:30 pm Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Rogers Stage
2:00 pm Gunsmoke
4:00 pm POWER HOUR with Tony D, MonkeyJunk and friends
6:00 pm Deer Tick
8:00 pm The Dead Weather

Hard Rock Cafe Stage
2:15 pm Steel Summit II
2:30 pm Steel Breakers
3:45 pm Jeff Lang (Blues Meets Folk Series)
5:15 pm Magneto
6:30 pm Freddie Roulette
8:00 pm David Lindley
9:30 pm Steel Summit II Jam

Barney Danson Theatre
2:30 pm That 1 Guy (Blues Meets Folk Series)
3:45 pm Brock Stonefish
5:00 pm Cassie Taylor
6:15 pm Derek Miller
7:30 pm Louisiana Red
9:30 pm The Roll Models

Blacksheep Stage
12:15 pm Blues in the Schools Performance
1:30 pm Be in the Band
4:00 pm Moreland and Arbuckle
5:15 pm Pappy Johns Band
6:30 pm Bob Corritore & the Rhythm Room All-Stars
7:45 pm C.R. Avery with the Sojourners
9:30 pm Jennifer Warnes

Rideau Centre Acoustic Series
12:00 pm Shane Simpson

I’ll be back tomorrow to let you know who I saw.

A Short Night

Yesterday Afternoon, my Wife & I went for a walk near Dow’s Lake. Sometimes, it’s nice to get away from downtown urban life, and sit by the water. We saw Ducks, various birds & Squirrel, and we even saw a Bunny.

Pretty cool

We headed home after that, so I could relax before heading back out.

I left my House just after 7 PM & headed to Bluesfest last night. I found it pretty cold & windy, so I thought I’d go home after seeing CAKE. Well, I only got to see half their set because it started raining, so I headed home.

CAKE — It was a fun show, but I left far too soon to digest it. Hopefully, they’ll return another time. Considering this was their first time in Ottawa, I don’t have much hope.

Here’s today’s lineup for Bluesfest:

Subway Stage
1:30 pm John Allaire
2:30 pm Bob Corritore & the Rhythm Room All-Stars
3:30 pm The Low Anthem
4:45 pm Louisiana Red
6:15 pm Rhythm Council
7:45 pm David Lindley
9:15 pm Drive-By Truckers

Bank of America Stage
1:00 pm Funktagon
3:00 pm Hollerado
5:00 pm Becky Abbott
7:00 pm Junior Watson with Bharath and his Rhythm Four
9:30 pm Lynyrd Skynyrd

Rogers Stage
4:00 pm Paul Reddick
6:00 pm Otis Taylor
8:00 pm Ludacris

Hard Rock Cafe Stage
12:45 pm World Gospel Jam
1:00 pm All Nations Gospel Choir
2:15 pm Voices of Praise
3:30 pm NEWWORLDSON
5:00 pm Reggie Young & Gospel Park
6:45 pm Israel & New Breed
9:15 pm Papa San

Barney Danson Theatre
2:00 pm the moth
3:45 pm Reverend Billy Wirtz
5:00 pm Friendly Rich & the Lollipop People
6:15 pm Moreland and Arbuckle
7:30 pm Jeff Lang (Blues Meets Folk Series)
9:30 pm Henry Butler

Blacksheep Stage
2:00 pm Honeyman and the Brothers Farr
3:00 pm Poorfolk
4:30 pm Woodhands
5:45 pm The Deep Dark Woods
7:00 pm That 1 Guy (Blues Meets Folk Series)
8:15 pm Papa Mali
9:15 pm Black Mountain

Rideau Centre Acoustic Series
12:00 pm Mannie Makris & The Polaras

Apparently, it’s gonna rain all day, but I hope to see Ludacris at least.

I hope you all have a good weekend.

Odd Night At Bluesfest

Last night was kinda bizarre at Bluesfest.
Before I get to that though, I’ll discuss the first band that I saw.

Shout Out Out Out Out — A rock/techno band from Edmonton. These guys were pretty good actually. I find techno to be either a hit or miss, and the same goes for rock at times. They had the crowd going with their set. This was a hidden gem for me.

This is where things got a little odd.

Busta Rhymes was supposed to start at 7, but he was 40 minutes late. I heard a few different things about why he was late, and even heard he refused to show because he wasn’t headlining. In the end, the official answer was that he was late and Bluesfest has a schedule to stick to. He only played for 20 minutes though. This kinda reminded me of The Simpsons episode with Spinal Tap. Spinal Tap weren’t happy with the Stage setup and left after playing for 20 minutes. Then, a riot broke out in Springfield. Luckily, there wasn’t a riot last night. Oh ya, I didn’t really like Busta to begin with anyways. No loss here.

LIVE — Ah, I’m a big fan of LIVE. This is the third time that I’ve seen them and still just as good. I laughed when Ed (lead Singer) dissed Busta Rhymes for his bad attitude. It was funny as hell. Anyways, they did all their big hits which were great to hear once again. The crowd loved it, I loved it, it was great. LIVE was still playing as Styx hit the Stage at the other end of the field. That was kinda odd to see & hear, but I don’t think many complained or even cared.

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings — Now, some of you are probably shocked that I didn’t see Styx.(not) Instead, I wanted to see & hear some Funk music. By the time we got there, the place was packed & everybody was dancing. This was a pretty good show, even though I couldn’t see anything.

We headed home after this.

Here’s tonight’s lineup:

Subway Stage
6:30 pm Hundreds and Thousands
8:00 pm Library Voices
9:30 pm Paolo Nutini

Bank of America Stage
7:00 pm Silver Creek
9:30 pm Blue Rodeo

Rogers Stage
6:00 pm Watters Brothers
8:00 pm CAKE

Hard Rock Cafe Stage
6:30 pm Sugar Blue
8:00 pm Larry Garner
9:30 pm Dave Mason

Barney Danson Theatre
6:15 pm Kingdom Shore
7:30 pm TJ Wheeler
9:00 pm Bob Corritore & the Rhythm Room All-Stars

Blacksheep Stage
6:15 pm Concession 23
7:45 pm Ken Workman & the Union
9:30 pm Clem Snide

Rideau Centre Acoustic Series
12:00 pm Murray Kinsley Duo

Thanks for reading.

I Rocked & Rolled All Night!

Wow! That’s all I can say about last night’s KISS Concert at Ottawa Bluesfest.
The show was AMAZING and easily the best show at Bluesfest, not only this year, but quite possibly ever. It’s gonna be hard to to that one, that’s for sure.
Everything from the pyro, the members flying around, Gene’s “blood” etc etc.

My Wife started doing my makeup right before 6 and it took a whole hour, but she did a great job.

Here’s a picture.

I got TONS of compliments on it. I think people ACTUALLY forgot that I was disabled for a little while, which was refreshing.
So here’s my advice for disabled people who get stared at often. Paint your face like Gene Simmons and stick out your tongue often.
There ya go!
You’ll be getting hot women (or guys) smiling back at you in no time.

It rained off & on all night, which is pretty normal these days.

Here’s tonight’s lineup at Bluesfest:

Subway Stage
6:30 pm Loudlove
8:00 pm Shemekia Copeland
9:30 pm Alan Parsons Live Project

Bank of America Stage
7:00 pm Busta Rhymes
9:30 pm Styx

Rogers Stage
6:00 pm Shout Out Out Out Out
8:00 pm LIVE

Hard Rock Cafe Stage
6:00 pm The Human Statues
7:30 pm Zac Harmon
9:15 pm Les Claypool

Barney Danson Theatre
6:15 pm Hoodlum
7:30 pm Steve Marriner

Blacksheep Stage
6:15 pm Politique
7:45 pm M83
9:30 pm Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings

I hope to see Busta Rhymes, LIVE, & Styx tonight if the rain holds off.

Thanks for reading & rock on!

Rock On!

Instead of heading to Bluesfest as soon as the gates opened, I decided to head downtown.
Word was going around that Gene Simmons & his Wife, Shannon Tweed were out & about, so I decided to head down there and try to meet them.
Sadly, I didn’t get to meet them, but we arrived just in time.
I was literally right behind them and all they had to do was turn around and we’d be face to face.
All was not lost though, we got some good pictures of them.
After that, we headed to Bluesfest. We got there around 8:30, so we only saw 2 bands.

Xavier Rudd — This guy’s from Australia. I had heard some good things about him, so I wanted to check it out. He was pretty mellow, despite the fact that everyone was dancing. He wasn’t bad actually, but I still prefer livlier music.

Our Lady Peace — I have seen these guys before many times and they put on a pretty good show. I was there mostly to hear my old favorites from them, which they dished out. Like a soft, warm blanket, it was familiar and nice to be there. Good show

So tonight’s the big KISS show.
I was down at the site at Noon and people were alright lined up waiting to get in.

There’s other bands performing tonight, here’s the lineup:

Subway Stage
6:00 pm The Duhks
7:00 pm Eppiphane
8:00 pm Japandroids
9:30 pm Roomful of Blues

Bank of America Stage
7:00 pm Beast
8:45 pm KISS

Rogers Stage
6:00 pm Arkells
7:45 pm The National

Hard Rock Cafe Stage
6:00 pm Frankie Whyte & the Dead Idols
7:00 pm GOOD2GO
8:00 pm LeE HARVeY OsMOND
9:30 pm Skydiggers

Barney Danson Theatre
6:15 pm Anchors
7:15 pm Lukas Ligeti
8:15 pm Flecton Big Sky
9:15 pm Joe Pug

Blacksheep Stage
6:15 pm Rocco DeLuca & The Burden
7:45 pm Silent Disco
9:30 pm K’NAAN

Thanks for reading.

Brrr

It was day 6 yesterday at Bluesfest. With only 3 acts performing, this post should be pretty easy. I only saw 2 of the 3, so let’s check out how it went.

Gym Class Heroes — I’m not sure how to describe them. Even the Bluesfest site didn’t know what to put. My best guess is Emo Punk or Emo Rock. Either way, I didn’t like it. It started raining shortly after they started, so I headed inside until it stopped.

Stone Temple Pilots — Luckily, the rain had stopped before STP hit the Stage. This was a GREAT show. They did all their big hits from the 90’s, complete with stunning visuals in the background. Scott Weiland was in fine form. So far, this has been the best show at this year’s Bluesfest. My only problem is that I froze my ass off and left early.

Everything’s back to normal today for Bluesfest tonight.
Here’s the lineup:

Subway Stage
6:30 pm Spencer Davis
7:45 pm The Yardbirds
9:00 pm The Zombies

Bank of America Stage
7:00 pm Ice Cube
9:30 pm Our Lady Peace

Rogers Stage
6:00 pm Mishka
8:00 pm Xavier Rudd

Hard Rock Cafe Stage
6:30 pm The Allrights
7:45 pm Joe Louis Walker
9:30 pm Toots & the Maytals

Barney Danson Theatre
6:15 pm Disguises
7:30 pm Joe Pug
9:00 pm Matt Andersen

Blacksheep Stage
6:15 pm Marc Charron
7:45 pm DNA
9:30 pm Spam Allstars

I plan on at least seeing Ice Cube, & Our Lady Peace.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

So it rained yesterday, which is odd because they didn’t call for rain. I really don’t think Weather Forecasters know anything. It is my personal belief that they know about as much as people that write or talk about Astrology & Horoscopes.

With that said, let’s see who I saw yesterday for day 5 at Bluesfest.

Steve Poltz — I read his bio before heading out. He seemed pretty interesting and even co-wrote one of Jewel’s biggest hits, so I decided to check him out & I’m glad that I did. He was quirky, eccentric, talented, & pretty funny to boot. I’d describe his music as borderline Country, with a Bluesy Rock flavor. After the show, we ran into eachother outside the Theater and we spoke for a few moments. Nice guy, great show, and I consider it to be a hidden gem.

JW Jones Band with Little Charlie Baty — I had high hopes for this Blues band, but after awhile, I got bored because it felt bland.

It started raining after that, so we headed indoors for a bit. We decided to see one more show before heading home.

Hubert Sumlin — This was alright. Anytime you get to see a Music Legend, I suggest you do. This guy is a Legendary Guitarist that has played with The Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry and numerous others. The only reason we left so soon is because it was getting cold out.

We had been thinking about going to one of the shows at a Local Bar, but weren’t really sure how we’d get there. Once Transportation was doable, we decided to reserve a Wheelchair Accessible Taxi and we headed to the Hard Rock Cafe to see a show at 11 PM.

Lil Brian and the Traveler — My Wife saw him last year at Bluesfest, and even bought their CD. She kept talking about how good they were, so I figured I’d give it a shot, plus it had been ages since we had a late night out. The lead Singer plays the Accordian to Funk Music. They even tossed in some Reggae into the mix, which is alright by me. At first, I was highly skeptical of the combination, but it works, it truly does. I found myself grooving to the music as they played. This was awesome and made for a great night out. Another hidden gem for me.

As for today, there’s only three bands playing and they’re all on one Stage.

6:00 pm Silverstein
7:30 pm Gym Class Heroes
9:15 pm Stone Temple Pilots

I’m definitely gonna check out Stone Temple Pilots, but I’m not sure about the other two.

Back tomorrow.

The Show Must Go On

It rained for most of the day yesterday, but I was able to catch two performances at Bluesfest.

Curumin — This was a Brazilian Band. Brazil is known for good parties, beautiful women, & good music. At least I thought they were known for good music, but not this time around. I didn’t like the Singer’s voice and he also wasn’t a good Dancer. I wanted to give him credit for singing Beat It, but no, he should’ve just beat it after that, and actually he did. That ws his last song.

Brian Setzer Orchestra — This was great! He did his brand of Swing/Rockabilly music. Unfournately, it started raining soon after it started, so we headed home.

It was a short day 4 for us, but apparently the weather’s gonna be nice for the rest of the week starting today.
There’s TONS of shows still yet to come.

Here’s today’s lineup at Bluesfest 2009:

Subway Stage
12:30 pm Elyssa Mahoney & Lucas Haneman Band
1:30 pm Prescott
2:45 pm Cedric Burnside and Lightnin’ Malcolm
4:15 pm Homemade Jamz’ Blues Band
5:45 pm The Soul of John Black
7:15 pm Hubert Sumlin
9:00 pm Los Lonely Boys

Bank of America Stage
2:00 pm Treasa Levasseur
4:00 pm Divine Brown
6:15 pm Estelle
9:00 pm Joe Cocker

Rogers Stage
1:00 pm The Rebel Year
3:00 pm Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thile
5:00 pm JW Jones Band with Little Charlie Baty
7:30 pm Neko Case

Hard Rock Cafe Stage
1:15 pm Samantha Moore Band
2:45 pm Sedatives
4:15 pm New Mastersounds
5:45 pm King Khan & BBQ Show
7:15 pm Girl Talk
9:00 pm Ani DiFranco

Barney Danson Theatre
1:15 pm Jessica Tyler
2:30 pm Leif Vollebekk
3:45 pm Steve Poltz
5:00 pm Valery Gore
6:15 pm Rick Fines
7:30 pm John Vanderslice
9:00 pm Chris Smither (Blues Meets Folk Series)

Blacksheep Stage
1:30 pm Presented by Exclaim!
1:45 pm The Balconies
3:15 pm Sunparlour Players
4:45 pm Land of Talk
6:15 pm Jenn Grant
7:45 pm Thunderheist
9:30 pm Mother Mother

Rideau Centre Acoustic Series
12:00 pm Shawn Tavenier & Peter Voith

Im not who I’ll be seeing, but I’ll let you know tomorrow.