Flo Mounier @ Bar Wild

On Thursday I went along with my step-dad and his brother to see Flo Mounier hold a drum clinic. The venue was pretty nice, and I wouldn”t mind going back for more functions and I liked the set up. Back to the clinic, Flo is just amazing. He is crazy fast, and really super talented. Admittedly he needs to do a bit more work on his stage presence and public speaking, but other than that he did rather well. The one super drunk fan up front really loved him, no matter what he did though

Three Days Grace, Theory of a Deadman, Mobile, Idle Sons @ Agricom

Let me just say first off, wow that is a lot of bands! Now getting to the venue was fun, at least the weather was nice enough to not have to wear a parka and long johns and big winter boots. Upon entering the venue, I was frisked mildly by a lovely female security guard who then asked to see in my purse (see the super purse from OokFest 2006 entry). I then picked up my floor level wristband (it was blue) and then made my way in and tried to look for my friend from work. We had been able to pick up tickets for her and her friend that day when ticketmaster released more tickets to the public.

So I got in and then decided to make my way to the merchandise table as per the notice in my email from last week. I spent 20+ minutes in the line and made it known that I was getting my merchandise and then getting out, and I was even nice enough to help a guy get to the front of the line (he didn”t want to push and be mean to get to the front of the line, so I told him to follow me and I even placed him in my spot after I got my merchandise).

Saw III

Well here is my first movie review and what a doozy Well October 26 I was at a Saw movie Marathon with my friend, Poppy and we sat through the first two Saw movies and finally the one we had paid the money for Saw III, and by the time we got out of the theatres it was almost 1AM and we had school and work the next day.

Anyways, the movie delivered on it’s promise of blood and gore and we danced the happy dance of gore!

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Okay I bought this book on the recommendation of a few people most notably (because I love her dearly), Lorraine. I was a little bit skeptical mostly because the local bookstore only sold it in hardcover for $25 CDN and I rarely buy hardcover unless I know I will love and adore the book (in this case I do).

The main plot of this book is the age old theme of star crossed lovers, which gets to everyone no matter who they might be. The story starts off with Isabella Swan telling the reader what has happened and reflecting upon her life as she is about to die at the hands of a predator. Flashback to the start of the Isabella’s trip to her father’s home in Forks, WA so that she can live with him during her last half-year (two semesters) of high school rather than move to Florida or somewhere else with her mom and her new minor baseball league boyfriend. She arrives in Forks to a new and free vehicle thanks to her dad, whom behind his back she calls Charlie.

Ookfest 2006

Well I nearly went to OokFest 2006 alone, but my darling cousin Tessa didn”t fail me and we hung out there and had some good clean fun. We went later in the day to avoid the heat and catch all the headliners, that and we are of the belief that music is more enjoyable in the dark where you can hide out in the pits or field, stands, etc and no one knows who you are. Getting in was fun for me since I had brought my bag and there was a big sign that said “No Bags Allowed” and then I had to pull everything out of my pockets, and the guy checked my bag and called it my ’super purse” and let me keep my recently opened bottle of water, since they would throw it out otherwise. I did get to skip being frisked though, so that was good.

A Cold Treachery by Charles Todd

This is the first book of Todd’s that I have read involving his main character Inspector Ian Rutledge and is admitedly one of his more recent releases. While this may be I still was able to fall right into line with the character’s backstory and behaviours quite easily. This story revolves around the town of Urksdale and the murders of a local family, the Elcott’s. While the search for the killer would seem like the most important task the search for the eldest son ten year old, Josh Robinson (who along with his sister kept his father’s name after his mother remarried) who was the only one missing from the home. Rutledge is summoned to Urksdale from another case in the countryside and even before reaching the town he saves a young woman who’’s carriage has gone off the road in a treacherous winter storm.

Jakalope @ Telus Stage

Last night… okay Friday night I went to the Capital Ex grounds right after work and waited there for my mom, step-father, step-brother and his girlfriend to show up to meet me. We took in the Jakalope concert and my parents ran off not even halfway through along with my step-brother’s girlfriend. Later on she came back only to have my step-brother go with her leaving me alone to enjoy and appreciate the music myself. Which is exactly what I did I took lots of pictures of Katie B. and Dave and I was much closer this go around so the pictures should be of better quality. The set list was the same as their Calgary show and Dave was truly more awesome live than the studio version of Bad Dream *huge thumbs up*

Anthem 2
Instigator
Creeper
Go Away
Digging Deep
Screecher
Pretty Life
Throw It Away
Star 24
Get It Back
Feel It
Upside Down
Code 4
Tell Me Why
Don’t Cry
Bad Dream

Today I got up early (for a Saturday) and rode the bus for over an hour to get to the Sobey’s on the South side of the city to do a meet and greet with Dave and Katie. I got there just in time before they were shutting down to get an autograph from Katie B. herself and to chat a little bit with her. She really is just a sweetheart and so nice to all her fans. There was a woman in front of me from a dental office beside the Sobey’s who had no clue who they were but go their autograph anyways and Katie told her what their group name was and where they were based, etc. It was really sweet I have a full roll of just Jakalope on my ghetto cam #2 that will be processed this week and then posted.

To Sai: Katie is wearing the SONIC 102.9 Intern Army uniform. Dave told her to put it on and so she had to jump into it to get it on right

Edit August 07.2006: Ghetto camera #2 to the rescue!

Three Days Grace @ Ed Fest Stage

Last night I went to K-days The Ex Capital Ex more specifically to Ed Fest the outdoor concert venue they were putting on this year. Now I left early from work to get there with enough time to get a good seat, and well I did I was sitting on the sound tech stage for the entire thing as well as for most of the Three Days Grace performance. Last night’’s crowd was the largest for the venue to date, even beating Our Lady Peace! Anyways, Tupelo Honey (Local Edmontonian band) was the first opener and they did not bad considering the humid and hot weather, following them was a group from York, Ontario called Oliver Black. They were not bad, but I would prolly not buy their album just from their live performance, a lot of it was just too much and it would have been better if the lead singer had gone less crazy and stopped screaming her lungs out off key.

Finally, at around 9:30 PM Three Days Grace came out! Adam looked really good, he was wearing a nice black shirt with a white silky tie and long black shorts. Think Anthony Kiedis from RHCP, but hotter and younger They started off with Just Like You and the crowd was into it immediately. Some of the other tracks they performed were Scared, Animal I Have Become, Riot (which I laughed when I saw security running around and hoping that we were not going to start one), Get Out Alive, Pain, Never Too Late and one other that I cannot remember for the life of me. Adam was awesome at keeping the crowd into the music and he got everyone to jump and throw up their hands for all of Animal I Have Become and to sing along to Riot. The light show was really well put together and the sound quality was great so kudos to the techs Finally at around 10:40 they ended with a long intro into I Hate Everything About You and the crowd sang/screamed along and let the groove take them. I picked up a tshirt at the merch station before the first group came on, so I could guarantee sizes. I have taken pictures, but the film has yet to be developed, so I will post them when I get the roll back

Edit July 30.2006: I present my ghetto camera pictures of the performance. Click on the thumbnails for a bigger image.

The Murder Stone by Charles Todd

I picked this book up at Chapters sadly in the bargain bin for $7CDN. Truthfully the cover attracted me along with the title obviously. The book is set in WWI and is about a woman by the name of Francesca Hatton whose parents were killed in a car crash while in Canada when she was a child. She is adopted by her grandfatther, Francis Hatton who also has adopted the five children of his other son who died in an unmentionable situation. Her five cousins are sent off to war and all five are reported as killed in action. First her cousin Simon (the warrior) then Robin (the practical one), Freddy (the musician), Peter (the engineer) and finally Harry (the charmer). Finally her grandfather suffers a stroke and falls into a state of destitution. With his granddaughter by his side, Francis Hatton finally passes on leaving his entire estate to her along with all of his problems and grudges that were held against him.

AFI @ Shaw Conference Centre

Just first off let me say, wow. I am still processing what I saw, so allow me a moment to collect my thoughts. The lineup for this concert was crazy it went from the venue up two sets of stairs, outside onto the street, down the street, into the parking lot of the nearby Mariott hotel and around in the lot itself. Doors opened at 8PM and we were in by 8:30PM. The opening band was The Plain White T’s and I highly recommend them, they were pretty damn good and I have them on my list of albums to go out and purchase. Excellent harmonies and lovely lyrics.

Finally A.F.I. came on the stage at around 10:30PM or so and the stage show was amazing. The lights show was well set up and the matching white outfits for all of the guys were spectacular. Davey was on his mark tonight, his voice was hitting all the notes and all the grrs Hunter was running around the stage, jumping off Adam’s drum platform and kicking into the air. Adam was just sitting and keeping the time for the guys. Jade was just hillarious some times, just seeing him gyrate his hips a bit and grind into his guitar was gold. The crowd was feeling the guys tonight, and Davey even ventured out into the crowd letting them hold him up as he sang, and then letting him roll off and get back on stage. My camera that I borrowed is an old ghetto camera, so the picture quality will be horrible. Once I get them developed I will post them here in this entry, so stay tuned.

Edit July 30.2006: I present my ghetto camera pictures of the performance. Click on the thumbnails for a bigger image.