All Fire on the Inside

I haven't had Dunkaroos in about 10 years or so. Had a pack today. Almost puked.

Work has been sucking the life out of me lately. This damn presentation that was supposed to have been last week, was rescheduled to this afternoon, but yesterday my boss realized that neither she nor I was ready for the thing.
The clients are pissed, but we had to push it back two more days.
And I've been slogging alot of overtime to get the thing done.
I had to go in on Sunday, and put in OT every night this week so far. And I still have to go in tonight for an hour or so to work on stats and shut down some machines.
Fack.

What else is new...

Matt Good's new album is streaming, and it sounds pretty money.
Concert dates announced = partial in my pants.
Massey Hall again? London? Both?

Last weekend was pretty solid. Went up to TO for Em's housewarming party. Good time, ended up just staying in and partying, but I met a ton of new people. There were some highly suspect people, but the bevy of cute chicks made up for it. I even talked to some of them. Shocking, I know...

My old man came down to London for Saturday night. During the day we went down to Port Stanley to set up plans for his 60th bday party. Never been there before, but it seemed pretty legit.

Yakob, my dad and I checked out a band called An Horse from Australia that night. The chill Music Club wasn't the right venue, and I have a feeling they're used to bigger crowds. Decent show though, and afterwards we checked out another band playing in the Club.
It was some rag-tag throw-together that consisted of a grizzled old bastard that looked like Willem Dafoe (kinda looked like he might've killed a man too), a fat child-porn possessing bassist, a fat country singin' woman with a wicked voice, a semi-legit looking trumpeter, and a talkative drummer.
Entertainment baby.
Got pretty boozed, I must say.

Last week I was really energetic and edgy, and the weekend actually calmed me down a bit. But after my dad took off on Sunday I got that old feeling back. The week has since worn me out, but I'm still feelin it.

This weekend should be solid. I've got a dinner party in TO on friday night, then a big hockey draft on saturday in Guelph, followed by golf and boozing.
I've gotta get back to TO on sunday to go birthday shopping with my step-mom, and then bolt back to London for the first games of dodgeball in the new league.
Followed by fuckin Kings of Leon that night.

Thankfully I'll have finished up that presentation on friday, cuz monday might be a wee bit hungover.

Anyway, off to work I go...

The Edge of Western Civ'lization

Well slap me in the face and call me a lesbian.

I never thought I'd say it, but today at the grocery store I bought... tofu.

Life has been boring lately, so I figured I'd try something kinda new, and kinda gutless. The shit was really cheap actually, much cheaper than I thought it'd be. I'll have to mix it into some dirty asian meal that already has beef or chicken in it though. None of that vegetarian shit for me.

I've been watching alot of Californication lately. Hilarious show, and Duchovny is completely badass. Can't wait for the new season to start. The kids used to say I looked like him, back in the day when the X-Files were in their prime.

I pretty much want to be Hank Moody when I grow up.
Writer. Alcoholic. Sex Machine. Hopeless romantic.

On the topic of writing, I've started reading a book that outlines how to become a freelance writer. I'm hopefully going to start a little moonlighting in the next month or two. If not for the money, then for the challenge and the time-consumption.

Can't wait for another exciting week at work!
Yawn...

Beefcaaake

So my new plan to gain weight is as follows:

Option #1
Follow fat people around the grocery store to see what they eat. You know, get inside the head (or in this case I guess it'd be the stomach) of a fat person and really see what makes em tick.

Cheetos - check
Mozza sticks - check
6 different kinds of greasy potato chips - check
40 gallon tub of No Name cola - check
Fresh fruit - IXNAY motherfucker



Option #2
Eat even when I'm not hungry. This is clearly healthier than the first option, and has mad potential for positive results. Just gotta make sure the food is worth putting into my belly.

Option #3
Consume less fluids. I've always found that I tend to buy too much liquid, probably because I usually go shopping on Sundays when I'm hungover to the Nth degree. Not to mention that alot of the foods I generally eat are full of water - i.e. those tasty bell peppers.
More pasta, less water, more Mintvis.

Option #4
Work out more while concurrently following through with #2 and #3.
So lazy though... fuck.

The Year That Wasn't

Quarter Century.
Looking back now, it's hard to believe just how shitty the past year has been.
Far more was lost than gained, I can tell ya that much.

Top 5 Albums

5.

4.

3.
2.1.

Top 5 Songs

5. Stars - Barricade
4. Ryan Adams - Two
3. John Butler Trio - Better Than
2. Fred Eaglesmith - Water in the Fuel
1. The Stills - Being Here

Top 5 Movies

5.

4.3.
2.

1.

All the other girls here are stars, you're the northern lights

At long last, we got a summer weekend. Too bad the first one of the year came in fucking August.


Friday started out with a damsel and myself checking out D's gig in the park, then hitting the Josh Ritter concert, followed by a trip to the Frog to see Hines and Doyle do their musack thing too.

D was good, I haven't seen her in forever. Ran into an old floor-mate who was with her too, and met her parents. Her old man had a hilarious story about the Ceeps. He was money.

Ritter was much better than I expected. There were only a few songs that I didn't recognize, which always makes concerts more fun. As the opening act was finishing up, I ran downstairs to take a piss, and coming out of the washroom I almost walked right into Ritter himself. Tall man. I was side-boozed by the end of the show, considering we had only split a pulled pork sandwich for dinner at ribfest. My lady friend was tipsy enough to think that she knew the names of all the songs based on the first line of lyrics. It was pretty entertaining and hilarious.

i.e. Snow is Gone
Opening lyrics = "birds beneath my window, dustyin their wings upon the lawn..."
Female input = "Oh this song is called 'Birds' right!?"

No dear.

We grabbed some food on the way up Richmond, and made fun of a brutally awkward and creepy kid who was hanging out alone at the park. Until his friend arrived, that is, and they shared a weird embrace...

We only stuck it out at the Frog for a beer, then met up with some really *cough* cool people *un-cough* that my roomie was chillin with for the night at another bar.

Saturday started out and ended with a hangover. I ended up boozing in the park across the street while KP tanned and read a book. We were supposed to go out to a party that night, but Jake-hole mixed up the nights and it turns out the party is next weekend. I did get those two hosers out to D's second gig, and I finally grabbed her CD. Haven't given it a listen yet.
We three roomies split some ribs for dinner, and they were absolutely brutal.
You'd think they'd have decent ribs at a thing called Ribfest. Guess not...
Passed out early that evening. Borrrrrrring.

Sunday a few of us finally managed to get together and hit up Grand Bend for a day at the beach. It was pretty sweet, not to mention the beauty drive through the country. It had been awhile since I could let the wind rip past at a buck-forty with the sun shinin'. Felt good.

That night I was rudely stood up by a friend (bitch, hahaha) who later bought me a few drinks at the bar to apologize.
I ended up partying with a bunch of lads up near Masonville, which involved too many tequila shots and a bit too much flip-cup for my liking. I just can't hack it with beer, it's gotta be the fuckin Merlot baby.

We got booted from Jacks after a beer, and ended up at Jim Bobs, scoping out the jailbait. $2.50 Jagerbombs were devestating.

I finished the night off with a brutal convo with a certain girlie. Classic drunken Mintvis...


Monday I recovered, and nursed a sore ankle from jumping off of the roof from Sunday night's pre-drink. I also bagged myself on that same jump, but it was fine by the morning.

I even dragged my sorry ass out to the tennis courts with Jake for a little exercise. He hilariously whacked himself in the face with his racket and was bleeding pretty badly for awhile.

And today work sucked. What else is new?

We all squeezed the stick and we all pulled the fuckin trigger

I find it amazing how you can go for years without hearing an album, then listen to it again and remember every single word. Just happened with Phantom Power by the Hip. Back when they used to rock out with their cocks out.

Fuckin Fireworks baby.

Last weekend was Hillside, and it was pretty decent. The big downside was the fact that I had never heard of 95% of the acts at the thing.
It was good to get back though, since I missed it last year while I was out west.
The weather was pretty brutal for most of the weekend too. By Sunday we were ankle deep in mud, in our hippie-assed Birkenstocks of course.
It was good to catch up with the usual suspects. Every year it seems to feel like we were only sittin around the campfire the weekend before. But I actually only see those guys once a year.
My cuz and I got brutally drunk and stoned on the Friday night and passed out in our chairs. I woke up in the back seat of my car (for some reason) the following morning.

I have to say it kinda sucked that I missed two gigs that I really wanted to catch. One was due to the pissing rain, and the lack of a beer tent over the stage. And the other was caused by the beer tent, and it's stupid capacity rules.

Didn't buy any mirch this year, but I guess that kinda follows the problem of not knowing any of the damn bands. Tokyo Police Club was solid, even covered Tom Petty's American Girl.
And this year was a little less social than most. Usually meet a few interesting characters at those shows, but not so much this time. I did meet one cute 5 foot chick hangin out with her 6 foot friend. Both were pretty cute. But that was friday night, and my high level of intoxication probably turned them off pretty quickly.

My old man and step-mom showed for the saturday lineup, and I finally got my huge poster in the mail from Britain. Gotta assemble the thing now, no idea how I'm gonna do that...

Josh Ritter this weekend.
D-bomber this weekend.
Golf this weekend.
Beach this weekend.

Fuckin work tomorrow.

The ones and the zeros bleed n' make some noise...

I'm starting to think that technology is taking over my life. It seems lately that I always have to have something going on, be it on the computer, the TV, the cell, or through a pair of speakers.
It's like I want to watch a movie while listening to a new record at the same time, and play a computer game at the same damn time.
Not that I really play many games beyond the odd free cell or spider time-waster.
And I sure as hell don't take it as seriously as this kid does:



Seriously people, is this the best we can do?
If that kid didn't need therapy before that spectacle, he sure will now.

But for me this whole dependence on ones and zeros is starting to become a noticeable nuisance. Where I used to read the paper at lunch, I now find myself playing Texas Hold 'Em against a computer in my phone.
I'll sit around surfing the internet for hilarious photos rather than keep up on the BBC News.
And hitting the refresh button on yahoo sports a million times is a good replacement for oh, say... learning to play the guitar.

It all feels like filler for something that should have some meaning. Not exactly sure what that something might be, but whatever it is, it's missing in my boring-assed life lately.

On the topic of boredom, I spent a solid half hour rolling coins on Sunday, and cashed in $510 today at the old TD. Got me a new card too, the old one was becoming another techno pain in my asshole.
That shit's going into the Vegas fund. New Year's is gonna be a beauty this year...

On Sunday night, due to the terrible weather we've been getting lately, Kpizzle and I decided to spend the $25 bones to go catch my boy Steve Earle downtown. Walking up to the gates, as we were counting our cash (go figure I was short, and left to mooch from her) a dude just walked up and handed us two spare tix he had! Fucking mint that!
So we had a few beers and took in a solid show. No bitches barking in our ears this time around. And the crowd had to be at least twice what we had in Massey Hall. Lots of old people again haha. And I didn't stand a hope in hell of getting close enough to yell requests...

I forgot to mention in my last post that one of his best lines from the Massey show was, "I gotta say with Obama in the White House down south, it sure makes this asshole you've got up here look alot worse."

Touche.

Anyway, it's time for a run...

You go to school and you learn to read n' write, so you can walk into the county bank and sign away yer life

My floor and bed are absolutely covered in tiny little silver sparkles.
Fucking Heath Ledger and her goddamn glitter glue... living proof that if you let a woman into your bed, your life will go to hell. If not your life, then your sanity at the very least.

Work has been shitty this week, nothing seems to be working right.
Add acid and the pH fucking rises - things like that.
At least my boss finally took my suggestion to pass along certain files so I can do my job effectively, so I suppose that's a small blessing.

Saw Steve Earle last weekend at Massey Hall in TO. The audio could've been a little better, I have to say. And go figure, the loudest most ignorant bitch in the place was sitting two rows behind us. The phrases, "You go boyfriend!" and "I love you Stevie" were said far too many fucking times. I think it kinda ruined the show for my step-mom, unfortunately.


Ol' Steve looks more like a washed-up roadie than a legendary pioneer of the country-rock world, but damn he's solid live. Wicked on the guitar, and it looks absolutely effortless.
The show started off a little slow with a few too many Van Zandt tunes, but picked up big time after he played Tom Ames' Prayer. Highlights included My Old Friend the Blues, Jerusalem, Devil's Right Hand, Someday, Goodbye, Guitar Town, and of course Copperhead Road.

Jason Collett as an opening act was pretty good too. Maybe a little too mellow. And get some fucking pants that fit properly, you asshole.

I'm debating hitting up Bluesfest this weekend to see Earle again, and repeatedly requesting Angry Young Man. Might be roped into seeing the new HPo though, so we shall see if that pans out...

I always think of tons of things to write about during the day, then I get home and forget everything.

Typical.

C'mon Kumon

I always seem to have trouble writing on here after I write a eulogy.
I remember when Mike died it took forever for me to get something up here to take the place of his picture. I guess I just don't feel like writing much in times like these.

But I have to say that recent events have cheered me up alot. I'm still pretty pissed off about alot of things in the last 6 months or so, but in the last week things have taken a turn for the better. For awhile there it seemed like bad things kept happening, and I kept saying well it can't get much worse - only to see things get worse... and worse.

I actually applied for a job up in Ottawa last week, but the following day my boss offered me a substantial raise along with full time status, so it looks like I'll be stickin around London for awhile. I was thinking it might be time for a change, but I suppose a change that big will have to wait.

I've also had an unexpected rise in the female presence in my life. It kinda came out of the blue on me, to be honest.

In completely unrelated news, I find it incredible that this is the logo for a fuckin learning centre for children:
Are kids supposed to be proud that they attend this fucking place??
It looks like a bewildered and retarded kid without a nose. Who the hell though that up?

Not much else to say beyond "holy shit it's hot in my lab".
27 degrees today. What a piss-me-off...

The loss of an icon.

This past weekend my family, and the town of Penetanguishene, lost a great man.

My father's older brother, Henry Bisschop, passed away from cancer.

It was his third battle with the disease in the past five years, and each time he beat it, he couldn't come back as strong physically. But he always remained positive, even in his final days.

Henry was the type of man that everyone respected.
He was a straight shooter; always completely honest with anyone he came into contact with.
He was also a no-nonsense kind of man; very practical, and always productive. Even in his retirement he was extremely active in the community and with his family.
He was compassionate man who didn't discriminate or judge people.
He was a man of high morals and values.

He was the kind of man that had no enemies.

Henry was a teacher, a principal, a hockey coach and referee, a family man, a member of the church, a Mucker (the Mucker, in fact), a great story teller, and man that people loved to follow. And he was an amazing uncle who taught me many lessons as a child and as a man.


My dad was probably his closest sibling, and I know he's going to have many tough days ahead of him dealing with this loss. But my brother and I are very proud that our dad was able to give a heartfelt speech at his funeral. I really can't imagine how tough it must be, but I know it affects me too. I'm usually a rock with this kind of thing, but I've never lost someone this close before. I guess every rock will crack if you hit it in the right spot.

I could go on about how many people loved him, but the short list is as follows:


And that doesn't even scratch the surface of how many people's lives were touched by the man.

I can only hope that I'll have hundreds of friends and family members standing in line in the rain (because the funeral home was too full) just to pay their respects when I die.
I hope I'm able to raise my children as well as Henry did.
I hope I'm able to live my life with the same character that he always showed, even in the tough times.

Henry used to laugh that I never called him "Uncle Henry", it was always just "Henry". He used to say "I've got 45 year-old nephews that call me Uncle, but not Travis!"

Well I have to say Henry, I've never been anything but proud to be your nephew.
I hope you're resting peacefully now.