Back From The Weekend And Feeling Chatty

Last Updated on: 23rd November 2014, 08:31 am

Well, I’m home, I’m alive, and I had a pretty dandy long weekend. Although when you’ve got a good family, lots of good food and a few good drinks, it’s hard to end up with something you could describe as anything other than dandy. Maybe if you prefer words like smashing or fanglorious you could use one of those instead, but I wrote dandy and I’m not changing it now.

I guess since I’ve mentioned it, I should probably tell you about it if you care to listen, or I suppose read if you want to get technical about things.

Jim Cuddy got the weekend off to a fine start on Friday night. His set was fantastic, and there’s no way I could say enough good things about it. He’s one of the best voices around, he writes damn good songs, and he knows how and when to talk to an audience which is something that gets overlooked a lot but can go a long way towards either making or breaking a show. He also managed to not lean too heavily on the Blue Rodeo stuff. There was some, but it was sprinkled in just the right spots and it took nothing away from his solo work, which when you’re on a solo tour should be the focus. His band was also great. They were bang on and tight all night, not even missing a beat when a small amplifire broke out. God, I can’t believe I just wrote something that stupid. But yes, there was a problem with one of the amps and it started smoking a little. It was all taken care of quickly and it didn’t throw anybody off one bit. Hell, they even finished the song they were playing at the time and most of the crowd didn’t realize what was going on until after it was all over and people onstage started laughing about it.

There was even an opening act, something I wasn’t expecting until they came out and started playing songs. They were called Oh Susanna and they were also quite good. They had some sound problems during their set which took away from things at times, but over all I was pretty impressed with them. They were one of those bands that I’d heard of but hadn’t really heard, and now that I have, I’m definitely interested in hearing some more. I wasn’t able to get a CD at the show, but I’ve got one now, mainly because I figured out how to spell their name correctly, which kind of made the whole internet search thing go a little better.

And quickly while we’re on the subject of music, if you’re at all a fan of swing or blues, you should definitely check out the Colin James & The Little Big Band 3 album. I’m listening to it for the first time as I type this, and it’s sounding pretty good so far. I really like the first 2, so I’m glad this one is looking like its going to live up to that standard.

Ok, back to the weekend.

I spent most of Saturday visiting with my dad, who I’ve talked about here
before.
He’s doing ok, but still largely the same as ever. He has his good days and his bad days and I don’t think that’s ever going to change. There are times when he seems completely with it and on top of things, and then there are times when you wonder what the fuck he’s talking about and what world he’s living in. this might seem like a horrible thing to say, but it’s kind of like he was before the stroke, only to a greater extreme and with a quieter voice.

The strangest thing about spending any length of time with him is getting to see both of those sides at almost the same time. Talking to him on the phone you usually get one or the other rather than constant switches back and forth, but seeing him in person for more than a few minutes is kind of a mind fuck. He’d show me a picture, say “check this out”, then stop for a second as if he’s thinking aww shit that’s right, you’re one of the blind ones and then say “it’s a picture of your cousin’s wedding, they got married back in August.” Then there were the times when he’d say things and it would take me a second to realize that yes this is 2007 and no, he didn’t not have the stroke. But then just as quickly he’d be back talking about how him and his buddies had to take the snow into the barn before dinner so that the cocksucking mice wouldn’t eat all the shoes.

And in case you’re wondering, yes, he’s still drinking, but it doesn’t bother me anymore, at least not very much. He drinks less than he used to for one thing, but more than that, I’ve again come to accept that that’s just who he is and nothing short of death or a miracle is going to change him. It sounds weird I’m sure, but I’m at the point now where I can have a beer with him and not feel all that bad about it.

Sunday was family Thanksgiving dinner day. It was pretty much what you’d expect out of a family gathering so I won’t bother with details, I’ll just say that whenever there’s food on offer and I don’t have to cook it, I’m a happy guy.

We ended up ordering the No Mercy pay-per-view because my 8-year-old cousin is starting to get into wrestling and wanted to see it. Of all the reasons to talk your dad into dropping $40 on a pay-per-view, he picked Batista and The Great Khali in the Punjabi Prison Match. Oh how great it is to be a kid, and oh how lucky it is for the kid that pops knows nothing about wrestling, otherwise Steve would have been downloading a torrent right now rather than writing about the thing after watching it live.

My thoughts on the show? Other than the Last Man Standing main event and the chance to watch a few kids get as excited about wrestling as I did when I was young, the thing was completely and utterly fucking useless. Here’s some free advice for WWE even though they’re not really in the habit of listening to the fans anymore. when booking a PPV, a good rule of thumb is to make sure that what you’re serving up is better than what we can see for free. Then again, it’s also a good idea to make sure that what we’re seeing for free is better than the dreck you’re passing off as television nowadays so that we’ll want to part with our $40 in the first place. When it feels like I’m watching a horribly shitty Raw that’s going on way too long, that’s bad, especially when it has such a hefty price tag attached to it.

If you missed this show and you’re thinking about ordering a replay, don’t. You’d be better off pissing on your 40 dollars or setting it on fire and saving 3 hours of your life. But if you insist on experiencing the feeling of those of us who wound up watching it, I’ll wait here while you glue your scrotum to the frame of an automatic door and let it open and close a few thousand times.

The main reason aside from the epic incompetence of the “creative” team for the sucktitude of this show was Triple H. Yes he was in the best match on the card and he did lose in the end, but did we really need him wrestling 3 times and making Umaga look like a worthless douchebag after all the work they put into building the guy up and actually getting something right for once? Note to the H’s: As much as you’d like to think otherwise, you are not The Rock and you are certainly not Steve Austin. When they blew through guys on their way to a title or just because they could, it made sense most of the time. If one of them was fighting Umaga, it would have looked like a struggle. I know you were selling the ribs, but I don’t think one person watching that show thought for a single second that you were in any danger of losing that match. If that were Steve Austin, that match would have looked like a war and when he finally won you’d have gotten the sense that he was in a fight for his life and somehow made it out because he’s just that awesome. Watching you in there was like watching another day at the office. It’s ok to come off as vulnerable now and then, it adds depth to the character, not to mention preserves the characters of the guys you won’t have to squash to serve your own interests.

But enough about that, and enough of this post. Other than spending some more time with the family and having dinner with Chad from
Band.Zero
who you need to check out immediately because they’re good people and turning into a fine musical act not to mention that I can take some credit for the song on their main page right now, not much else happened that needs mentioning. So thanks as always for reading, and I’m sure I’ll be back sooner or later. for now I’m going to check out the news, eat some supper and try to find out more about the car accident that happened outside a few minutes ago. Have a fine evening, and if you’re in Ontario, don’t forget to get out and vote while there’s still time.

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