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I’m just going to jump in here and say I can’t believe you went to Afghanistan, Jenn! I don’t think I would have the guts to do that — I think I’d be little fearful for my personal safety. It sounds like you had an amazing journey and took away some incredible memories.

It looks like most of the World Youth Day pilgrims have left the city. It seemed that MuchMusic was one of their favourite hang outs. It appeared that the Much building was a meeting spot for many of them. Last week, I found myself on a TTC bus packed with WYD participants, from as far away as Italy and France. Wow. That’s dedication. I was intrigued to see how they all recognized each other as friends through association, and even spontaneously broke into song together.

I can’t believe it’s going to be August in a couple of days. Where did the summer go?

Any ideas Brad?

Kel - Rowdy, rowdy. Owdy Owdy! I’m excited for the Warped Tour. The Cultifadaz have invited my b-girl crew shebang! out to rock the Buffalo and Barrie dates.

I just got back from the Papal Mass at WYD. I really enjoyed covering the week of celebrations, and discovering Challenge The Church. I found both events to be great opportunities for youth to explore Christian faith. Any Real World fans peepin’ this? I bumped into Matt from Real World New Orleans yesterday at Downsview. He was reppin’ Lifeteen. Everyone I met during World Youth Week was having a great time, including the cops.

For those of you who were askin’ - my personal website has been revamped, and is now online for your clicking pleasure. Make sure to sign the guestbook.

I still can’t believe I was in Kabul, Afghanistan just over two weeks ago. I can’t wait to see the 1/2 hour special we air this September.

Brad > tag, you’re it!

What the dilly-o? Well this weekend, I’ll be rockin’ a little OT in TO and going to check out the world according to GOB . Man, it seems like forever since I saw those guy rockout at SnowJob. I’d love to take a trip to Corner Brook (where SJ took place) in the summer and go hiking in Gros Morne National Park. Being stuck in stinky downtown Toronto, I’ve forgotten what fresh air and trees look like!

But being in the city isn’t so bad, I’ve had the chance to see a lot of great shows, including Guided By Voices last friday. Those dudes were onstage for almost three hours, and by the end of the night I think I was more tired than they were! Speaking of shows, how much do I wish I could fly over to jolly ol’ England and hit the Reading and Leeds festivals? The amount of music talent that will be there is absolutely mind blowing. One day…one day…

Hey Holla Holla, you excited for any upcoming shows?

One day I too will have conditioned air… and hopefully before winter! But I digress…

Instead I will speak of something good… like this uber rad movie I watched the other day called “Mean Machine” starring the best tough guy ever, Vinnie Jones. You may remember Vinnie from such gems as “Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels” (he played Chris), “Snatch” (Bullet Tooth) and the remake of the 70’s classic “Gone in 60 Seconds” (Sphinx). However you may not have known that in real life prior to his acting debut, Vinnie was a pro-footballer (that’s soccer this side of the pond) known for his enforcement of the pitch. Their is an infamous photo of Vinnie making a stride forward whilst lifting the player behind him off of the ground by the ol’ twig and berries, if you know what I mean. Anyways, in this movie he plays and ex-footballer who gets nicked for drunken assault on a couple of London’s finest in a pub. Once he gets to prison he meets the warden who’s an avid football fan and wants him to coach the prison team. And that’s all I’m giving… go rent it… it’s good!

I think…I’m so happy I have air-conditioning.
I think…I’m so sad that Ryan is going through air-conditioner installation hell.

And now I think…it’s that time of the week again.

Well Ryan, I am planning on catching one of the two Breeders’ shows next week, but I suspect their stage presence won’t quite cause any of my bodily organs to combust. At least, the times I’ve seen them (or singer Kim Deal’s other bands The Pixies and The Amps) in the past I’ve made it back in one piece. And that’s how I like my concert experiences.

As far as new CDs go, I’m really looking forward to Beth Orton’s new release Daybreaker — she played a few new songs at her show last month, and they were just amazing. However, I’m going to have to wait til the end of the month before that one hits the shelves.

In other news, I found my toothpaste which everyone around me is really happy about. I’m still not completely unpacked from my move — the heat is making me rather sleepy these days, and doesn’t really promote the enjoyment of backbreaking work, ya know what I mean?

Hey Sophie, what do you think of the freakin’ high temperatures we’ve been sweating through lately?

I would have to agree with that Refused comment… they rock my socks…. as do The Hives. However I have to admit I was never really sold on (International) Noise Conspiracy. And while we’re on the subject of RAD albums, I need to rave about my most recent of purchases starting with The Distillers - Sing Sing Death House. At the suggestion of The Shouldice, I gave this little disc a listen and was quite pleased to hear some good ol’ fashioned punk rock spewing from the sweat red lips of one Brody Armstrong… securing herself as the official “better” half of Rancids Tim Armstrong. Any fan of old school punk rock would really be doin’ themselves a favor by checking this mutha out!

And of course the piece de resistance the 30th anniversary edition of David Bowie’s “The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars”… a wonderful 2 disc set that includes the original album completely remastered as well as a 14 track bonus disc that includes the demo versions of both Ziggy Stardust and Lady Stardust! A-Mazing!!! Being that this was a definitive moment in music history this album is a definite must for any fan of music from this era.

Anywho, in response to your question my plans for this week are; as far as work is concerned… working on tons of lovely surprises for the Much.com regulars…. and outside of work, I’ll be attending The Legendary Klopeks show on Saturday eve where I expect my eyeballs to explode!

How ’bout you V… any recent albums you’d like to rave about or shows that may cause optical explosions?

Okay, for the record any Refused album is worth paying whatever it costs…and if they ever get back together I’d pay whatever it costs to see ‘em live too-tho the lead singer’s newer band The (International) Noise Conspiracy totally blow me away live every time (if you’ve just jumped on The Hives bandwagon-take the scenic route and check out this band).

Speaking of getting blown away by live shows, I went to see =Weezer= for the fourth time on Sunday, and it was by far my favourite of all the times I’ve seen them. At one point the drum kit rises up and from beneath the stage comes this huge lit up =W=. I almost peed my pants.

Oh hey and if you haven’t already, check out their site…did you know that you can download new tracks  - some of which may never even be released? But they put them on and take them off randomly, so you gotta be quick. Apparently Rivers is all about the internet interaction.

Wow, since when did I become a Weezer cheerleader? Hmmm, must have been all the bright lights at the show that have made me all starry eyed.

Hey Ry, have you nailed down any plans for the rest of the week?

 

…and what a play it was! We had quite the time, and were proud as punch of our Ricky.

You know what my request is for this week? What I hope the following days might bring? An Onion update! I haven’t had an Onion for a few weeks now and I think it’s directly impacting the frequency of my chortling.  I can still get my politic on with CounterPunch, but what of my satire? Onion - please come back this week.

In the meantime, I’ve found somewhere else to distract me from my work. I have a crush on this website.

Hey Matt, let’s hope that V found her toothpaste this weekend, eh?!

Sophi and I are in a hurry to get out to see young Rick’s play in Brampton, Ontario… as such she asked me to bust out a sentance for her in the blog…. and here it is.

Oh yeah… and I HAVE to do this!