Hi everybody!



How's your summer going? Mine has been pretty eventful so far.

Back in June I took a week off during NXNE and saw a couple of local bands (Die Mannequin and the Rabid Whole) as well as the triumphant return of Limblifter. I never had the chance to see them in the 90s so it was great to finally get the opportunity. The El Mo was super packed so I guess I wasn't the only one eager for more LL. It sounds like the Age of Electric are working on new material as well so I may be able to cross them off my list of classic bands to catch yet too.



Speaking of long awaited returns I can finally say I've seen Refused live and in person! Last month I caught them not once but twice at the Sound Academy and it was definitely worth the 14 year wait. The first night I had a VIP ticket and while I'm no fan of the Sound Academy their balcony set up is actually pretty sweet. The band killed it both nights and made a lot of fans happy - even if this reunion tour is a one off.



I actually ran into Renna and Nymph at the first show which is kinda funny considering I'd just seen them the night before at Gala. There wasn't a huge turnout for this year's party but it was still great to see everyone that made it out for the night. I won a door prize as well so that was a nice little bonus. At the end of the evening RadioFrank and AandP announced their retirement from running Gala which was sad to hear but certainly understandable. Organizing an event like that is no small feat and six years is a pretty respectable run. My thanks to both of them for all their hard work. Big ups!

Besides hitting all the usual events this summer like Gala and Pride I also checked out the World Naked Bike Ride for the first time. They definitely got people's attention but I think a lot of passers-by may have been too stunned to catch the message. The looks on some people's faces were pretty amusing though. I was pleasantly surprised to see that not all of the riders were old dudes too . Less gas more ass!



This past weekend I also caught a couple of flicks including an advanced screening of ParaNorman. Some of the jokes were aimed at the younger crowd but the story and animation were both well done. I was entertained anyway. A few weeks back I won passes to see Safety Not Guaranteed as well. It had some good laughs and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys oddball/indie/sci-fi/rom-coms .



Summer might be starting to wind down but Fan Expo is fast approaching so I'm getting excited for that. The guest line up this year is looking pretty solid. Hopefully there won't be too many more cancellations. TIFF 2012 is not that far off either and based on the films they've announced so far it looks like both Rob Zombie and Joss Whedon will be coming to town. I've got the week booked off from work and I can't wait!

I don't think I ever uploaded my photos from last year's TIFF so I'll end off with some of my celebrity sightings. 2011 was a banner year so I doubt I'll be able to top it but we shall see .

Woody Harrelson (Cheers, Natural Born Killers, Zombieland)

Megan Fox (Transformers, Jennifer's Body)

James Franco (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Spider-Man, Freaks and Geeks)

Stay gold!

Speaking of gold, here's some comedy gold courtesy of Just For Laughs Gags:

It's been a while since my last entry so I thought I'd do up a quick blog. I'm too busy for a proper update at the moment, and by busy I mean lazy, so here's a short list of stuff I've been into lately.

DEATH VALLEY


Has anyone else been watching this show? It's basically a cops and zombies mockumentary created by Rob Zombie's brother, Spider One. The first episode didn't blow me away or anything but I kept watching and Death Valley has turned out to be a really cool little show. Imagine Shaun of the Dead combined with Reno 911 and you'll have some idea of what to expect. All the episodes so far are up on MuchMusic.com and Siries.me.



http://siries.me/deathvalley
http://www.muchmusic.com/tv/deathvalley/episodes/

ORSI KOCSIS (aka Klaudia, Claudio O)


Quite possibly the finest of all fine ladies but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves

THE DAMNED THINGS


The Damned Things are something of a southern rock supergroup containing members of Anthrax, Fall Out Boy and Every Time I Die. On paper the band doesn't really make sense but their music is actually pretty badass. The video for "We've Got A Situation Here" is good for a laugh too.

Next blog I'll hopefully have my TIFF recap from this year ready. Until then I've added some older pics to my Celebrity Encounters album. Check 'em out!

Fan Expo is this weekend and I gotta say it really snuck up on me this year. The show actually started today but I haven't had a chance to prepare much at all. I haven't even uploaded my photos from last year yet! I do have tomorrow off from work though so that's something.

I plan on hitting the show Saturday with radiofrank and perhaps we'll run into a few other members there as well. The SG booth is returning this year so I'm pretty excited about that. It'll be great to see the local girls again. I'm looking forward to meeting Eliza Dushku and Hayden Panettiere too.

I'm not so much looking forward to all the line-ups but here's hoping the overcrowding issues from past years have been solved. We shall see if things run smoother this time around. Here are my photos from Fan Expo 2010 before I forget:


Stan "The Man" Lee (Marvel Comics)


Summer Glau (Firefly, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles)


The Impala from Supernatural


Black Widow


The Batmobile


Slave Leia

I also realized I've never uploaded my photos from Wizard World either. I wrote a blog and everything but I never got around to posting it I guess. Wizard World is relatively small compared to Fan Expo but it's a decent convention all the same. Here's my recap for anyone interested.......

I only made it to Wizard World for one day this year and I was surprised by how busy the show was when I rolled in at noon on the Saturday. The crowd seemed a lot larger than last time but it definitely thinned out over the course of the afternoon. I didn't really do much shopping at all but I did manage to catch everyone I was hoping to meet. Julie Benz and Nick Brendon were my main reasons for going but I also chatted with Kim Porier, Steven Kerzner (aka Ed the Sock) and Carol Zara. Carol, of Digitally Blonde fame, was pretty cool in person. I thought I saw her at work a while back and I was right!

Scott Thompson was also there and had a Q&A at the end of the day but I spaced out and missed it. I'd hoped somebody would have posted some videos online but no such luck (not that I can find anyway). Nicholas Brendon, Xander from Buffy, had a Q&A earlier on which I did make it to. His responses were super hilarious but I don't think everyone appreciated his humour - a couple with kids actually walked out. I guess rape and bestiality jokes will do that . I found a clip of the infamous Snoopy dance from the show by the way:



The layout could've been a bit better but overall I think the convention was a step up from last year's show. An SG booth would have been nice but I did run into Lyth anyway who was super awesome. All in all Wizard World was a good time and I'll be back again next year. Hopefully SG will be back as well.


Julie Benz (Dexter, Buffy TVS/Angel)


Nicholas Brendon (Buffy TVS, Criminal Minds)



DeLorean replica


Twiggy and Lyth!

Earlier this month Deftones came to town and I not only saw their show at the Sound Academy but I also got to meet the guys. For their current tour the band offered different VIP ticket options including Diamond tickets which came with a sound check performance, a meet and greet and a bunch of signed merch. The prices weren't exactly cheap but I figured what the hell - it's not every day you get the chance to meet Chino and the guys.

The VIP check in time was super early so I took the day off work and headed down to Polson Pier for 4:30. The Sound Academy is not my favourite venue by any means but I was just glad the Deftones weren't playing Arrow Hall for once. The sound check was first up. It was pretty quick (only two songs) but seeing the band play to a crowd of less than 100 people was still a cool experience.

Next was the meet and greet. I was surprised by how little security there was - none whatsoever. They basically had one guy running the whole thing including taking the photos. He kind of rushed everyone through but the guys themselves were really friendly and cool. Stef busted out a different ridiculous smile or pose for practically every picture. After my snapshot I asked Chino about working with the Japanese band Wagdug Futuristic Unity. They're basically unknown in this part of the world but I really dig them. Their song featuring Chino is pretty badass.



The show itself was amazing. The guys played for almost two hours and covered all the albums. The set list actually included eight tracks off of White Pony which was sweet. They only performed one song from Saturday Night Wrist but it was great to hear Cherry Waves anyway. That night was their first time playing the tune in years Chino said.


Here are a few clips I found on Youtube from the show:

I think I'm in love......

Hey horse-teeth girl, I want to make you make horsey noises.

Anyone else remember when MuchMusic was an actual music station? Those were the days. I'm not sure what brought on my current case of nostalgia, but I've been listening to Canadian rock from the 90's non-stop lately. Ah, the memories....

Age of Electric - Remote Control

I've also been digging The Walking Dead on AMC. The first episode debuted Halloween night and completely blew me away. I shouldn't have expected anything less from Frank Darabont (The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption). So far it is my favourite new show of the season. Definitely worth a look if you enjoy the zombie genre.

Another Fan Expo is in the books and I have lived to tell the tale. The crowds were a bit much, especially on the Saturday, but considering I didn't get locked out of the building I will call it a success. Hopefully I can get a proper blog with pics and all that together sometime soon. Between the film festival and a bunch of concerts the next few weeks are going to be good and busy.


Plus Hatebreed last night and Die Mannequin on the 24th!

With this year's Fan Expo fast approaching I've decided it's time for a new blog - not just any blog but an all nerd edition!

First up is my long overdue Wizard World recap. The convention made its Toronto debut back in March and other than a fire alarm going off on the Saturday everything ran pretty smoothly for their first time in the city. The show wasn't as big as Fan Expo but there weren't any ridiculous line ups or crowds so that was a nice change. I was looking forward to meeting Eliza Dushku but unfortunately she cancelled at the last minute. There were still some cool guests in attendance though and I've included a few photos below.


Jewel Staite (Firefly, Serenity)


Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters, Oz)


Malice, Friskey, Smythe, Nymph, Agy


Vesta, Megan

Personally I would've preferred it if they'd booked more genre guests and less reality stars and wrestlers, but I did get to see Kamala the Ugandan Giant texting on his cell phone which was kind of hilarious. There weren't many members from the site at the show, not that I saw anyway, but the ladies working the SG booth were super cool as always. Overall it was a pretty good time.

Getting back to Fan Expo, the convention is coming up the end of August and the guest list announced so far is pretty huge. The full rundown can be found on their website but I thought I'd mention some of the headliners here (along with when they've last appeared).

There are a fair number of returning guests this year but with Summer Glau added to the lineup I'm not going to complain . As long as the organizers continue to book at least one or two guests from the Whedonverse I will be a happy camper. Felicia Day of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog fame is also set to appear.

Speaking of Joss, any fans of his work should check out this link for the newest addition to the Toronto convention circuit. I know there is an SGCE meet up in the works for Fan Expo so hopefully there'll be one at Whedon Fest as well.

One last thing, I also watched Rubber Johnny for the first time this week. It's been around for a few years now but if you've never seen this video I can't recommend it enough. I would try to come up with a description for you but I don't want to give anything away. You've just gotta see it for yourself.