new horizons.

hello friends.
sorry for the lack of updates lately.
i'm going to try and do a general + / - entry about what's been going on, and then talk about some things to come.

+ american vegan food (watercourse, herbivore, paradox cafe, voodoo donuts, juliano's pizza, spiral cafe, vegan hotdog guy and his new restaurant in orlando, soul veg, panda veg, gianna's grille, julians, nice slice, red bamboo, avalon bakery, the place in cinci that joe took me to, chicago diner, the place in pittsburgh that stacy took me to and the little juicebar cafe in baltimore.)
+ root beer.
+ seeing the cancer bats in utah.
+ george being a sweet bro.
+ joel & aja in vegas.
+ nfg/bayside/syg tour in sf and detroit.
+ gregers in seattle.
+ seeing nada, weber, kt, aileen, cameron, katy, beemer, eric tobin, will and many more friends at bamboozle left.
+ the get up kids.
+ same name friendship day in austin with will.
+ seeing morrissey's bus in houston.
+ coffee.
+ adam camera guy.
+ courtney and tracy in charlotte.
+ pulin in richmond.
+ hot tubs, steam rooms/showers.
+ static lullaby bailing out the tour and being super bros.
+ mike ski, josie and mikey loved one in philly.
+ museum shit talks with anto.
+ race, ry ry, and long island.
+ pmr, tremblay, bowling on palmer's birthday.
+ best day off in detroit.
+ joe foster in cinci.
+ stephanie marlow, chris behm and co. in chicago.
+ book shopping in columbus.
+ stacy in pittsburgh.
+ the bless the fall kids and getting to know super bro's beau and brandon.
+ katie brown coooooooooming ouuuuuuuut in philly, LI and bamboozle nj. (how did i forget this?)
+ watching christian (bamboozle promoter) mosh/text during VOD.
+ seeing team rise against and billy talent briefly.
+ the ronettes: be my baby.

- norma jean checking out.
- losing money at the casino in reno.
- the american economy sucking.
- constant rain for nyc off day, and for most of the east coast.
- the webster theater and other shitty venues.
- more rain and massive headaches at bamboozle.
- not really having enough time to see anyone at bamboozle.
- crashing my car on the way to the airport.



so yeah, i had two days off at home after that tour, and i decided that since i didn't touch my camera once on the whole tour, it was time for a change. the first thing i did when i got home was head down to henry's and trade in my shit. based on the positive reviews and results i've seen from jess, rennick and my own research, requirements (and other r related words), i decided to go with the lumix dmc-lx3.


so far, i love it. i don't there there could possibly be a camera more suited for my needs and personal preference and enjoyment. it's got a great lens that has both a wide angle and aperture, which i love. it seems to do everything that i ever did with my giant, heavy, unpractical SLR, and more!

anyways, i feel i made the most of my limited time off, and took a bunch of photos hanging with my friends courtney, dylan, beth and diaz who were all in town on tour, amongst many great pals from toronto and it's surrounding area.

CHECK OUT THOSE PHOTOS HERE!

oh, and i'm in europe now for 3 weeks and plan to take a lot of photos, although, so far i haven't taken too many.

if she wants to stop on by, tell her that i almost died.

i've had a super busy weekend, and i'm going to try and recount as much of it as possible. don't worry, there will be photos.

i can't find my blackberry, if you've messaged me on bbm and are wondering why i haven't replied, that is why!

i spent the majority of thursday in the hospital, here's a breakdown of what happened. i got into my car around 11am to drive to burlington to set up for preproduction. within the first 5 minutes in the car, my back starts to hurt, like really hurt. i kept trying to get comfortable and put up with it while i drive, with the hopes it either goes away or i make it to burlington. about 15 minutes into the drive, the pain starts to get unbearable, so i decide to exit the highway. i tried to get out of my car and walk/shake it off but it was below freezing outside and that just seemed to decrease my already plummeting level of comfort. so i got back in the car and tried to sit in a few different positions to make the pain go away, i put the seats back, tried to get in the back and passenger side (mind you, my car is tiny). i guess my body just started to freak out, i had ridiculous cold sweats and even threw up at one point. my pain level had gone through the roof and i also started to have trouble breathing. i called my mom and she said to call 911, so i did because she is smarter than i am. ambulance came and picked me up, calmed me down and took me to the hospital, at this point my back still hurt a little and i was shaking profusely. it took a while to get checked in, and my mom ended up coming to meet me. when i finally saw a doctor i had calmed down and the pain had mostly subsided. he seemed to think that it may have been a problem with my kidney, as that was where the pain was coming from. i peed in a cup, and had a CT scan, and 7 hours later they told me i was fine. they said i must've just pulled my back and had an anxiety attack on account of the pain and the circumstances of being trapped uncomfortably in a small car.

the entire time this was going on, i had my small camera in my pocket, and thought about taking photos for this very blog. i even thought about it while i was shaking in the back of the ambulance, because i can't ever remember being in the back of one before. i realize that even thinking about taking photos during times like that is commitment to blog greatness, but it's just straight up weird too, and in the end, i chickened out. i did however manage to snap a shot in my xray gown!


friday night was hoibak's birthday show. i don't have time to get into it here, but erik has played a big part in my upbringing in the world of hardcore, straightedge and veganism, not to mention his outright hilarity, legacy, and storytelling abilities. i definitely was looking forward to celebrating another year of his life with this show, featuring forfeit, no harm done, vicious cycle and fortune teller.

FORTUNE TELLER.


VICIOUS CYCLE.


sweet bass.


i meant to yell "where's your other glove?"

NO HARM DONE.



definitely my favourite band of the night. sick cover of lifetime's turnpike gates!



sidewayshatsingalong.


patparazzi.

MOLESTED YOUTH were added to the show last minute because they're apparently breaking up. they played a bunch of covers, including nervous breakdown. i even got stuck in the pit-y for that one, but quickly went down like a chopped redwood.





the man!

FORFEIT.


so much mosh/bloody noses/dust in the air.


aner bsood #1!


matt "i never claimed edge in the first place" rennick (man of the people).

after the show, pat and i went to dee's, and then headed to a party at cole and ray's place.


deano!


vegan pal ross.


cole looks to be getting unreal, pat is up to no good with that camera of his and anto is hiding out in the corner.


ray gives us a taste of his own sense of unreality.


why boy?


a couple of pals right here, kylecroft (two-name guy) and jamie unrealcottone.


jenni from the (crack) block!


anto and ian!


these two actually felt the need to basically do it on the couch in a crowded room, mannnnnnn.


greg is stuck on the couch, i think those are pat's legs, clearly getting a better camera angle on the opposite couch (*see above photo).

we've spent 9 hours a day all weekend at b-town sound (formerly the music gym) in burlington doing pre-production for our new album. i took a few photos and was going to post them, but brooks came in and took some better ones, so i'm sure you'd rather see those, seeing as he's the best photographer ever.



















thanks brooks! you/these photos rule!

take that weatherman! *throws frosty*

this morning i woke up, and felt like today could be a day where i take my bike out for a ride. i checked my dashboard weather widget, and was blown away to see that i should expect a high of 20 degrees celsius. at the time, it was showing it to be about 15. i had to run to staples to print some things off, so i put on my newly purchased mec thermal shirt, a thin hoodie, and flannel, thinking that i would be sufficiently warm enough to ride my bike down the road. i got outside, and felt like someone may have misjudged the situation, as it did not feel anywhere close to 15 degrees. in fact, on my way back from staples, it had started to snow! i had to go back out, so i added my fred perry windbreaker to the layering process, and found myself very comfortable when back on the bike, as the thermal kept me warm on the inside, and the nylon shell kept the wind off my frail bones.

hours later, i looked out my window to see this!


it seems like winter is finally here! what the fuck was the weather widget thinking?

i just now realized that since coming home from tour, i had my widget carelessly set to toronto kansas, or something. once i changed it to ontario, it informs me that it is indeed -2 and snowing.
FML

losing all my friends.

so this uk tour is going pretty well, aside from england being absolutely miserable and fairly ridden of any decent food.

another massive bum out has put a bit of a rift in the tour, when i was informed saturday of the passing of my friend casey. i think we're all pretty roughed up and shocked about this, but i am trying to stay positive and be greatful that i wake up each morning. i really wish i could be with my friends that are really hurting right now. miss you casey, RIP.

i'm going to try and put together a mass photo entry together at the end of the tour, but here is a photo i took yesterday after my 45 minute walk to the salford lads club.



i've also been listening to this record a whole lot.