I JOINED THE #NILTribe...What about you?

I JOINED THE #NILTribe...

What about you?

With All The Write Notes taking up most of my blogging time, I haven't been able to post regularly here. But today is a perfect day to change all that.

My amazing CP Lynne Matson's book, NIL, is out on March 4th, 2014 and she is celebrating the 90 day countdown by starting up the #NILTribe. I had the great pleasure of reading NIL already and it is going to blow you away. Check out the synopsis from Goodreads:

On the mysterious island of Nil, the rules are set. You have one year. Exactly 365 days--to escape, or you die.

Seventeen-year-old Charley doesn’t know the rules. She doesn’t even know where she is. The last thing she remembers is blacking out, and when she wakes up, she’s lying naked in an empty rock field.

Lost and alone, Charley finds no sign of other people until she meets Thad, the gorgeous leader of a clan of teenage refugees. Soon Charley learns that leaving the island is harder than she thought . . . and so is falling in love. With Thad’s time running out, Charley realizes that to save their future, Charley must first save him. And on an island rife with dangers, their greatest threat is time.


Let's not kid ourselves, it sounds amazing...and it is.

So over the next 90 days if you'd like to win signed galleys of NIL, copies of other amazing YA books, and other great swag, just click here for all the details on how to join #NILTribe.

You can also add NIL to your Want-To-Read list on Goodreads, follow her on Twitter, and keep up with all the news on Facebook. Now if Darth Vader joined the tribe, shouldn't you?

Wake up, North America...It's Stereophonics.

2 friends. 1,754km

2 bands. 3 shows.

I’ve seen Stereophonics sixteen times in my life.

I know some of you have never had the opportunity.

But sadly, I bet some of you have never even heard of them.

For the latter, I just don’t get it.  
This is my story of seeing them for the 14^th, 15^th, and 16^th time.

I love music. It always inspires me to create. So when I brought up the idea of driving nearly 2,000km to see Stereophonics three times, my wife didn’t even bat an eye. She’s so supportive of everything I do; it makes me wish I was the same. Having said that, I almost backed out. No matter my love for Stereophonics and the support of my wife, the fact I suffer from severe panic attacks almost made me walk away from this opportunity. Hotels, long road trips, concerts, flights, movies, weddings, my list of panic attack triggers goes on and on. But the thing is, most would have no clue. I’ve successfully kept hidden my battle with them for years. It’s been a personal challenge to not give in to the sweat and fear that grips you as they rage. I’m sure it would be much easier to avoid some of my triggers, but I’m not letting the panics win.

So driving into Toronto with one of my great friends for the first night of my Stereophonics Road Trip, and having already interviewed the bassist Richard Jones for All The Write Notes, we began to reminisce about how many times each of us had seen the band since 2000. Acoustic, in-store, festivals, even once when they were hungover after having a late dinner with Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller. Each time, the same result. A passionate performance of music you can set the course of your life to.  

Arriving early at the Danforth Music Hall left us with some time for a few beers and to people watch. The Irish pub was filled with new and old fans alike, but they were all buzzing about how lucky they were to still get to see one of the greatest UK bands of all time in a tiny venue. It made no sense to them, and it certainly doesn’t make sense to me. But regardless of whether they’re playing in front of 50,000 or 1,000, Stereophonics are performers, and they did just that. They came out of the gate ripping through tracks like "Catacomb", "Local Boy In The Photograph", and "Superman". Though written over 10 years apart, that combo of rock sent the crowd into a frenzy. And for me, for the first time that I can remember, I didn’t have a panic.  Not even a hint of one.

With the two work days in-between gigs over, we packed up and headed down Highway 402 towards Michigan. As we snailed our way across the bridge to the USA, and made our way into Detroit, the textures of the city showed Detroit isn’t as dead as everyone portrays it. You can see the life growing, it’s industrial heritage intertwined with the new. You can't help but believe Detroit will bounce back stronger, sooner rather than later. However, checking into the hotel there was one thing missing, my panics. 

Laughing it off, we had dinner and a few beers before walking a couple blocks north to St. Andrews Hall. Being an intimate landmark in Detroit, the venue was hopping as the Stereophonics played a similar set-list to their Toronto set. But as the best bands show you, a set-list doesn’t need to change when you’re passionate.  Classics like “Thousand Trees” and “Just Looking” had the crowd chanting while new tracks “We Share the Same Sun” and “Graffiti on the Train” had the crowd moving. And to my shock, but continued relief, no panics.

Gatorade and grits in the morning,  (potatoes cut up in small pieces for my fellow Canadians) and it was time to hit the road to Chicago. Staying in the Loop downtown, we grabbed some deep dish and hit the show early so we didn’t miss the opener. “The Wind And The Wave”, a southern folk-rock band out of Texas, made quite a few fans each night and I guarantee we will be hearing big things from Patricia and Dwight.

“I paid $150 to see them at Cardiff stadium. I would've paid $500.”

“I paid $200 to see them in the UK, and tonight I paid $18.”

“Wait till my UK friends see this pic of me 10ft from the stage.”

Those crammed into The Vic Theatre in Chicago were clearly in shock and disbelief as they voiced similar thoughts to those in Toronto, and Detroit, at still getting to see Stereophonics in a club. They clearly had no idea why one of the most successful bands in Europe and Asia over the past 16 years were still playing clubs in North America. They weren’t complaining, and neither am I. But I guess I'm saying, you're missing out.  

As for the show, it was the best of the three. The crowd was electric, and I’m sure most left with damage to their eardrums. Plus, we all got to see lead singer Kelly Jones step out for the encore and play keyboards for the very first time. Kelly looked at home as he played the opening to “I Stopped To Fill My Car Up” on keys before shredding the rest of the song to pieces with his familiar Gibson.

As I screamed every lyric to their closing song ‘Dakota’, I couldn’t help but smile at how lucky I’ve been to see them so close up, for so long. Now I don’t want to give up my chance at seeing them five feet from the stage, but when artists, authors, or musicians are so good at their craft that they inspire, they deserve the proper recognition. So wake up North America, I think a 16 year nap is long enough.

BTW I haven’t had a panic since.

"Random Sunday"

Where have you been? Well, between the end of the school year, my revisions, my family, and my time over at All The Write Notes, this blog got pushed to the end of the list. So not to let that happen again, I've decided on posting every Sunday. What the post will be about? I have no idea, and that will be the fun part of it for me, and hopefully you as well. Now, why Sunday? In all honesty, it seems to be the day of the week with the least amount of conflicts.

So, this week I've decided to help you out with some Glastonbury coverage. For those of you who don't know what Glastonbury is, it is the biggest music festival in the world, and one of my bucket list things to do.

So for the Concert(s) of the Week, I've decided on giving you four hours of music from Glastonbury to write to this week.  Check out the full performances below by the Arctic Monkeys, The Vaccines, Tame Impala, and Jake Bugg. Enjoy, and see you next week!

Arctic Monkeys Concert Of The Week Glastonbury Jake Bugg Random Sunday Tame Impala

Father's Day Surprise

I could see something was up, but I didn't know what it was. You see, my 7yo had been sneaking around with some paper, a pencil, and a stapler for about a week. She was writing, drawing, erasing like mad, and shooing me away so I couldn't see what she was making. But when Father's Day rolled around, she finally unveiled her latest masterpiece. It was a small comic about what Father's Day was like for Darth Vader and Princess Leia. I was so proud of her, that I decided to surprise her by making it into this small video, and putting it up on YouTube. When I showed her that it was on YouTube, she was one excited little girl. :)

So without further ado, written and illustrated by my amazing 7 year old daughter, I present to you....

Father's Day Tea with Darth Vader & Princess Leia

And, my son hooked me up with this awesome plate. :)

June...

You know when you're battling through a month of writer's block, it's the end of the school year, you're knee deep in revisions, your kids are playing sports 5 days a week, and Rob Stark is dead.... Ya.

But I have found a minute to share one thing with you...Check out this acoustic set Beady Eye performed last week for Absolute Radio. Liam's voice is in prime form.

Don't forget you can also find me, along with 11 other writers, blogging over to All The Write Notes. See ya!

COTW - The Joy Formidable

Since this is my seventh post about The Joy Formidable, I'm going to assume I don't need to introduce this guitar thrashing Welsh trio. But since I'm going to see them again tonight, and I couldn't afford to take all of you, I figured this gig from April of last year was a good conciliation prize.

Whether your'e sitting in a cubicle, or writing from home, pump-pump-pump up the volume and enjoy the Concert of the Week.

Now if you love what you hear, you can pick up their albums over at TheJoyFormidable.com, or on iTunes. But if you want to keep up with all the latest tour dates, you can follow the band on Twitter, or over on Facebook.

Have a great weekend!

Concert Of The Week The Joy Formidable

Perspective...

This is my 100th post.
My 1st year anniversary of my blog.
And my first year anniversary of joining Twitter.

I was going to thank the amazing community of writers, bloggers, and musicians that have impacted my life over this past year, but I scrapped it this morning to share a moment of strength and perspective. 

***

PROLOGUE...The former student I mention below, who volunteered with me for years after graduating, has lived her entire life with Cystic Fibrosis. She is now married to her high school sweetheart (who I cut from a basketball team I was coaching at the time...sorry) and is actually an art teacher, too. She had double lung transplant surgery over a year ago, after a long and stressful wait for a match. 

I haven’t been writing a lot these past few weeks (not sure why) but I don’t really need to explain it to most of you. Shit happens.

As I was whining about my writerly problems and about my sick kids to one of my former students yesterday, who was in supply teaching, my sorry ass got reminded of how lucky I am.

She told me her body was rejecting her new lungs and that she had just been put back on the transplant list that morning.

NOT ONE TEAR…as she explained how the doctors felt she should go on the list right away so it wouldn’t get to a point where it was too late.

NOT ONE COMPLAINT…about the fact a life, she has long known was limited, is on hold, again.

NOT ONE TEAR…of waiting for the call that may, or may not, come at any moment.

Her desire to live every day to its fullest is something I have always admired and I just wanted to say thank you for being so strong, and reminding me to live every moment of my own life.

I'm sure there is someone who does that for you, so take a moment today and tell them.

If you would like to learn more about Cystic Fibrosis, you can visit Cystic Fibrosis Canada, or if you would like to support the fight against CF, click here.