April 8 - Winnipeg and April 9 - Saskatoon

I'm so far behind in my blogging because I figured that since I have so many hours in the car I could write my blog in the car... NOPE! Seriously, the roads out here are so freaking bumpy you can't do anything in the van. And being that we spend about 8 hours driving a day it leaves little time for blogging.

So here it is... two in one.

Winnipeg - So amazing! We arrived a head of schedule (around 4pm) so had some time to chill before we had to head to the venue. We have some friends in Winnipeg (formerly The Crackdown, currently High Class Low Lifes). When they toured as The Crackdown a few years back we gave them a place to stay at the farm and it was an awesome week of hanging out and making some really good friends. They figured this time as we were passing through their neck of the woods they would return the favour. We arrived at Dan's place and he had chili cooking in the crockpot for us. YES! Hot meail!! He handed us a beer as we walked in. This is awesome! He told us we have just a few minutes before we head to the university for a radio interview they had set up. COOL!! We did our interview first and then he ande Scott did an acoustic live performance of some High Class Low Lifes songs.

We got back to Dan's and ate chili... that was SOOO delicious! We have been talking about it ever since then. Thanks again for the delicious hot mail you guys!

The show was at an all ages venue called Death Trap. It was a dingy basement but was totally awesome. We played with Animalistics and High Class Low Lifes... more great bands you should check out if you have a chance. Although it was a no alcohol event everyone at the venue brought some beer and were drinking. It was hilarious listening to Dan (HCLL) sarcastically thanking the audience, his friends, for obeying the no alcohol rule... while everyone in the crowd was enjoying a beer. We went back to Rob's (drummer from HCLL) place to sleep... in a bed! Woo Hoo! They also got us some pizza and more beer. These guys are truly amazing and I miss them already. Hopefully we can pop by and visit with them on our way back through Winnipeg. Before we left Winnipeg we also visited with my sister, Catharine, and her family. They made us some breakfast and coffee and we had a nice visit for about an hour. What an awesome time was had in Winnipeg.....

10 hours drive later....... *sigh*

We arrive in Saskatoon.... oh wait... on the drive we saw tons and tons of live deer which was exciting however we also passed what looked like the deer massacre of 2011 on highway 1 in Manitoba. We figure they were hit in the winter and as the snow melts it reveals more and more deer carcasses. EWWWW!!! But the live deer were awesome!

Saskatoon... once again we arrive at the venue and its not open. We walk around and blow off some steam... tension can arise when there are 4 people in close quarters for 10+ hours. We need a little alone time sometimes. Also, all the batteries for all my gadgets are dead at this point. I hate that! Can't go on my computer, cell phone, play DS, nothing....ERRR!! I was ultimately looking for an internet cafe or something but the area of Saskatoon that we were in was like a ghost town... I had my doubts about the show. Finally we found a parking lot with block heater plugs so my intention was to hang out there and charge every one of my gadgets and then head to the venue since it still wasn't open but just as we were heading to the plug we saw the venue was open. Finally! I got to charge my laptop in the venue... I was a little less of a bitch when I was able to do that. We played at a venue called Walkers. It was a really cool basement venue that reminded me of volcano crossed with Phils. It was the perfect punk venue. We played with 4 other bands - Off the Rails, Chimp Change, The Chuds and Later Day Saints. All very awesome! We were offered a place to stay with Lacey, Blake, their little girl and two pit bulls. Much to my liking Lacey is a clothing designer and had all the tools I needed to fix up the hole that ripped in the crotch of my pants the other day. Phew! Thanks again Lacey. We also got a really great original painting of Duane Peters that Blake did. Those two were really awesome! Its great to meet people like that on the road.

The next morning we made a quick stop at the Superstore and went on our way to Edmonton. Now I'm sitting in the DV8 lounge waiting for the show to start and thankfully they have WI-FI!!!

April 7 - Thunder Bay

I started to write this sitting in the van in Thunder Bay waiting for the Black Pirate pub to open. We arrived in Thunder Bay at about 11am this morning. We drove straight for the full 18 and a half hours with just a few pit stop and driver changes. In retrospect I guess we didn't need to leave so early but I just had no idea what it was going to like on the road. We left ourselves enough time to stop on the way and sleep for a good 6 hours. None of us got much sleep last night though. The roads were really bumpy and the van suspension, super stiff. I was a little worried I might catch some air on our top bunk and hit the roof. Didn't happen though. The drive was great, no traffic anywhere (not even on the way to pick up Brando in Toronto) but holy hell... its a long freakin drive! BUT... the only other vehicles on that particular stretch of highway are logging trucks filled with timber. Jan was driving and I was navigator and we were driving through a pretty mountainous area about 1.5 hours from Thunder Bay. Gas prices are insane so we are trying to drive in a manner that puts as little strain on the van as possible so we can save some money on gas... So on this particular stretch of highway we were heading up a long incline and although the speed limit is 90 we allow the van to drop down to about 70 as its climbing so we don't waste gas. As we were heading up the hill an OPP car passed us going the other way. Oh great... its a natural response to seeing a cop on the road. He u-turns around and follows us. Wonderful... but I have no idea what his problem might be with us. He followed us for about 2 minutes then the cherries come on. WTF?! Will and Brando were sleeping in the back, Brando on the bunk and Will on the seat. We turn around and say “guys, cop!”... no movement... louder this time “COPS!”. Will sits up and Brando, tangled in his blankets rolls off the bunk and joins Will in the seat. Words cannot describe how funny that looked but there was no laughing then, this was serious business... Freaking COPS! Up he comes to the window and says “License and insurance” we hand it over. He asks where we were going. We explain that we are a band on tour and drove all night... we were trying to get to Thunder Bay. His next question, “you been drinking alcohol or smoking marajuana” we reply “no”
“Well you were driving really slow” he says
“We are trying to save gas. Flooring it up a hill burns off tons of gas”
“Take your glasses off” he says to Jan. Jan does
“now look at me, close your eyes then open them” Jan obliges
“Get out of the van please” the officer says
Jan gets out of the van and they move to behind the van to do a sobriety test that included more blinking to checking for pupil dilation. We don't use any kind of drugs so the pupil not dilating at a normal rate was certainly due to a lack of sleep.
“off you go and get some sleep” the cop says. And thats exactly what we did. Off we went on our merry way. We later learned from the locals of Thunder Bay that that particular stretch of highway is crawling with OPP because it is sort of the bottle neck area for trafficking drugs. Makes sense now why we might have gotten pulled over.

Thunder Bay show was cool. It was at a venue called Black Pirate Pub. Owner (the owner of the pub... yeah thats his actual name) was a really awesome dude and was familiar with our neck of the woods. We shot the shit and talked about old days at the Trash in Guelph and Phils in Waterloo. I would recommend making a stop in at this pub if you ever visit Thunder Bay. We played with a Montreal band called The Hangers. They did this very Sublime-ish funk ska. I picked up their albums too. Thunder Bay happened to be their last stop on their tour that went all the way to Jasper and back. Funny how their last show was our first. Check em out if you have a chance.

In Thunder Bay is where we first encountered our van starting problem. Now to start the van you have to pop the hood and jiggle the starter cable in order to make contact with the starter. Its actually genius... its about the best anti-theft system we could get.

We spent that night in the van in a Tim Hortons parking lot. Though it was wicked to be that close to Timmy's coffee first thing in the morning we didn't consider the rush of traffic that would be at the Tims starting super early in the morning. Aside from a much needed hang out in Tim Hortons pit stop close to Kenora we drove straight to Winnipeg.

I'm actually posting this en route to Saskatoon but the Winnipeg stop deserves a separate blog. I'll hopefully get to that tonight.

April 3 - Sherbrooke

What a pretty city... It reminded me of Stratford with old buildings and an actual interest in the arts but it was super hilly. Something like a hilly UK town with little streets. It was nice to be in a smaller town (than Montreal and Ottawa). We found Bar Le Magog without too much trouble and the first bonus was free parking just outside the venue. That is a total luxury that is not afforded in cities like Ottawa and Montreal.

For those of you that have been at Bar Le Magog you can skip this next part but seriously... It really is the coolest venue I have ever played in. Country esc bar upfront and then a big awesome venue in the back... three tiered stage, green room in the back, beer tickets, 6000 watts of PA power, awesome staff and sound guy. The place is awesome! Oh, a ramp to easily load gear in.

I guess Sherbrooke shows are hit or miss and this one, being a Sunday night, wasn't packed by any means but the crowd that was there was really diggin' it. A band called Meat played first. Amazing musicians played some crazy technical, vocal free music. It was one of those bands that you just can't look away from because they are just really, really talented. They featured a stuffed cock (rooster!.. get yer mind outta the gutter) on stage with them during their set.

Crooked Jacks were next. They are Sherbrooke locals. They played this really cool sort of celtic-ish-but-not-really-punk-rock that seemed like you could add some bagpipes in and it would fit right in. They reminded me of Loaded Dice. They played awesome and came up with some pretty funny stage banter mostly about the stuffed cock (the rooster still... geeez). They were super entertaining.

We went up last and blasted through an almost-hour long set. We are working on tightening up some of our older songs that we don't play very often. Sherbrooke received us well. We got outta there at around 1:30am (that is a total guess because apparently when I'm on tour I have no interest in knowing the time ever so I don't bother checking). We drove all night to get home this morning. Let me re-phrase that.... Brando drove the first 5 hours and Will drove the last 4 hours to get home today. Though I would have totally dug spending the night in Sherbrooke, everyone was pretty anxious to get home as we have loads of stuff to do before we leave for the west on Wednesday.

4 days together and the band is still intact...

I'm at work now procrastinating as per usual so I'm gonna say cheers and get the hell back to work.

April 2 - Montreal

The Crobar... what an awesome bar! Right in the heart of downtown Montreal (I think, seemed like a pretty happening place) on this street packed with little bars. What a cool scene, a little like Hess Village in Hamilton.

We made it to Montreal from Ottawa in one go (no pit stops!). The traffic was flowing well and we hit just a small jam just as we were heading through the tunnel in Montreal. They have lights over each lane indicating which lanes are open and which are closed so people had ample opportunity to get into the open lanes before the last minute. Take a hint from Montreal Ontario-401... maybe we can have something like that to ease the congestion on our highways. Seems like a no-brainer.

Anyway, the Crobar was like the Circus Room... in fact a whole lot like the Circus Room. There was a small-ish bar on the main floor and then upstairs there was another little bar, a pool table and pretty kick-ass patio. I love patios :)
The first band, Troma Lisa, was awesome! They played a rockabilly-ish punk. It was really kick-ass! I recommend catching these guys if they swing by your town, you'll like em! Then we were up, The Hellbats and Subsistance. It was cool seeing Subsistance in Montreal. This is the first time we have played their home town with them.

We loaded out and went to the Subsistance hall to load all the gear in. Now, the MGD hall was awesome - In a really nice building that was clean. The Subsistance jam hall was amazing. Heated loading dock that you can pull the van in, rolling gear movers, a freight elevator, security guard, snack hang out room, heat! This place was amazing! Its no wonder Montreal has so many great bands... even if I didn't play in a band I would start one so I could have a jam hall there. I was also informed that the huge building full of bands was only one of 3 or 4 that are in town! WHA! We need something like that in Kitchener. Geez, compare it to our dirty dingy shit-hole jam halls, that reek of mold and piss and have leaking water constantly on the floor... and no heat or very little heat. I'm jealous!

Well my coffee is done so this blog is also. I walked a marathon this morning to find a cup of crap coffee (I wasn't seeking CRAP coffee but that's what I finally got).

Got some friends to see and a road to hit.... Sherbrooke, here we come!

The Rotten on Tour 2011 - April 1st - Ottawa

In Montreal now and I have access to a wifi connection... This is a good time to blog about last night in Ottawa. The show was awesome!

It was at a venue called Cafe Dekcuf on Rideau Street in Ottawa. The venue is cool - all ages bar and upstairs from a venue called Mavericks.... where Comeback Kid was playing last night too. Our crowds didn't intermingle too much but we shared the same smoking sidewalk (for those Comeback Kid fans that actually do smoke... I mean they aren't wearing a hoodie with a giganitic X on it).

First up at the show was a band called The Scally Cap Brats. They were a cool Dropkick Murphy's type oi-ish celtic punk. They actually covered some Dropkick which was cool. They really got the crowd going and pumped for the rest of the night. Next up were the Hellbats, from France. They ruled as always but during the last song singer Ellie got the mic in the teeth *ouch*.... as a precaution today we stopped at Steve's Music in Ottawa and got some 'Rotten' mic covers/teeth protectors for our microphones. We don't wanna lose any teeth. We were up third and it was fun... Ottawa punk rockers are amazing. They totally dig the music and rock out the whole time. I love that! Our set went well and as we play each night I hope we are getting re-accustomed to working out. Phew! we are outta shape!
Machine Gun Dolly were up next and of course blew the crowd away. I love those guys.
Finally Subsistance rounded out the night and as always they were awesome!... I also love those guys. Much thanks to Subsistance for supplying most of the gear we, and the other bands, used all night. Special thanks to Scott for letting me use his ride cymbal, yet again, because mine is broken and still not replaced. Thanks Scott!

Because last time we came to Ottawa we almost cost Jesse (MGD) his apartment (I guess we were a bit loud and pissed his landlords off) we were invited to after-party and sleep at their jam hall... The coolest jam hall I've ever seen


We had a mini show with MGD at the jam hall switching members and just jamming. It was a helluva lotta fun. Jean (lead vocal MGD) passed out first so he got the ass-in-the-face (haha... a MGD/TR tradition). I hope I never get the ass-in-the-face... I'm not sure anyone would dare.



Now we are in Montreal hanging out at Scott's place and chilling until we can head to the venue. I'm sure Montreal is gonna show us a good time tonight!

Zometa Fundraiser

So, Canadian health care is great and has provided me with tons and tons of free treatment however, its not all free.

My doctor has recommended that I start taking a medication called Zometa. It is a bone-building injection administered every 6 months that has shown that when taken by breast cancer survivors the chance of recurrence goes way down. The government is waiting on more studies though before it will be considered a cancer prevention medication and therefore be covered by OHIP or the Trillium Drug Plan.

So, each injection costs around $700. I've already applied and was accepted in to a program called Zometa Access that will absorb 50% of the cost. That leaves me to foot a bill, every 6 months, of $350 per injection. This cancer shit ain't cheap.

Its not necessarily that I can't afford it however its gonna add up and its the principle behind it. I'm looking for some fund-raising ideas to help with some of the cost. Anyone have any ideas?

Raw food!

So.. I switched to a raw vegan diet for three reasons.

Chemo made me gain 30 pounds. Going into chemo I thought, well, meh... at least I'll lose weight and it wasn't until after my last treatment that I actually asked my oncologist about my weight gain that she told me that quote... "yeah, its weird. Women on chemo for breast cancer almost always gain weight"... ummm thanks for the heads up. The raw diet will help me to lose this excess weight and then I can feel a little more like myself again. It is inevitable that you lose weight on a raw diet.

Reason 2: I've been hearing from a lot of people and reading testimonials that a raw diet "saved my life" and "cured cancer". I'm not convinced that it will cure my cancer but I do believe that it could help to save my life. First of all, my cancer is estrogen based... in fact the very one thing that makes me a woman is my very demise. This irks me but is reserved for a different blog. Estrogen is in a lot of things but is more prominent in processed foods. Bottom line is... avoid ingesting estrogen as much as possible (this is a bummer because my favourite food of all time, tofu, is one of the estrogen rich foods I should steer clear from). The next step was to eat only non-processed foods so fruits and veggies, cooked or raw. I started reading up about nutrient rich foods and learned that once one of these super foods was cooked at over 104 degree F it lost a great deal of its nutrients. Weird, because I thought the eating veggies, no matter how, was the best thing you could do. I bought two books at the sale at Chapters a few weeks ago. The first was called "100 Best Foods" and it outlines the valuable nutrients in 100 of the best health foods. This includes all kinds of raw fruits and veggies, nuts and seeds. There is a profile on each and it describes all the benefits of eating each. In fact, it says if you each raw cashews you are almost guaranteed to never have heart problems. That's amazing. The second book I got was called "Raw Food" and it describes the raw food diet, its benefits and then there are all kinds of recipes. We've tried a few; raw borscht, raw burritos in lettuce wraps (hold the beans and give me a chopped up nuts and seeds mix), and sprouting. Next on the list is raw vegan sushi sans cooked rice and instead zucchini cut into angel-hair strips. The problem is finding uncooked soya sauce. On to my third reason.

I love the challenge! I feel, and always have, that if I have control over anything it is what I choose to put into my body. Though it can be challenging and usually a super-fast crash course on whatever I decide to do, I am successful.

Its been a week and a half and so far its smooth sailing. I already feel better and I feel like I am making an effort to naturally rid my body of this cancer.