Quote of the day:

“We appreciate women and what they do for us, and without women, we wouldn’t have anywhere to put our penises, really.”

– Lead singer of Steel Panther

Thursday, November 17th, 10:00 am, Saskatoon

A hangover is a truly beautiful thing. I find that 9 times out of 10, it reminds you of how you are still alive, still as human as you’ll ever be, like falling in love or whatever for the first time or hiking up a big goddam mountain, surrounded by nature. But the remaining 1 time out of that 10 makes you wish you were never born, screaming in agony, the cliche, “I’ll never drink again.” Rising early in the morning with a goal in mind can snap you out of that hungover fog, combined with a cold shower and 2 ibuprofens, and you’re good to go. In fact, you’re invincible for about 4-5 hours, I find. It’s the down-time that follows, riding in the van, that can spell out your doom. Half-way to Regina we hit snow-drifts that leave us blind barreling down the highway in a white-out, with semis and white pick-ups appearing then disappearing, narrowly missing our van while maintaining a steady 130 k. I speak of this later to Andrew and Craig from TSE, they pat me on the back and say “Aww. Are you afraid of the great white North, bud?” I say, “Yes, yes I am.” And later that night, during their set, Andrew tells the crowd we are island boys and we are scared and alone out here, so buy one of our albums. At first I though he was being sarcastic, but later decide that it might have been the slightest bit of sympathy, probably not, but one can hope.

4:00 pm, Regina

We stop in at O’Hanlon’s, a great pub we play at every time we are in this city, and visit our friend Owen. Owen plays in a band called “Library Voices” and is probably one of the nicest dudes on the planet. He pours us beers and we catch up. He even offers us a place to stay. What a guy! It begins to snow, hard, as we make our way to the university. After soundcheck, we crash TSE’s meet and greet, eat giant club sandwiches, and run into our old pal, Charlie. Charlie and Dan used to play in a high school band together, I do believe they were called “Destined For Nothing,” a band in which I later joined in my youth, thus beginning the marriage between Dan and I. We discuss old shows back in Nelson, our first tour of BC and Alberta and the names of the songs we used to play and how they were just Lagwagon and NOFX rip-offs with emo lyrics. Songs like “I leave my smokes to Wes” and “The spark is gone.” Only the truest of old school DFN fans will remember these old gems, especially the cover of our EP, a home recorded, 5 song, burned and numbered disc with a grainy, black and white, out of focus shot of our bass player, Nigel, running in the snow. I do believe we called it “One Step Forward.” Very deep, but still, some of the best times learning how to be a band/becoming an alcoholic, for sure.

8:00 pm

Our buddy Joel in “High Hopes” opens the show once again. He makes it through the bad weather by himself in his car without winter tires, what a champ! “A Perfect Punchline” entertains us with pop-punk songs written after Wayne’s World and Arrested Development references. I yell “This snake weighs a ton!” in between songs and no one gets it. I am used to this. We play a fun set afterwards, but my shoe becomes untied and I trip over it 3 times. This has been a constant thing, every night, at some point in the set. I don’t know what it is about my shoe-tying skills, I’ve been doing it since I was very young, roled in with learning how to ride a bike and whistle, and those haven’t failed me yet. I may have to switch methods from “over-under-in-and-out, that’s-what-shoe-tying’s-all-about” to the plain old “Loop-swoop’n-pull.” Our friend Simon is also out at the show, in fact he is part of the faculty, and I tell everyone in the crowd to call him “professor.” Ten Second Epic plays a wonderful and entertaining set as always and their Regina fans are loving it. I fear I may lose my voice soon from the constant sing-a-long that is becoming the tour. Hearing some really catchy songs every night, it’s a pleasure.

We also stumbled upon a list of signs of abusive traits that seem to fit Tyson and Dan’s relationship right down to the letter, Tyson being the aggressor. We are trying to be more aware of how he treats Dan so Lewis and I can put a stop to it once :

SIGNS THAT YOU’RE IN AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP

Your Inner Thoughts and Feelings

Do you:
▪ feel afraid of your partner much of the time?
▪ avoid certain topics out of fear of angering your partner?
▪ feel that you can’t do anything right for your partner?
▪ believe that you deserve to be hurt or mistreated?
▪ wonder if you’re the one who is crazy?
▪ feel emotionally numb or helpless? 

Your Partner’s Belittling Behavior

Does your partner:
▪ humiliate or yell at you?
▪ criticize you and put you down?
▪ treat you so badly that you’re embarrassed for your friends or family to see?
▪ ignore or put down your opinions or accomplishments?
▪ blame you for their own abusive behavior?
▪ see you as property or a sex object, rather than as a person?

Your Partner’s Violent Behavior or Threats

Does your partner:
▪ have a bad and unpredictable temper?
▪ hurt you, or threaten to hurt or kill you? 
▪ threaten to take your children away or harm them?
▪ threaten to commit suicide if you leave?
▪ force you to have sex?
▪ destroy your belongings?

Your Partner’s Controlling Behavior

Does your partner:
▪ act excessively jealous and possessive?
▪ control where you go or what you do?
▪ keep you from seeing your friends or family?
▪ limit your access to money, the phone, or the car?
▪ constantly check up on you?