The Simpsons

I thought this was well done...

Hola from Mexico!

Greetings from Oaxaca!

We are making our way through Mexico. It seems like ages ago that we flew out of Buffalo. We hooked up with my pal Mario (from Habitat) for a few day in Mexico City. He has a wicked pad in the hills where we chilled out and dashed in a out of the city to take in some of the sights.

From the city, we flew to Villahamosa and checked out the giant Olmec Heads. I did a paper on these ancient sculputres back at Western. We zipped deeper into Chiapas and visited the Mayan ruins in the jungles of Palenque. Spent a few days over Easter in San Cristobal de las Casas in the highlands. On Good Friday the people of the city took the streets and acted out the stations of the cross and the crucificion of Christ for all to see. It was surreal.

We are now in Oaxaca City wandering, eating and drinking the mezcal! We are heading back to Mexico City tomorrow to hook up with my friend Nacho´s parents, then with good luck we are going to catch a night of 'Lucha Libre' - Mexican wrestling!

Can't wait to see you guys and catch up! Adios amigos!

Ben Tix Secure

Kids - Got 6 tickets - Section 201 - its to the right of the stage, and I dont know actual seat #s yet, but we DO have tickets. One group of 4 (Colin, Brett, Warren and Sarah) and a group of 2 (Christa and Aaron).

Hopefully Saturday September 2nd is a nice day, as the doors open at 3, and Im pretty pumped about the opening acts - Bendouin Soundclash and Damian Marley.

Cant wait !

C.

Interesting Gaming Theories

Interesting top 10 list...

Guess where I am!

In an attempt to start blogging from unusual locations, I bring you my first post. While I highly doubt that I am the first to blog from here, it is a first for me. Thanks to my trusty Treo 650 for providing the capability to do this.

Guess where I am!

Magical Night at the Mod Club Pt. I

Life is complete...I met Benjamin Chase Harper.
Took a chance and went down to the Mod Club yesterday afternoon after a somewhat shady email transaction to secure a ticket.
Lets just say it was a good chance.

Ridiculous. I could write a book on the events of April 10th...let alone a Blog post. Magical...incredible, unbeleivable. Not enough superlatives. I know I love my Ben, but he is amazing. About 530PM, waiting in-line with the typical menagerie of 12-15 Ben fans one might expect, a white van pulled up to the front of the club, it was immediatly obvious that Ben was inside. He poured out of the van, and walked right up to us, as the group I was with had been at a similar show in Montreal the night before.
Talk about humble. He was just a normal dude ! Not that I expected him to hover off the ground or anything, but MAN was he cool. Trying to remember peoples names as he met them...listening to every word his fans had to say, just as they listened to his music. Can you imagine me ? I was in total awe. One of the Benharper.net icons was there and chatted with Ben like they were best buddies. Pictures were taken...posters were signed, and handshakes were exchanged. Needless to say, I was in my glory (and quite honestly, am going to be for a while). I would not have needed to fork-over my cash for the ticket, as Ben was quite willing to add ANYONE to the guest list. A couple of guys who had just shown up in hopes of getting in- were in, just like that - no questions asked.
Remember..in my little story, Im still in-line OUTSIDE the bar !!!! It only gets better. I met some cool people in line though, and had a great afternoon alst while buzzing like crazy after meeting THE MAN.

Magical Night at the Mod Club Pt. 2

...not sure if you have ever stepped foot in the Mod Club when its primed for a concert, but if not, imagine yourself stepping foot into a Quentin Tarantino movie (kind of Kill Bill meets From Dusk til Dawn?). Amazing joint...Ben aside the environment alone was verging on surreal. Red, and orange lights cast over everything. Two 'Both Sides Bullseyes beeming across the room, and on the stage with a light mist wafting over them...two chairs and mike-stands sitting idle on the stage. Deep purple lights fill the stage area...



The 45 minute wait was long, but only helped stir the antcipation ! We were AT THE STAGE. Christa was LEANING on the stage, Aaron and i perched close behind with a direct line of site at the stage ! (Also a PERFECT spot for the Creative Labs Nomad to record might I add).
Heres the quick version of what transpired. Imagine a FULL BLOWN Ben concert...with only two members performing...with ONLY acoustic guitars ! It hits you JUST THE SAME WAY. Bone chilling in fact. Deafining clarity like you have NEVER heard before, especially from acoustics. Mind you, I was standing beside a speaker tower probably 15 ft high ???
Setlist as follows -
(Played about 2Hours - Most acoustic sets he does are an hour - hour and a half. Not sure what it is about Toronto, but he LOVES to play there)


Power of the Gospel - Amazing. He screws up the guitar at the beginning and starts over - gets a good chuckle - very apologetic.
Another Lonely Day - Man...Ben can WORK an acoustic. Litterally BENDING the guitar as he plays it.
Walk Away - A classic. Well done.
BADASS Instrumental (called "Walk Alone" on the setlist) - CRAZY BLUESY DOBRO. Cant quite describe this, but Ben at his "guitarical" best !

11th Commandment/Well Well Well - Sweet sweet guitar....
Please Don't Talk About Murder - Michael joins Ben for their first song together. Again...amazing to me this song was played with ACOUSTIC guitars. Shivers.
Reason to Mourn - One of my new favourties. Very Cat Stevens to me.
Picture in a Frame - I maintain...the new Amen Omen, might be slightly more amazing with the Band, but still acoustic genius.
Crying Won't Help You Now - Beautiful, heartfelt song.
Engraved Invitation - One of the high points for me. Ben screams chill me to my core. We are so close, we can litterally see spittle fly out of his mouth as he rocks the chair back on two legs, SCREAMING at the TOP of his lungs. Deafening.
Never Leave Lonely Alone - Another new one...takes some growing, but outstanding nonetheless.
Morning Yearning - Didnt think acoustic guitars could sound like that. For the "new" Criminal, Micheal is OK with me...
Gather Round the Stone - Ben chats with the crowd here. About his love for Toronto...his love for all the STYLE in Toronto.
Please Bleed - Words cant quite describe. This is something Ive ALWAYS wanted to hear acoustic, and it did NOT dissapoint. Not sure what was better - Bens vocals, or Micheals guitars.
Waiting for You
There Will Be a Light
Where Could I Go

Encore:

In the Lord's Arms - SOOO Rare. Beatiful.
The Drugs Don't Work - A request made by Neil - the guy who hooked me up with the ticket. Ben never plays it. It was awesome.
Forever - Classic. Purple lights.
Diamonds on the Inside - Another "new classic". Done slightly slower than normal, but equally as impressive.
Glory & Consequence >>> Indifference!!!!! >>> Glory & Consequence - We could see Ben trying to coax Michael into Amen Omen at the crowds urging, instead we were BLESSED with this. CMon are you KIDDING ME. Starts with a CRAZY version of G&C...blends into a funky parlay on which I had no idea where it would end up, and next thing I know they are into Indifference by Pearl Jam. At this point in the night Ben should NOT have had a voice, yet its HERE where he unleashes the most chlling VOCALS of the night. As per the vocals, he litterally SCREAMS HIS LUNGS OUT !


2 Hours of absolute bliss. Im SORRY you guys could not be there as it was INCREDIBLE. Im not teasing you here or bragging...I want to SHARE this with you guys !!!

Rumour had it, right from the horses mouth that after the show, Ben was going to hit the Revival for Open Mike...a bunch of concert go-ers headed over, but sadly after waiting over a few beers, we gave up. Oh well !!!! I was exhausted as it was. Sorry for the long post - their still may be a Part III.

Part III.

South of the Border, Down Mexico Way

Gents,

I leave for my trip to Mexico tomorrow. We are flying out of Buffalo, checking in with my friend Mario for few days in Mexico City, then we fly south to visit the Mayan ruins of Palanque. We are planning on spending Easter in San Cristobal, and from there we are hoping to hit the beaches, visit Oaxaca City and return for a couple more days in Mexico City.

I'll try to post a few times while I am away. Have a great April and I'll chat with you lads when I get back.