I am the Champions, my friends!

There are several things I need to do in life before I die.... 1. Work in the comic book industry. (Yep!) 2. Record an album in a studio with a band (Yep - it happened twice!) 3. Get higher that 75% in Grade 12 Math (I really should let that one go!) 4. Eat 27 chicken fingers in one sitting (Yep!) 5. Bring the Jets back to Winnipeg (Methinks I'm going to be alive for a loooong while!) 6. See the Pyramids of Giza. (Still waiting on that one...) 7. See Queen live in concert (See below...) About half my life ago, I saw a video of a Roger Taylor of Queen, singing and drumming "I'm In Love With My Car" at a Montreal concert circa 1982. It was one of the coolest things I'd seen in my life! I was hooked - at that moment I knew I wanted to play the drums. He has been my inspiration as a drummer ever since, and I owe much of any 'style' I have to listening to him play. That was 1990. Queen hadn't toured since 1986, and by 1991, Freddie Mercury had passed on and any hopes I'd had of seeing Queen live had to be abandoned. There was a glimmer of hope in 1993 when I had the chance to see their guitarist, Brian May, open up for Guns and Roses*. My mom wouldn't let me go however, as the girls who had the extra ticket to the show liked to smoke pot and drink Jack Daniels, and probably would have deflowered me at some point during the drive to Winnipeg. Thank god for mothers! Well, Queen has risen like a phoenix from the ashes, and have teamed up with former Bad Company / Free singer Paul Rodgers, completing a European tour last spring. They are now coming to Canada, and my cousin Scott snagged us some sweet tickets to the Vancouver show. Tickets to see Queen. Third row. With a perfect view of Roger Taylor.

Today is a good day.

Currently playing: Johnny Cash - One Percentage of Christmas shopping complete: 33.33% (what the--!? how did it drop from 35.71%!)

*Note: Brian May fell ill and was unable to open for Guns and Roses that night back in 1993, so I was able to forgive my mother for looking out for my safety and virginity. However, as an interesting side note, the band chosen to replace Brian May that night, was none other than local Winnipeg rockers Orphan!!! (known at that time as the Deadbeat Honeymooners). I didn't know Orphan from a hole in the ground back then, so I guess I didn't miss much. ...