This past weekend was a total pile of angst and it was actually pretty therapeutic. Now, typically I'd be all emo and put this as a friends-only post but I think there's no real point to that. In fact, I'm even going to use NAMES in this one (which I don't typically do) to get the point across, because while I'm not confrontational, someone's really pissing me off and I'm hoping they'll get wind of this.

We know this fellow named Jayson (or Jay, if you prefer). Jay is a living persona. He never shows anyone what he's really like. He postures and lies to make people think he's something he's not. It all came to a boiling point this weekend. Jay's ex-girlfriend Rainy just moved back to Ottawa and that's where this all begins. Ready kiddies? Right, so earlier in the day on Saturday, Jay spends a good portion of the day spamming my good friend Meer with MSN messages. Meer completely ignores him. Jay then sends him an IM accusing Mer of thinking that he was going to cheat on his current GF with Rainy. Funny, no one ever mentionned that... conscience, anyone?

Afterwards, he showed up at my friend Amanda's place and commandeered her computer. I showed up around 9pm. When I got there, Amanda's boyfriend Adam was out with some friends, but he came how shortly after I got there. Then, our buddy Dros showed up. This sets the first scene. Sometime later, Jay says something silly like "It's impossible to be cheap in a game" (which is BS, he's the king of being cheap at games). Dros tries to explain the opposite side of the arguement but every time he speaks, Jay cuts him off with something stupid. Dros decides that he'll try a different approach. He tells jay to just be quiet and look at him so he can make a point. Jay mocks him at this point and before you know it, Dros snaps and slaps Jay across the face. We give Dros a beer to help him calm down, he goes upstairs for a bit to cool off and Jay sits in a chair, crying. (We later found out that Jay claimed to have punched him back. Didn't happen.)

Anyway, to avoid awkwardness, Dros half-heartedly apologises and things are quiet for the rest of the night. Around 2:30am, Jay and one of his buddies decide to take off. Jay goes to Meer's place and his friend goes home. We hang out a while and later, as we're going to bed, Jay shows up at the door. He comes in and goes to sleep after posturing about how Meer's lying about everyone not liking him and that Meer's lucky he didn't beat the shit out of him.

Anyway, the next day, we add our friend Peacimowen to our little party and head off to Meer's to greet Rainy. We all get there and as soon as we do, Meer looks at Jay and says "You. Gone." and tells him he's not welcome at his house. Apparently, showing up at 3:30 in the morning was pushing it too far. We all go in (me not feeling the least bit awkward, actually) and then we all go and hang out. When Rainy arrives, we find out that when Jay arrived, Rainy got out of bed to go talk to him and Meer was asleep (so much for kicking the shit out of him.) We find out that Jay came on to rainy (not the other way, as we were told by him) and that she asked him "What did you do?" because she knew everyone was fed up with him. We spent the next while completely debunking Jay's story and letting Rainy know some of the things he's done to piss us off. I'll list them here:

-Emotional Manipulation - Whenever Jay is turned away from somewhere, he takes his time getting home and then comes online and weaves an intricate lie about getting mugged or jumped. Always in the most unlikely of places (like in a park with no trees in a good neighbourhood). He's done this to Rainy, his gf Kara and to Amanda, at least. One time he even claimed to have cut himself because of it (see? I told you there would be LJ-style emo bullshit). We can't see any scars. He makes people feel bad for saying 'no' to him.

-Lies - He lies about everything. He seems to think he's the emotional lead character in an Anime or Final Fantasy game. He postures constantly, frequently tries to make himself look important or makes himself the centre of attention. He fabricates or twists stories to make him sound tough or to absolve himself from blame.

-Overly Sexual - Jay has cheated on people in his last handful of relationships. When he was with Rainy, he cheated on her. When he was with his next girlfriend, Maya (the one he cheated on Rainy with) he cheated on HER with Rainy. Sometime in that period, he cheated on whoever he was with at least one more time. Now he expects us to not expect him to cheat on his current gf. His track record is terrible.

-Thievery - Jay used to be famous for performing B&E's all over the place. He done at least 12, including but not limited to utility sheds, schools and sports arenas. He currently claims to be done with it but he recently told Dros that he was planning some more B&E's with his friend Nanashi. He's also stolen booze that my friend Adam and I bought and drank most if not all of it. He also never takes the blame, which is the next point.

-Scapegoating - Jay tends to place the blame squarely on others when he does something wrong. He's been arrested or detained about 3 times in the last year and a bit and every time, he's blamed it on my friend Cal, who used to run with him. The first time I saw him detained, he was running into the Rideau centre with Cal, waving a pocket knife around. He claims that he was putting his away but Cal still had his out and that's why they got caught. He also accuses the Rideau Centre security with falsely charging him. The next time he was arrested was when he and Cal were filming something and they walked onto school property. Jay claims they were arrested because Cal was throwing garbage at the students. Cal claims he never did. The third time was in Kingston. I don't know what he was caught for but he's been to court several times. He claims that Cal was responsible for that, even though he wasn't there. He claims it was Cal's influence that made him do it.

Mooching - Jay has a tendency to turn up unannounced and then expects people to feed him, give him drinks and a place to crash. He used to do this to Amanda all the time. He'd turn up sometime mid-afternoon and hang out. Later he'd ask for a drink. When she'd say 'yes' that was like opening the floodgate. After that, he assumed it was a given that he was allowed to get drinks any time. Later, he'd ask for food. He'd be offered pogo's or something but he'd see Pizza Pockets in the freezer and want those. He'd bitch about it if they didn't give them to him. After they go to bed, he tends to raid their fridge. He ate an entire tub of their ice-cream, once.

As you can see, he's not a good person and most of us really, really don't like him. Rainy still does. Apparently she's seen him the way he's like when he's not posturing, but still, she's annoyed with how he's making enemies out of everyone. He's been coming on MSN lately acting like nothing happened. Whatever did or will happen, I hope he ends up reading this, I really do. I'm totally fed-up with him.

-Ironklaw

Typically, I should write about what's going on in my life, but now I just feel like writing about music. I'll talk about life another time. Most people knowledgeable about music know that Bob Dylan is one of the most covered artists ever. Meaning that so many people have done renditions of his songs. (Canadian folk legend Leonard Cohen is another heavily covered artist.) I thought I'd adress three of them as it is now. I'd post the lyrics but that would make this entry FAR too long so I'll just talk a bit about the covers.

The first one that came to mind, came to me while I was walking home from work tonight. I was listening to it on my iPod, in fact. In 1997, Bob Dylan was hospitalized after having a heart attack (if I'm not mistaken). While recovering, he wrote most, if not all of an album called "Time Out Of Mind". While it wasn't his most commercially successful album, there was a great song on it called "Tryin' To Get To Heaven". The lyrics were really good and it was haunting hearing them sung in Dylan's then-frail voice. A year later, the song was covered on a track that was recorded but never released. In between albums, David Bowie decided to cover "Tryin' to Get to Heaven" and this gave the song a totally different dimension. While a few verses were cut from the song, Bowie's version gave the lyrics power that only his voice has ever really been able to properly convey. He BELTED out those lyrics and really made them shine which was mind-blowing, the first time I heard it. It's floating around the internet. Find it and listen to it. Seriously.

The next is one of the 150 (150!) covers of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door". The song was originally written to be on the soundtrack to the film "Pat Garett and Billy the Kid". All kinds of people have covered this song, from Eric Clapton, to Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, to Guns N' Roses. But the version I want to look at is the one done by Warren Zevon. Zevon had an excellent reason to release this cover and it's that reason that makes it my favourite "Knockin'" cover. At the time the track was recorded, Warren Zevon was quite literally on his death bed. He was bed-ridden for the length of the production but still managed to bring his usual style to the song. The fact that he was almost dead really added meaning to the track, in the end. Another cool thing is that he had a bunch of famous artists (including Bruce Springsteen) form a little chorus and sing the back-up on the song's chorus. It's heart-wrenching to hear the song. It was Warren Zevon's last single and he could even be heard chanting "Open up. Open up." during the final chorus. Awesome and meaningful cover.

The final is a classic and one that so few people seem to recognize as a Dylan song. I'm talking about Jimi Hendrix's version of "All Along the Watchtower". This is the quintessential Dylan cover. It's so popular in fact, that many people think that Dylan covered Hendrix, and not the other way around. Hendrix definitely brought the song the oomph it really needed though, turning it into a rock n' roll legend in it's own right. This can be found anywhere and it's an interesting song to compare to its original because they sound alike, but so very, very different.

So anyway, that's my music lesson for the day, folks. Try these covers out. Listen to the originals and then listen to the covere. It's worth it. Oh, and in my opinion, Guns n' Roses' version of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" has got to be the most irritating and garish cover EVER. It's like someone took all the tackiness in the stated of Florida and poured it into one song. Seriously

Cheers,

Ironklaw

Anyone get the reference from the title of this entry? It's the line that opens Pink Floyd's album "The Wall". Coincidentally, it's also the line that opened Roger Waters' September 21st concert at the Bell Centre in Montréal.

Originally, I wasn't supposed to have gone to that particular concert. My father had nabbed tickets for him and my little brother for my brother's birthday (My brother is a Pink Floyd/Roger Waters fan to the point of fanaticism). So I was all happy for them. Those tickets sold out in under an hour or something retarded like that. Anyway, my dad, being perfectly devious, decided that he'd really like it if Sean could meet Roger Waters. He exchanged e-mails first with the fan club, and then again with Mr. Water's management office in London. Finally, a month ago, he received an email stating "Roger Waters would be pleased to meet your son before the concert. Score, right? Wait, it gets better.

So, the day before the concert, my stepmother gets a phonecall from Robert Zwecks, the Tour Manager. Apparently Roger Waters' management figured that hey, why not let the whole family come meet Mr. Waters? So he freed up 4 more tickets (which would probablly have been in the $150+ range) and procured us 4 more backstage passes. Not only was I going to the concert, I was going to meet Roger Waters. I did a little dance... at work.... it was embarrasing. So it was going to now be my brother, my father, my stepmom, her two friends Sandy and Rob and then myself.

So I call in sick from work on Thursday and play hooky all the way to Montréal. We have dinner at a Nickles and then just head off to the Bell Centre to get our seats. After much waiting for the box-office to open (so we could get our ticks) we got back to the backstage entrance and were escorted in. It's not nearly as glamourous as we'd thought, really. Anyway, there were a few members of the band milling about, but I didn't know what any members of his band looked like, so I thought they were roadies at the time. While waiting, we were delivered a tour t-shirt and some bottles of water courtesy of Roger Waters and we were even given a set list by the stage effects manager.

Finally, after about 10 minutes of waiting, we got to meet Roger Waters. People can say what they will about him. His ego caused his departure from Pink Floyd, this is a well established fact, however, for the 5 minutes I got to meet him, he was completely awesome. He came out, saw my brother and said something along the lines of "Hey! How's it going, man?" He shook our hands and introductions were made and then we took a few pictures. It was originally going to be one but he decided that we should take several to make sure we got the exact one we wanted. After than he and I had a bit of a chat, mostly about the things we wanted him to sign... it was less a chat than a "Are there going to be names on these?" and "Ah! So you bought my opera!" (Titled Ca Ira). He was in a terrible rush (the show was starting in 5 minutes or so) so he shook our hands again and said he hoped we'd enjoy the show. We did.

The first half of the concert was a smattering of songs off "The Wall" "Obscured By Clouds", "Animals", "Wish You Were Here", "The Final Cut" and his solo album "Amused to Death". He also played a newer song called "Leaving Beirut" which in one half told a story about an Arab family in Lebanon who took him in for a night when he was hitchhiking from Beirut to London and in the other half bluntly denounced George W. Bush, Tony Blair and rightist politics in general. It was accompanied by a graphic-novel-like media show playing behind him. Panels of story were showed depicting his night with the family in Beirut. When he and the backup singers were singing, word bubbles would appear, pointing to them while they sang. It was amazingly done.

The second half of the show was "Dark Side of the Moon" beginning to end. He and his rather huge band did a mind-blowing rendition of the whole album. I think the highlight for me was when they did "Us and Them". They hit it perfectly, the singer doing David Gilmour's part was doing it admirably. When the chorus would hit, (which is the powerful part of the song), the stage lit up like a candle. These blindingly bright white lights turned on on either end of the stage and on the front of it. It was amazing to hear and watch.

The encores were all off of "The Wall". First was "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" which, naturally, segues into "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2". He followed that with the short and sad "Vera" and then "Bring the Boys Back Home" (continuing on his anti-war tirade). Finally, he closed it with "Comforably Numb" which was awesome, but not as good as the version he did on his last tour (the "In the Flesh" tour.)

So not only did I get to meet one of my favourite rock stars, I also got to enjoy an amazing show from some REDICULOUSLY good seats.

On another note, that day brought a slight disappointment. An industrial act that I love very much named "Covenant" were going to be playing the Bell Centre on the 1st of October. Unfortunately, I have nowhere near enough time to get tickets and somehow get down there. *le sigh* oh well.

PICTURES!

My father, my brother and I with Roger Waters backstage.


A personally autographed tour programme. Reads "To Alex - Roger Waters"

This weekend was pretty damned good. Though, I'll admit, it started on a shitty note. To explain, I work in the "mailroom" at the local newspaper (The Ottawa Citizen). The "mailroom" is in quotation marks because I don't deliver the mail (as that position generally implies), rather, I insert flyers into machines which then quickly slip said flyers into the newspapers. (The name is an arcane newspaper term. In the olden days, the mail was referred to as "post" as it still is in the UK and flyers were referred to as "mail" or "direct mail". Adverts which reach the consumer directly.) Anyhoo, due to poor maintenance, lax organization, gross incompetence and general bad luck, the machines all ran like garbage causing the shift to run FAR later than it typically does (and it starts at 11pm). I was out of work by 5:00 or so, which is really late for that shift. This also means that some papers didn't make it where they were meant to go until much later. So, that was the shitty part of the weekend. The rest was gold.

Saturday, my two best friends (the couple mentionned in the previous entry) came over to hang out for the night. We didn't drink (contrary to common practice on the weekend), we didn't play too many video games. We just hung out, talked and downloaded/listened to songs we hadn't listened to in a long time. It was really quite awesome.

Sunday afternoon when we finally were all up, we went and ate at a chinese buffet which, as usual, made my tummy very, very happy. :D. It was a shame, I mentioned, that one of them had to work on monday and that they couldn't spend another night. That led to me being invited over there where we proceeded to hang out and just have a generally awesome time, like I always seem to around them.

I realized that being affectionate with them didn't make them as uncomfortable as I'd expected it would so it was a far more relaxed weekend. It's hard being physically and emotionally attracted to your best friends. They're generally good about it though, they don't poke fun at me about it (too often) and I think they're at least glad that I genuinely care. If they ever needed me for anything at any time, I'd be there in a heartbeat. I think that's what it means to be best friends. I'd gladly lay everything on the line for them. A dangerous and often self-destructive way to be, I know, but it's how I am.

I can't tell you precisely what made the weekend awesome, it just was. I had a really awesome time for whatever reason and I just think ahead at the fact that, as far as I know now, there will just be more and more of them. I'm glad when my life is stable like this. I work more or less regular shifts (by my standards) and I have fun with people I care about on the weekend, what more could someone ask for?

Well, seems that I'm updating again. Been the first time in a long while, really. I'm not going to bother filling in what's happened in the last year or so, I'll just sum up. I broke up with someone, became a social furry, went back to being bi (they've got cookies), loved, lost, got a decent job, loved again, discovered the joys of weekend booze-a-hol, broke up again and ended up with some of the best friends I've ever had, and ended up with a crush on a couple of them.

Those are the key things in the last year and a bit. Pretty busy, hmm? I like to think so. So ultimately, I've been filling my time with work and, on the weekends, some high-quality chilling out time with two of the most awesome people ever. I've built a great number of friends within the local furry fandom and I spend what ever free time I have with them. I hang out with two more than most though. They're always welcoming and rarely do they not ask me to come over, so I've taken to spending the weekends at their place.

I used to have feelings for them, before they were a couple and then they got together and those separate crushes merged into a big one for the both of them. It's awkward, for certain and I'm sure it makes them uncomfortable alot of the time. They know about it, you see. One of them has rediscovered his affectionnate side, which is wonderful. The only problem is that I'm afraid to BE affectionnate with them most of the time because I know it'll mean something totally different to me than it will to them. I don't think, in the back of their minds, they're hoping that a hug or a cuddle will mean something more than just close friendship.

Enough about that. Recently, I've been trying to lay down the groundwork to rebuild the local furry community. It's famous nationally for not being able to keep itself together and a friend of mine, having seen the way the other communities get along, thinks he knows what we lack. My goal is to create a large, open and welcoming community, all while fixing the problems which have been plaguing our group in the past. We'll see how that turns out.

I heard this song the other day on MusiquePlus, Québec's answer to MuchMusic. It's a ballad by a well-known québec folk-rock band named "Les Cowboys Fringants" The song in question "Les étoiles filantes" (Shooting Stars) is a reflection on life and aging. Talking about how life just passes you by. It's a sad song and is really quite beautiful. I took the liberty of translating it (more-or-less directly) so that non-french speaking people can understand it. However, the French lyrics are far more poetic and sound much nicer. That's what's great about French. It's a language perfectly suited to poetry. There are so many beautiful words that are used to describe not just objects and actions but also ideas and feelings and concepts. Learn it, it's worth the effort.

Another good point of this song is the video. The song is about life and so is the video. In the video, things happen, plain and simple. It follows different people doing normal everyday things on a wintery Montréal street. Somone riding a bicycle, another pawning a TV, people sitting down for coffee, all done rather artistically and right in synch with the music. I love it. Anyway, here is the song in its original form and in its translated form.

*********************
LES ÉTOILES FILANTES
PAR LES COWBOYS FRINGANTS
******************************
 Si je m'arrête un instant
Pour te parler de ma vie
Juste comme ça tranquillement
Dans un bar rue St-Denis

J'te raconterai les souvenirs
Bien gravés dans ma mémoire
De cette époque où vieillir
Était encore bien illusoire

Quand j'agaçais les p'tites filles
Pas loin des balançoires
Et que mon sac de billes
Devenait un vrai trésor

Et ces hivers enneigés
À construire des igloos
Et rentrer les pieds g'lés
Juste à temps pour Passe-Partout

Mais au bout du ch'min dis-moi c'qui va rester
De la p'tite école et d'la cour de récré ?
Quand les avions en papier ne partent plus au vent
On se dit que l'bon temps passe finalement...

... Comme une étoile filante

Si je m'arrête un instant
Pour te parler de la vie
Je constate que bien souvent
On choisit pas mais on subit
Et que les rêves des ti-culs
S'évanouissent ou se refoulent
Dans cette réalité crue
Qui nous embarque dans le moule

La trentaine, la bedaine
Les morveux, l'hypothèque
Les bonheurs et les peines
Les bons coups et les échecs

Travailler, faire d'son mieux
En arracher, s'en sortir
Et espérer être heureux
Un peu avant de mourir

Mais au bout du ch'min dis-moi c'qui va rester
De notre p'tit passage dans ce monde effréné ?
Après avoir existé pour gagner du temps
On s'dira que que l'on était finalement

... Que des étoiles filantes

Si je m'arrête un instant
Pour te parler de ma vie
Juste comme ça tranquillement
Pas loin du Carré St-Louis

C'est qu'avec toi je suis bien
Et que j'ai pu' l'goût de m'en faire
Parce que tsé voir trop loin
C'pas mieux que r'garder en arrière

Malgré les vieilles amertumes
Et les amours qui passent
Les chums qu'on perd dans' brume
Et les idéaux qui se cassent

La vie s'accroche et renaît
Comme les printemps reviennent
Dans une bouffée d'air frais
Qui apaise les coeurs en peine

Ça fait que si à' soir t'as envie de rester
Avec moi, la nuit est douce on peut marcher
Et même si on sait ben que tout dure rien qu'un temps
J'aimerai ça que tu sois pour un moment...

... Mon étoile filante

Mais au bout du ch'min dis-moi c'qui va rester...
Mais au bout du ch'min dis-moi c'qui va rester...

... Que des étoiles filantes

*****************************
SHOOTING STARS
BY LES COWBOYS FRINGANTS
*****************************
If I stop for just a moment
To tell you about my life
Just like that, very calmly
In a bar on St. Denis

I would tell you of things
Well engraved in my memory
Of that era where aging
Was still an illusion

When I bothered the little girls
Not too far from the see-saw
And that my bag of marbles
Was a real treasure

And those snowy winters
Spent building igloos
And coming home, feet frozen
Just in time for "Passe-Partout"

But at the end of the road tell me what'll be left
Of the little school and the recess yard?
When the paper airplanes no longer take to the wind
We tell our selves that the good time has finally passed...

...Like a shooting star.

If I stop for just a moment
To tell you about life
I admit that quite often
We don't choose, we put up.
And the dreams of the kids
Disappear or are pushed back
In this raw reality
Which sets us in the mould

The 30's, the belly
The snotty-nosed kid, the mortgage
The good times and the bad
The wins and the faliures

To work, to do one's best
To tear away, to get out
And hoping to be happy
Just a little before dying.

And at the end of the road tell me what'll be left
Of our little passage in this unrestrained world
After having existed to save time
We could say that in the end we were nothing...

...But shooting stars.

If I stop for just a moment
To tell you of my life
Just like that, very calmly
Not too far from St. Louis Square

After all the old bitternesses
And the fleeting loves
Old friends, lost in the fog
And shattered ideals

Life clings on and reappears
Like how spring comes back
With a blast of fresh air
Which alleviates sorrowful hearts

So now tonight if you feel like staying
With me, the night is calm, we could take a walk
And even though we know every only lasts a little while
I would love it if, for a moment, you could be...

...My shooting star.

But at the end of the road tell me what'll be left...
But at the end of the road tell me what'll be left...

...Naught but shooting stars.


That's it that's all! I hope people like this song. The lyrics are beautiful, especially the last verse

Right, I'm gonna be bitchy tonight. So I'm talking to my boyfriend over AIM, right, and I'm talking about how I'm going to visit him this weekend. Not ONLY am I going to visit him but I'm also going to be spending the night with him at a friend's house. Our own room, the whole shebang, right? Then he tells me "yeah... is there anyway you could visit on thursday instead? I've got this party to go to on the weekend." (he was at one weekend before last and is going to one on the 22nd).

I get a little pissed. I manage to convince my buddy in Guelph to drop me at Addison's place for a visit while I'm in the area next weekend and even manage to get him to let us stay together in his new apartment. My Addy and I together in our own room. That kicks ASS. So he drops this party nonsence on me and, while I don't like to sound like the jealous boyfriend, I was like "You'd rather go to a party then spend time with me?" Honestly, he'd rather go to a party so he could try and boost his rep in the rediculously elitist fur community out there then spend time with me. most of the people there don't even consider him a friend, from what I can tell.

So he gives me all this "you only live once!" shit and I'm not having any of it. I tell him "You know what? This business with getting me all excited about this trip then SUDDENLY remembering you had a party? That hurts alot, dude." And so he gets all indignant about it like "*Sigh* fine. I'll just e-mail and cancel then" like he was guilting me for it. I say "you don't need to, you know. Just don't fuck around like that again." But he went and did it anyway so our plans are back on. I just wish he'd stop waffling on everything you know? It's beginning to get on my nerves and I can see what his previous lovers meant by how he jumps all over Hell's half-acre.

I'm still annoyed about it all but things are back in place and it's all good for now. I just hope nothing else "comes up" before the weekend.

PS. My favourite "techno" group VNV Nation aren't the only group in their style - called Futurepop (also fitting in with EBM, Darkwave and Synthpop) - and i've discovered a bunch more groups that I like. Apoptygma Berzerk, Wumpscut, Icon of Coil and Assemblage 23 among some of them. Just look up Futurepop, EBM and Darkwave on Wikipedia and you'll get some great bands. DO IT!

I always enjoy the Oscars and especially when there is a song up for best song that I really like. Although this one didn't win, I believe it should have. The music and lyrics are fantastic and the performance on the Oscars by Beyoncé was absolutely horrible. I decided to download the song and the actual version of it blew my mind. It's performed by a boys' choir and it's absolutely fantastic. The song is called "Vois sur ton chemin" or "Look to your path" and it is from the film "Les Choristes" or "The Choir". The song itself is haunting and speaks of the miserable life of orphans. I don't know if there's an official translation to this song but this is my translation. (Props to Altavista for helping me with the couple of words I didn't really know the translation for.)

VOIS SUR TON CHEMIN
LES CHORISTES
-----------------------------
Vois sur ton chemin
Gamins oubliés égarés
Donne leur la main
Pour les mener
Vers d'autres lendemains

Sens au coeur de la nuit
L'onde d'espoir
Ardeur de la vie
Sentier de gloire

Bonheurs enfantins
Trop vite oubliés effacés
Une lumière dorée brille sans fin
Tout au bout du chemin

Sens au coeur de la nuit
L'onde d'espoir
Ardeur de la vie
Sentier de la gloire

ENGLISH
LOOK TO YOUR PATH
THE CHOIR
-----------------------------
Look to your path
Stray, forgotten kids
Give them a hand
To guide them
Towards other tomorrows

Feel in the heart of the night
The wave of hope
The heat of life
The path to glory

Childhood joys
Too quickly forgotten, erased
A golden light shines endlessly
At the very end of the path

Feel in the heart of the night
The wave of hope
The heat of life
The path to glory
</small>
ЧЕК АУТ МАИ МАД РУШАН СКЙЛЛЗ!
CHECK OUT MY MAD RUSSIAN SKILLZ!

Well, I completed the first of 3 instructional shifts at work today. I now work at Ipsos-Direct, a telephone market-research company. I "interview" people over the telephone (I read them surveys) and I collect data. While it doesn't promise to be the world's most exciting job, it pays reasonably well, has flexible schedules and room for advancement. I also get Prescription, dental and eye benefits after 6 months.

My job basically consists of using a random number-based auto-dialing system and calling people to have them do surveys. To do this, I had to learn to use the computer survey program dohickee. The computers we use are HILARIOUS. The monitors are ancient, likely dating back to the late 80's. They're these either orange, white or green monochrome things with equally aged keyboards attached to them. The program is newer but the computers are relics.

Either way, it was the longest 6 and-a-half hours of my life. The training and the intruction was tedious but I get to do my first few actual calls tomorrow which should prove to be interesting to say the least. Either way. I made $52.79 today just training so that was good. By the end of the week, I'll have $211.14. That is also good. The best thing though, is that the tediousness of today is OVER. I get to actively participate tomorrow. Anyhoo, the job is alright, overall.

Believe it or not, that was today's excitement. No rants, no funny blurbs, no songs. Thassit. My mind is fried now. I stop writing now.

Before I get into the major bulk of this entry, I want to first say that I've got a job! I was hired by a telephone market research company called Ipsos-Reid and I will be conducting telephone surveys! Who knows? I may end up calling YOUR house and badgering you around suppertime :P Anyway, with that bit of news out of the way, allow me to get on with this charming article. As the title suggests, this entry is about great furry comics which I have read. I know that at least one has adult content but it's not like I'm going to be showing pictures or anything. ;) Anyway, on with the reviews.

ASSOCIATED STUDENT BODIES
Okay. If you're a fur and you've not heard of ASB, you need to crawl on up from under your rock. This goes double if you're a gay furry. ASB deals with the hardships and triumphs of being gay at University. It deals with issues with other students, family and religion, giving the reader a profound sympathy for the main character and a better understanding of homosexual life. The main story is drawn by one principle artist while any subplots are drawn by guest artists.

The story follows Daniel, a young lion who has just arrived at University. He is put into the infamous Hillard East dormitory, a dormitory almost entirely populated by homosexuals. Here, with the help of a wolf named Marcus, Daniel discovers that he is also gay and thus, a teriffic relationship blossoms. The occupants of Hillard East are all very unique characters. Aside from Daniel and Marcus, there is also Ricky, the most effeminate raccoon on campus. Timmy, the outspoken gay activist meercat; Tiny the Jock Hyena; Gerald the dark, brooding black feline poet among others.

The story is phenomenal and is really a triumph in furry literature. It was the landmark on which many based their works. This is one of the comics which features a fair amount of erotic content. Though there are many sexual situations, most of them fit in really well with the plot and none of them occur just for the sake of having a sex scene. If you're old enough (or mature enough) to handle that, then by all means order all 8 issues online. (If you can't find/afford the series, there are underground furry pirating sources where you can get them but I'm not going to direct you to them ;).

CIRCLES
Yet another tremendously famous furry comic. Both this comic and "Associated Student Bodies" really hit home for me and I read them over occasionally because I enjoy them so damn much. Circles focuses on a house in Boston which is completely populated with gay males. As much as this just sounds like a script for a porno, it really isn't. There is no on-panel sex in this comic whatsoever. The comic focuses on each character in the house at different times though the first 3 or 4 of the current 5 issues deal with the blossomming of a relationship between two of the characters. Anyway, onto the characters.

It all starts in 2001 whenn Paulie Mayhew, an older fellow and the owner of the house at 6 Kinsey Circle gets a visit from Marty Miller, a new prospective tennant to live in one of the many apartments he's turned his house into. Paulie, a wealthy, educated dog of indeterminate breed shows Marty (a skunk) around, introducing him to the various characters living at the house. The first tennant he meets is Arthur. Arthur is an old friend of Paulie's and is an accomplished artist. Following that visit, on the way to lunch at Paulie's place, they bump into a tall, buff cheetah named Ken who lives at the house. Ken is a bit of a player and rarely keeps one partner for very long. Once they reach Paulie's appartment they are joined by Taye, a waiter at a local french restaurant and the guy that Marty will likely be rooming with. Soon after, Marty meets Douglas, Paulie's lover.

The comic deals with issues like telling your family that you're gay. One of the characters is also living with AIDS. It's a story that I really connected with and had a nice dash of romance thrown in (which is a soft spot for me in gay publications). This is a PHENOMENAL comic and is still ongoing. Go go! Go now and grab it!

HAVOC INC.
This fun, sci-fi adventure is about deep-space shipping company Havoc Inc. The company consists of only two people, Chris (a wolf, I assume) and his thieving, flamboyant partner Chester (a fennec I think). Each issue follows Chris and Chester on various journeys where they (usually Chester) get themselves in WAY over their heads. The story is humourous and is beautifully drawn. The repartée between the two main characters is priceless. It has 7 issues currently and is a really fun read. I'm sure you can get a copies online and/or wherever furry publications are sold.

That about covers it for the comics. I was going to write about "The Wanderer" but the story seems to have been abandonned at 2 issues sadly and there hasn't been an issue in a few years. I only wanted to write about comics that had defined stories unlike the erotic Genus/Genus Male comics or "Rocket Ship Rodents" (which is a mindless adult publication and has only one issue) I recommend checking places like Rabbit Valley books out online so you can find other furry publications.

HAPPY READING!
-Alex