2007: Year of the Empty Bank Account

Before I get into too many details, I'd like to wish my readers a belated Merry Humbug and a Happy Hangover Day. I hope your last week has been filled with joy, fellowship, and lots of 'walking through the winter, drink in hand'.

The pillaging of the tree this year wasn't quite the cache as it has been in years past, though all I really asked for was clothes. I did however, brave the lineup at Visions on Boxing Day, and walked out with a 40" Samsung LCD high-definition television. I'll be feeling the pinch of that purchase when my January credit card bill arrives.

It has somewhat been a bit of a yearly tradition here at mcfro.blogspot.com that I take a few minutes on the first day of the new year to reflect what I accomplished this year, and what I would expect in the next 52 weeks to come.

Sifting through this year's posts, I have come to the early conclusion that I really didn't accomplish anything, given the astounding few number of posts there have been. I mean, there were at least three months were I didn't blog at all. Like I have said on here ad nauseum, I have been busy -- I've been lazy too, lethargic, exhausted, and unmotivated. It's all derived from worker burnout, and is a big reason why my New Year's resolution is to find a healthier work/life balance. Money can buy lots of things; but it can't buy sleep.

2007 got off to a very expensive start, as I quickly dropped four digits into a newer, faster, and larger iMac, which has, more or less, become a machine I use for audio production. Since the successful resurrection of my derelict iBook, I spend most of my web-surfing time on it instead of the desktop machine. Sure it's not the fastest, but it's good enough for most mundane tasks, and even runs a number of video games quite nicely. The laptop also keeps me out of the windowless basement, which ensures that I see more sunlight -- indispensable for someone like me who goes through mood wings and bouts of depression.

2007 continued with a string of large purchases, as in April I added a third drumset to my arsenal. Price is relative: though I got a great deal on the kit, I still paid a pretty penny for it. I have subsequently spent small sums over the course of the year for replacement parts and upgrades. The Canwoods have also seen a number of gigs already, so they are paying for themselves -- if they haven't already.

An expensive set of concert tickets allowed me to see the Police in concert in Edmonton. After paying for fuel, meals, accommodations, and toys, the trip escalated well into four digits, but it was worth every penny to see Stewart, Sting, And Summers together for the first time in nearly 25 years.

June also saw the most successful blog post on this site, ever. Skeet from medhatblog.com kindly linked to me from the website. Though it didn't elicit comments as I had hoped, it did generate scores of traffic -- over tenfold what I was accustomed to. It even increased my readership -- albeit temporarily. Had I continued blogging regularly, I may have managed to keep those readers, but they have since gone.

I guess this was where I really got lazy. Now that I was generating a great deal more traffic than I had been, I also felt increasing pressure to be delivering work of exceptional quality in order to maintain that readership. That was, to say the least a little daunting. In one hand, the site was beginning to become what I had wanted it to become (popular!). On the other hand, I didn't have the energy to invest the time and effort required to make this site what it was becoming. So I sat on my haunches and meditated on what I wanted to do with this site. The next thing I knew, nearly four months had passed, with nary a post on this site, and all my readers found other weblogs to be entertained by. Thus, the answer became clear -- I'll just write about my insignificant little life whenever I am inspired, and if readership increases, great. If they do not, that's still great too.

The first entry since my 'hiatus', was a review of Matthew Good's performance at Medicine Hat College this November. The posting also generated a fair amount of interest from readers across Canada, including a few views from Mr. Good himself. He didn't drop a note, but he left a trail of bread crumbs that said he had been here.

Musically, 2007 has been a year of transition and flux. The Savoys took an extra long vacation this year, and by the time the band got back together to prepare for this year, it became clear that the band would be falling apart. We have best intentions to continue in 2008, and we are currently auditioning a replacement for BG, which we should know in a week if he is the right guy -- or not.

Tung 'N' Groove also got out of our heads and onto the stage. It took a great deal of rehearsing, and a large number of hefty equipment purchases, but we are now gigging regularly, and continue to build a dedicated following. We have secured a number of dates for 2008, which will be posted on the band's website when I have both time and motivation.

I hope everyone's 2008 is a prosperous one. See you (hopefully) soon.

The Police Rock Edmonton

Best. Concert. Ever.

Set List:

• Message In A Bottle
• Synchronicity II
• Spirits In The Material World
• Voices Inside My Head
• World Is Running Down
• Don't Stand So Close To Me
• Driven To Tears
• Walking On The Moon
• Truth Hits Everybody
• Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
• Wrapped Around Your Finger
• The Bed's Too Big Without You
• De Do Do Do De Da Da Da
• Invisible Sun
• Walking In Your Footsteps
• Can't Stand Losing You
• Roxanne
• King Of Pain
• So Lonely
• Every Breath You Take
  

Synchronicity

Let me tell you a little story: For as long as I remember, my life has been immersed in music. Perhaps that might be why I didn't listen to that garbage on LP that all my peers were listening to in their homes -- I'm talking about the Minipops, the Smurfs, or any other product of the early 1980's. By the time I grew out of my diapers, I grew out of music directed towards young ears, and was listening to my parent's record collection, which included many artists. I remember fondly listening to Steppenwolf, Fleetwood Mac, The Doobie Brothers, CCR, and The Guess Who.

Even back then, I had my favorite artists, and when I was five years old, my favorite band was The Police. I am pretty sure I wore out my parents' copy of Ghost in the Machine, listening to Spirits in the Material World, Every Little Thing She Does is Magic, and Invisible Sun on repeat until it drove the neighborhood mad.

I really don't know what it was that I loved about the band, but even back then I knew they had a unique sound. In my adulthood, when I "rediscovered" the Police I can safely say that it was the drumming that was one of the most defining factors in the Police's sound. Perhaps the seeds of me becoming a drummer were planted way back then, when I first heard Stewart Copeland's drumming.

Being as young as I was, I never had an interest in the career, or affairs of a band. I recall seeing copies of Synchronicity at relatives' houses; even listened to the album on occasion. I thought it odd that I had not seen a new album since then, but never bothered to ask anyone what happened to the Police. Only years later I learned that the band split largely due to personality clashes.

I guess I never had any sense of disappointment in me that I never had the opportunity to see Copeland, Summers, and Sumner Sting in concert, mainly because I was far too young at the time, and the chances of them reuniting was about a likely as myself being hit by a Soviet Satellite.

I, as well as countless thousands of die-hard Police fans secretly hoped for a reunion one day, though after some twenty-five years, our hopes were dashed. The last two months have been very exciting, when rumors were flying that the Police had reunited, and were rehearsing in Vancouver, British Columbia. I was brewing with excitement, and it was soon announced that the British trio would open the Grammys.

I was parked in front of the television that Sunday night, secretly praying that they would publicly announce a world tour; and I could care less of ticket prices. No matter the location, no matter the price -- I was going. This was going to be the tour of the decade, if not, the tour of the century.

I must have been hit by that Soviet Satellite, because the next day, the Police formally announced their world tour. Checking Ticketmaster, the Police announced dates in three Canadian cities: Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal.

Guess what?

I chose not to buy tickets. The ticket prices for the Vancouver show (the concert closest to my city of residence) was way out of this world. Then I would have to take at least two days off work, and book airfare and accommodations while staying in Vancover. I was looking at spending between 1000 and 2000 dollars just to see my favorite band of all time.

Hey, everything has a price. And the expense far outweighed the joy.

But there were still rumours that not all the concert dates had been confirmed. There were whispers on the radio, and rumors on the web. I knew that if the Police played anywhere in Alberta, it would be affordable for me to go no matter what the price.

I have been holding this in for more than a week.

I have my tickets to see the Police in Edmonton on June 2nd, and I have good seats too.

Ticketmaster had given me far better seats, like almost front-row, but I was unwilling to pay $225+ per ticket. But for $100 per seat, I got seats at center field, 8 rows up from the ground.

I know in the archives of this blog that I have ranted and raved about going to concerts of some of my favorite artists, namely KMFDM and Garbage, but this is even bigger than those two combined. Everybody goes to see the Rolling Stones in concert, namely because many think it's the last time that the Stones will be around in their neck of the woods. So what? The Stones tour every couple years. The Police haven't toured in almost 25 years!

The only thing (in my opinion) that could top this is if Zeppelin reunited, with Bonzo on drums -- and that is, simply put, impossible.

And my apologies to Shirley, cause she's the hottest thing in fishnet stockings, I'm sure she'd understand: it's the Police. It will never happen again.