Too exhausted to write after that white-knuckle drive home. I am disappointed that the camera footage doesn’t convey the sheer terror of 5-6 feet of visibility in near non-stop rain.
So this is what you get, no metal reviews today, just a video of the drive home set to music. After editing (I slowed the video down in some of the small towns so you could get a better look at rural Ontario) it came to be the exact length of a song that I can use called “A Beautiful Day” by Tempted Fate, a Raw M.E.A.T band. Contrary to the lyrics though, it was thankfully not a beautiful day to die and we made it home in one piece although exhaused from the effort.
Sunday was what we call an “indoor day” at the lake. This is what I did with my indoor day.
The video took me most of the day, because my poor old laptop (10, this year) couldn’t handle all of the large files at once. So I started over from scratch and figured out a workaround until I was done about 7 hours later. I cooked, I went outside, I played with action figures, and I drank coffee until it finally saved without errors.
This video should scratch itches for a variety of people including:
1) Max the Axe fans – the full song “Randy” is included.
2) Dr. Kathryn Ladano fans – the full song “Masked” is included.
3) Those who enjoy driving videos. This is my first extensive use of my dash cam.
4) Nature buffs. You will hear real lake noises, rainstorms, and waves. You will see more cool underwater footage from the beaches of Lake Huron, and the legendary Greatest Sunset in the World.
5) Marvel / action figure fans. Look for a special “Build A Figure” Hulk.
You will not get:
1) Audio of me singing “Kissing Time” by Kiss; this was lost with the first version of the video.
2) Any of my pork chops.
But you can freely:
1) Live vicariously through me and absorb the good vibes through your monitor and speakers.
While visitors showing up on our little private road was not unexpected on a long weekend, it is disappointing when they show such little respect for the people who live here. A guy parked his ATV on our grass and said “Don’t get your knickers in a bunch” when my mom asked several times for him to move it. This came after arguing that he had the right to park there due to a “snow allowance”. There is no such thing.
Then we had Kenny the fireworks guys shooting off a “truck bed” full of firepower at 9:30 Saturday night. That was…distracting. As much as I love this place it certainly has changed in the last 45 years. Enjoy the video — the good the bad and the ugly!
That was intense! What follows is two hours of stories, friendship, music, hardship, music, childhood, Record Store Tales, music, and emotion. I don’t think I’ll be able to do a show like this one again. But I’m glad I did it and thank you for watching.
This episode may not be for everyone and I will warn you right from the start that there are some serious heavy, raw emotions about to outpour. This is your trigger warning. There is very little in this live stream that I have not written about in the past so if you have been reading Record Store Tales and Getting More Tale, then you’re all caught up anyway.
You gotta give Aaron from the KMA credit for several things. One, for bringing the Community together. Two, for his thoughtful and generous nature. And three, apparently, for clairvoyance.
Long before I decided on this week’s KISS theme, Aaron sent me a birthday gift. You won’t believe it. Clairvoyance? Obviously!
This was an action-packed show and to help you navigate, here are the highlights:
I included the pre-show portion of the stream in this video. To hear two awesome Max the Axe tunes, “My Daddy Was a Murderin’ Man” and “Magnum P.I.“, go to 0:01:20 of the stream.
For the epic Aaron Unboxing, check out 0:12:20 of the stream.
To begin 80s KISStory, go to 0:18:20 and rock!
For a sneak preview of a comedy bit that I recorded for Sausagefest 2020 (spoiler free), skip to 0:25:00.
To check out a host of cool ReAction figures, go to 1:26:00. They Live, Ghost’s Papa Emeritus, Aliens, and the Transformers.
A great time was had by all, as LeBrain and Superdekes tackled the fallout of the 1990s in Lead Singer’s Disease: a live stream about all the singers and bands that parted ways in that decade. Motley Crue, Van Halen, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Anthrax and Skid Row are the focus.
Some minor technical issues could not hamper a great discussion. Enjoy the show!
We thought we were counting down the next 11 live abums of all time — Nigel Tufnel’s Next Top Ten, #12 to 22 — but Deke and I received so many lists from people new and old that we actually did plenty of 1-11 lists too. Confusing? Maybe. Fun? Absolutely!
You’ll find a tremendous variety of material in these lists, from several sections of the record store. Some truly out of the box lists here, and I hope you’ll be inspired to check out some of these albums.
I also did a new release unboxing from John T. Snow. To skip directly that, watch from 0:08:40 of the stream.
For the commencement of the lists, skip to 0:10:55 of the stream.
Attention Aaron: Go to 0:19:35 of the stream!
To see a neat video of underwater rocks that I was uploading as the stream began, check out 0:02:50.
CH-CH-CH-CHANGES!
After some viewer feedback and discussion, I’ve decided to make some changes for the next streams. While I’m thrilled beyond words that this has become a popular thing, 10 lists is a record. I’d like to scale things back again to the earlier days of the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten lists. Five lists? Six tops? That’s a good number, and it’s perfect for the viewer to absorb. The featured lists would belong to the two co-hosts, and the rest to contributors. There have been so many list submissions from such a variety of people that I hate to have to exclude anyone at all, but I need to keep it manageable.
I’m not sure how to decide what lists to use if 10 people want to submit lists again. When I do a show on soundtracks (this is being planned) then obviously I need to feature a Rob Daniels list. It’s also a delight to get new names included, so first-timers have to be considered too. Suggestions on deciding these things are welcome.
We have time to figure it out. Deke is an eager co-host, and I love the Thunder Bay perspective that he brings to his episodes. He has some cool ideas that I am excited about, and next week’s show could be a completely different format. There have been plenty of list idea submissions too — I think we have at least 10 or 12 more to do. There will be other co-hosts in the second seat as well. Glitchy as it may be at times, Facebook Live continues to be the best platform for these live streams. (Fortunately for the non-Facebookers, I can get the Youtube video up the next day.) I’ll be continuing to use it in the foreseeable future. The screen sharing ability is terrific. If Zoom can be used to stream openly on Facebook (which has my biggest audience) then please comment below. Otherwise I’m going to use the Facebook Live screen-sharing ability for cohosting duties. It seems only certain mobile devices have this ability; you’ll know if you see a green prompt informing you that you can join the stream.
Leaner. Meaner. Streamer. Let’s keep this summer rocking.
Happy 4th of July to my American friends and neighbours!
Apologies for the awful quality this time. Perhaps due to an overheating device, perhaps because of the whims of the Facebook gods, I could not keep a good stream going. It’s worth enduring the video for the awesome lists. Uncle Meat and I counted down the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Ballads, with six lists submitted by:
The Technical Issue gods were merciful last night, and they connected Deke in Thunder Bay with LeBrain Summer HQ in Southern Ontario with only minor issues! In the episode we call “Seek the Deke”, we counted down the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten AC/DC albums of all time. Featured lists were submitted by:
A total of seven lists — the most I’ve done on these shows. And of course I messed it up at least twice! You might think that with so many lists and so few AC/DC albums, it might be a boring show. It’s not. When you include different versions of albums and a few off the beaten track, it was quite an enjoyable show with great comments.
By request of Deke I’ve left in the pre-stream portion of the show because I spilled ginger ale on my nose.
To skip straight to the AC/DC lists, go to 0:16:30 of the stream.
For the ginger ale, start at 0:13:45 of the stream.
Sorry the top of my head is cut off. I can’t see myself properly on the Facebook app. Enjoy the stream!
Saturday’s show was not without its difficulties but it ended with another tremendous list. The main event this week was a Nigel Tufnel Top Ten list for superhero movies. The special guest for this epic segment was for the first time, the one and only Holen MaGroin! We had lists submitted by Harrison the Mad Metal Man, John T. Snow, Rob Daniels, and of course Holen and myself.
I was excited because I knew, especially with guys like Rob and Holen, we were going to get interesting and diverse lists. I expected Harrison to go mental, and I somewhat got that. John Snow also came in with some out-of-the-box suggestions. The lists were magnificent and it is fair to say that the overall winner was Batman, but in so many configurations that you will have to watch for yourself. Honorary mentions to Christopher Reeve and Robert Downey Jr. Enjoy the lists! Start the stream at 1:24:20 if you only want to see the lists.
In another feature I tried to hook up with both Deke from Arena Rock and KMA‘s Aaron in his live stream debut! Although I had difficulty hearing Deke, this brief segment can be found at 0:59:50 of the stream.
I also unboxed my latest musical arrival, Gordon Downie‘s Secret Path, both the CD and the graphic novel. Because they were shipped separately, the unboxings can be found at 0:47:45 and 1:11:55.
BONUS: Not part of the live stream, but I did get some video of a chimpmunk playing hide & seek with me. For Ladano’s Wild Kingdom, hit up 0:19:08 of the stream!
I hope you enjoyed this week’s fun, and hopefully next time I won’t have as many technical issues!
