KMA

Mike and Aaron go to Toronto: The Complete Series + More

If you weren’t following back from 2012 to 2019, you may have missed all the Mike and Aaron Go to Toronto excursions!

From 2012 to 2015, Aaron and I went to “Taranna” every year to go hunting for CDs, records, books and more.  We always made our regular stops:  Sonic Boom, BMV and Pauper’s Pub.  Some years, we hit up shops like Kops Records, Paradisc Bound, and Moonbean for coffee.  I missed 2016 and 2017 to go to TF Con in Toronto instead.  There are only so many dollars!  Aaron and I returned in 2018, at the behest of my late mother-in-law, who was dying of cancer.  “Go with your friend,” she insisted.

After her passing, Jen and I decided to spend the summer of 2019 at the cottage.  We were not able to go at all in 2018.  We made up for lost time, but in 2020 the pandemic hit!  Aaron and I were not able to return to Toronto together since.

I always documented and edited these trips into videos.  I recently compiled all these videos (and some bonus stuff) into two live streams that you are able to watch below!  Both streams have bonus footage!  The first has a musical unboxing from Aaron.  The second stream has a brand new chat with Aaron that you have never seen before!

Aaron and I will be returning to “Taranna” in 2024.  Watch this space…

The Adventures of Tee Bone Man Chapter 14: Tee Bone Man and Superdekes Discover the Tao (An Intermission) (By Aaron KMA)

By Aaron KMA

THE ADVENTURES OF TEE BONE MAN CHAPTER 14:
Tee Bone Man and Superdekes Discover the Tao (An Intermission)

It was noon on Sunday
Superdekes and Tee Bone Man
were tired and sore

Saving the whole world
winter, spring, summer, autumn
was wearing them out

They needed a break
they discussed break-time options
with hair of the dog

The tunes were on low
to lessen future headaches
Superdekes spoke first

“After Mars, I’m beat,”
Tee Bone Man agreed in full
“Let’s relax,” said he

“We also agree
that we don’t need to travel
as we’ve seen it all”

Superdekes nodded
“we just need folks to chill out
for a little bit”

They thought for a while
but neither man could succeed
in making a plan

Time passed, chill was had
great food, great drinks, great tunes too,
as the lads thought and talked

And they stayed that way
convivial and happy
as time just crept by

There was nothing done
and there was nothing to do
and it all felt right

Soon a week was gone
the phone had not yet rung once
finally they saw

Superdekes laughed first
“Yo Bro, you see what’s up?
We just had our break!”

Tee Bone Man smiled huge
“Dude, you’re right and it’s so right,
just what we needed!”

It was night again
so the lads got comfy, and
good fortune was theirs

THE ADVENTURES OF TEE BONE MAN:  PHASE ONE

Chapter Zero:  Tee Bone Man – Origins (by LeBrain)

Chapter One: A Friend in Need (by LeBrain)

Chapter Two: Hell Freezes Over (by Harrison Kopp)

Chapter Three: Hell Ain’t A Bad Place to Be (by LeBrain)

Chapter Four: Tee Bone Man and the Rink of…Doom? (by Aaron KMA)

Chapter Five: The Super Duper Vault (by John T. Snow)

Chapter Six: Tee Bone Man Goes to Camp (by LeBrain)

Chapter Seven:  The Revenge of Common Knowledge (by LeBrain)

Chapter Eight:  Tee Bone & Deke’s Time Travelling Adventure (by 80sMetalMan)

Chapter Nine:  Castle Communications (by Harrison Kopp)

Chapter Ten:  The Case of the Lost Iron Maiden Socks (by LeBrain)

Chapter Eleven:  A Tee Bone Man Christmas (by all five of us)

Chapter Twelve:  Lost In Space (by John T. Snow)

Chapter Thirteen:  Clip Show (by LeBrain)

Chapter Fourteen:  Tee Bone Man and Superdekes Discover the Tao (An Intermission) (By Aaron KMA)

Chapter Fifteen:  Max The Axe (by Harrison Kopp) Coming soon

Chapter Sixteen:  “The Epic” parts 1, 2 and 3 (by Harrison Kopp) Coming this spring

Chapter Seventeen:  Tee Bone Man vs. Edie Van Heelin’ (by LeBrain & California Girl) Coming this summer – conclusion to Phase One

 

THE EXTENDED LEBRAINIVERSE

The Adventures of Edie Van Heelin’:  Edie vs. Tommy Lee in the Bouncy Castle of Doom! (By LeBrain)

The Adventures of Edie Van Heelin’:  Edie and the Quest for the Lost Lego (By LeBrain with Harrison Kopp)

The Adventures of Edie Van Heelin’:  Edie Van Heelin’s Canadian Vacation (By LeBrain)

The Adventures of Edie Van Heelin’:  Edie Van Heelin’s Canadian Vacation Part 2 (By LeBrain & California Girl) Coming soon

The Adventures of Edie Van Heelin’:  Edie Meets the Wolf (by LeBrain)

 

The Writer’s Room: Chapter One

The Writer’s Room:  It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like a Tee Bone Man Christmas

 

SURPRISE! A Tribute to Aaron from the Community! Featuring new video by Tee Bone!

The secret is out!  This show was a month in planning.  We have been wanting to do a tribute to AARON from the KMA for some time now, due to his passion for Community.  And tonight we finally did it, surprising him with a blindside like no other!

For the last month, Tee Bone has been secretly toiling away on his new magnum opus, like a Mr. Holland gone mad, with late nights and early mornings.

Now we can reveal the truth:  the Community that Aaron nurtured has repaid him in song.  The new track “Community” features our contributions and our tributes to the man.  The very first duet with Tee Bone and Meat together, and the first vocal contributions from LeBrain and Geoff Stephen in a Tee Bone song!  And we got to spring the surprise on him live!  His reactions are on video for you to see yourself.

We had a full house tonight with Harrison, Kevin, Sarah, Geoff, Meat, Deke, John Snow and Tee Bone all in the house with James and Aaron!  A first!

Key points:

  • Interview with Aaron and James begins at 15:30.
  • The surprise is sprung at 46:30, followed by the debut of the “Community” music video.

If you were able to watch live, thank you for helping making Aaron’s party something truly special!

 

You will be able to buy “Community” on Bandcamp next week.  Wahoo!!

The KeepsMeAlive Saturday Special episode of the LeBrain Train!

The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano

Episode 97 – The KMA Saturday Special

DO NOT miss this.  Join Harrison and I for a special Saturday evening show!  We replace the usual Friday night chat with special guests…

AARON AND JAMES FROM THE KMA!

If you are reading this, then you are a part of the community!  The Keeps Me Alive guys were here first, rocking us since 2006 with their passion for music.  James is the “concerts guy” where reviews are concerned, and this is his very first time going live with us.  Harrison will be grilling James on just why he wanted me to eat a worm and a stick for $7.  Meanwhile, I’ll be asking about beginnings.  Why did these two guys decide to start writing about music anyway?  And what’s the secret to their longevity?

This show has been a long time coming!  I have wanted to spotlight the KMA for a year and a half now.  Tonight will be a good time, I promise you.

 

Saturday February 5, 7:00 PM E.S.T. on YouTube, Facebook and also Facebook!

 

O Canada! Friday Live Streamin’ returns with “Maple” flavoured lists!

The list format returns!  It’s another “Nigel Tufnel Top Ten”, and this time it’s a doozy.  How do you narrow down the top albums from an entire country, and arrange them on a list?  I dunno, but there are some of us that are going to try.  Wish us luck.

How you get in on the mayhem?  It’s easy.  Just go to Facebook: MikeLeBrain on Friday August 14 at 7:00 pm E.S.T.  There you can participate in the fun with your commentary, as we count down…

THE TOP 11 CANADIAN ALBUMS OF ALL TIME

No greatest hits; all genres permitted.  A monster of a task indeed.  Four lists have been submitted.  Co–hosts have been booked.  If all goes according to plan (which it should due to an hour-long test stream last week) we will have two of the most knowledgeable Canadian music fans on board for what promises to be an epic discussion.

Join me tonight at 7:00 pm E.S.T., eh?

Casual Saturday Bonus Test Guest Stream starring Mr. Books and Sarca Sim!

Gratitude to Kevin / Buried On Mars for helping me get started with Streamyard.  Thanks to the insightful Mr. Mars, and thanks to the perseverance of Mr. Books, today we accomplished a few goals:

  1. Successfully test streamed with the one and only Aaron of the KMA on board, full video and audio, for the first time ever.
  2. Added a third participant.  The test volunteer today was the awesome Sarca from Caught Me Gaming!
  3. Cleared up some other issues when streaming with a co-host, such as mirrored images and working from a PC.

This test stream went on for an hour as our impromptu chat developed.  We talked music, guitars, the Community, Covid, school, Paul Rudd, and Skip the Dishes.  This little unofficial bonus episode is now available for you to watch below.  But the significance is huge to me.  Now I can have up to five additional co-hosts on future shows.  The game has changed.  The sky is the limit!

 

VOTE:

Does Aaron look like Paul Rudd?

Complete 80s KISS live stream! From Unmasked to H.I.T.S., unboxings and surprises!

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.

Or just enjoy the whole dang thing.

Saturday Live Stream! Guests Galore and Top Superhero Movies of all time!

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!

 

Sunday Chuckle: Ladano’s Wild Kingdom

As you know, I’ve been live streaming on weekends during lockdown. Well that’s not all!

Maybe you’ve caught a live instalment of Ladano’s Wild Kingdom too? I get these massive earthworms on the front lawn, and since we’re locked down with nothing else to do, people have been watching live streams of worms! For your Sunday Chuckle, here’s an episode of Ladano’s Wild Kingdom.

It’s an historic episode too. It’s the first one where James Kalyn offered me $7 to eat a worm and a stick!

 

#769.5: Paranormal Mail

As birthday celebrations creep into the following week, gifts continue to arrive!

Aaron of KMA fame is known far and wide for his generosity and creativity in finding the perfect gifts.  He was worried about this one.  Sending a digipack CD in a bubble mailer doesn’t always guarantee safe arrival.  He threw some plastic wrap around it as an extra layer of protection from the elements.  His precautions did the trick and now I am the happy owner of a signed copy of Alice Cooper’s Paranormal!

A great album, Paranormal is a fully-loaded deluxe double CD with a smoking live disc.  And now I have a signed copy to top it off.  Aaron and I briefly discussed what the hell would make someone trade in a signed Alice CD?  I didn’t have anything signed by Alice, until now.  This is a first for my collection.  Whatever the circumstances, I’m glad to be the benefactor.

Thanks Aaron — you know my “Paranoiac Personality” very well!