Okay, so the 'stupid editor' in question is me.  But I was away for a while, and then I was sick, and then I went away again for a weekend....and then I got sick again....and then, uh, locusts!  Oh yeah, and I ran out of gas! And I was abducted by aliens....well not really, I just got lazy for awhile.  Hey, it's summer.  I get lazy in the summer.  And winter.  And those other two half-seasons we get that last for about 4 days each.  but I've got lots of stuff ready to be processed and rolled out.  And it won't disappoint!  Well, no more then it usually does.

"C" ya real Soon!

Stevie Z

PS - Honest, another episode of The Sieve! is coming shortly!

Okay, it's not big like an internationally paradigm-shifting kind of thing that's going to change your life.  Or maybe it will, if you're a sad little person.  Not that being a sad little person is a bad thing, because after all, I am too.  Hey, let's start a Facebook group for Sad Little People.  We'll call it the....um...uh...well, how about the Sad Little People Group.  Of course, there already is a Sad Little People's group....it's called Parliament.

Oh, SNAP!

What was I talking about again ?  Oh yeah. the big news.  Well, my website is finally up and running.  Well, parts of it, anyways.  Enough that you can check out some of the things that will shape your life for years to come. 

Point yer mouse on over the badlybent.ca and you'll find 3 important things:

1) A link back to this page, for people who are looking for The Sieve!  (Okay, granted, that's not really that big a deal, because why would you go to that site just to come to this site?  I mean, if you're reading this you obviously are here, so why would you go to badlybent.ca and then come back here?  Makes no sense, unless you're just killing time.  If that's the case, check out my new cities here and here.

B) A link to my new blog.  Instead of using this site as a blogging site (because it was never really designed to be such in the first place) I finally got my new site here set up to blog at.  I'm trying to get into the habit of doing it regularly.  What will probably happen is that I'll post a few times a week, and then incorporate some of that into The Sieve! Podcast.  Because I am all about recycling.  I'll also put links at the blog that will allow you to download my show directly from there too, cuz I know you're almost as lazy as me.

III)  A link to the site for Little Jerry, a band I'm in.  Okay, to be honest, that part of the site still isn't up and running yet, and I don't have one of those cute "under construction" pages there as a placeholder instead.  It will just take you to a stupid looking site for now that really doesn't say anything.....kind of like this one, but less so.  So, don't bother going there yet, cuz it isn't there to go to.  Once it's completed though it'll have photos and tunes to download, and movies to view.  All of Little Jerry (sorry about that).

So, there ya go.  I know all this news has probably been somewhat traumatic for you, so grab a Taps beer and lie down with a cold cloth on your face. 

Peace, Love, and Ports,

Stevie Z

 

.......and I don't care who knows it!!

Okay, I'll confess.  I've had a crush on Joan Jett (yes, of "Joan Jett and the Blackhearts" fame) since I first saw her in 1981 on my TV screen, clad head to toe in black leather (her, not me) confessing that she loved rock and roll, and desiring me to put another dime in the jukebox, baby.  Yummy.

I guess I would have been about 10 or 11 back then (but I was mature beyond my years in those days) so when I heard her growl "I knew he must have been about seventeen...oh yeah, she was talking to me.  Now, I'm 36, and while I haven't gotten any better looking with age (only wider, really) she has grown even more amazingly gorgeous.  Hey, don't take my word for it, look over yonder.  And if I could look that good at 47 years old, it'd be great.  Hell, I'd love to look like that at 47.  Again, Yummy.

My wife and I have a little "list" of celebrities that we would allow each other to, um, let's just say "have a pajama party with" if ever invited.  For example, Joan Jett is on mine (Angelina Jolie used to be, but she seems to have run out of crazy) and suffice it to say that if Garth Brooks ever showed up at our front door and asked about The Luverly Michelle she would probably break the sound barrier packing her toothbrush.

I've always admired artists who flung their fingers (the middle one, the good one, not the pinky) into the face of the music industry.  I know, tons of artists have over the years, but most of them seem to do it for the same reason that a 2 year old throws a temper-tantrum - to be difficult and to get attention.  It seems that over the years Ms. Jett has done her thing her way and screw you if you don't like it.  Not an in-your-face SCREW YOU!! type of thing but more of a dignified "excuse me, but screw you because I want to do it this way, and it's my life and my career."

Now, I could be waaay off here, and please Ms. Jett, feel free to email me at badlybentpub@yahoo.ca if I am wrong, and to, say, spank me for my errors, but she really seems to be the kind of independent rocker the world needs more of.  Even if we ground up all the Pseudo-Punk of groups like Sum 41, Charlotte's Web, err, sorry, Good Charlotte and all the rest of the wanna be's it still wouldn't equal the amount of real, honest to goodness punk in Joan Jett's left motorcycle boot.

And to all you young girls who look up to girls like Avril Lavigne as an example of a "Rocker Chick".  Forget her, and start acting more like a certain hot sexy 47 year old who loves Rock and Roll, and has a Bad Reputation.

Thanks for the great tunes, and keep em coming.  Check out her music.

Peace, Love and Punk,
Stevie Z

PS - Oh, Ms. Jett - that offer to spank me still stands.

PPS - And yes, all you Destroyers of Dreams out there, I know I don't stand a chance, for many, many reasons.

.....he's (in my humble, but accurate opinion) most likely a lying sack of crap who deserves to be kicked repeatedly in the nards, and seeing him with the words "Right Honorable" in front of him makes me want to hurl my dinner, but we, and by "we" I mean the Canadian sheep....err, people, and not "we" as in "me" elected him......and then "we", and by "we" I mean the Liberal Government, also elected by "us", and by "us" I actually do mean "me" this time, gave him 2.1 Million Dollars at one point in a libel settlement.....hey, I just noticed that the words "libel" and "liberal" are pretty damn close to each other...hmmm......um.....where was I? 

   Oh yeah, he's our ex-Prime Minister, but, like it would seem George W. Bush is fated to go down as one of the most detested Presidents ever (say what you will, I'm talking public opinion and history here, "Lyin" Brian Mulroney will probably go down as our most hated Prime Minister ever, and probably always will be unless some future Prime Minister gets caught beating Kittens or something.  Which, face it, could happen.  Don't kid yourself kiddies, our politicians can be pretty evil too, just not with guns and stuff.

    Oh yeah, and his son Ben makes me want to throw things at my television too.

    Peace, Love, and Prime Ministers,
    Stevie Z

Hey, funny thing.  I had about 5 paragraphs here, with links and everything....and it all disappeared except for the last 2 lines.  Neat, huh?  Thank you, Oh Wonderful and Mysterious Computer and Internet gods...

Out, but not Down.

Yeah well, I know it happens to the best of us.

My Cat Sake (that's pronounced SAK-ay, like the Japanese rice wine) has a very expressive tail.  I've noticed this before, but never so much as tonight.  "Why tonight?" I can hear you ask.   Well, tonight she played the guitar.  Oh, it's not like she fretted the notes and played an AC-DC riff or Smoke on the Water or anything....I mean c'mon, she's a freaking cat.  But she did play the opening chord from "Hard Day's Night" by the Beatles.  Do you realize that means that she can play more guitar then most people on the planet!?

That's some heavy stuff, I'll tell you what.

She also uses her tail in other ways as well.   When she's really hyped up about something (usually she gets excited about chasing Sushi (um, my other cat, not the Japanese dish) around the house, or running after dust specks and such, not as it getting hyped about my latest song or anything) she'll go blazing by like 10 cats on fire and her tail will be puffed out to freaking here and sticking straight up in the air.  Oh yeah, that's another thing, I've read somewhere that when cats are proud and stuff, they stick their tails up in the air as if to say "Yo, look at me, I'm the shiz."  I've noticed that Sake walks around like that all the time.  She must really think her poop don't stink.  Well, I can assure you that it very much does stink.  A lot. 

Also, when I'm petting her and she's really digging it, and she goes into what I call "prancing" mode I've noticed that her tail will slooooooowly start to puff up.  It's really quite funny/slash/comical.

I guess that's about it for my cat's tail.  Oh yeah, it's really furry too, but I assumed that would go without saying.  But now I've said it.  Thanks for making me do that.  I'm basically a very lazy person and would prefer to type as little as possible, you know, and when you make me state the obvious like "my cat has a fuzzy tail" then that's a whole lot of extra typing that I shouldn't have to bother with.   Haeiou.  <-----That's me sighing from all the effort of all the extra typing you're making me do.  LOOK, I'M STILL TYPING!!

Well, that's it for this post.  No podcast yet.  It's basically written, and I'm going to be recording and posting it this weekend.  Oooh, feel the excitement.  I can feel it, can you feel it?  I knew ya could.

In case you're curious, besides publishing another episode of my podcast this weekend, I'm also doing a whole wack of digging in my backyard, taking a truck full of debris to the landfill, hitting the farmer's market to do  my shopping for the week (I suggest you do the same - support your local farmers and local growers!) and keeping an eye on my cat's tail to see what other fascinating tricks it's capable of.

Peace, Love and Passionate (tails)
Stevie Z

Oh wow, look at that, no links this time.....damn.

Happy St. Patrick's Day !

Well, okay, actually I'm Ukrainian.  And apparently a little bit Welsh.  But alllllll awesome!  *cough*  Okay.

Just wanted to give a shout out to my Irish Peeps....and don't give me that "on St. Paddy's day everyone is Irish" crap.....if I were actually Irish I'd be kind of peeved at that sentiment.   If you want more information about St. Patrick's day itself, check out the Wikipedia entry here. 

As far as my activities today, I'm going to the farmer's market to do the grocery shopping for the week, then to a bellydancing recital.  Pretty Irish, eh?  Yeah, well, maybe not, but I've got a few pints of 'the black stuff' that I'll be quaffing down tonight, so that oughta count for something.  Oh yeah, and I have this for ya too:

The presidents from all the major breweries in the world met for a conference.  After the conference, a few of them went to the bar for a drink.  The president from Corona says "I'd like a Corona please, the world's finest cerveza."  The bartender gives him one.  The president from Anheuser-Busch says "I'd like a Budweiser, the King of Beers"  The bartender opens one for him.  The man from Coors says "I'd like a Coors please, the Silver Bullet".  The bartender shakes his head and passes him one.  The president of Molson likewise orders an Export.

Then the president from Guinness sits down and says "give me a Coke."  The bartender is a little taken aback, but gives him what he ordered.  The other presidents look over at him and ask, "Why aren't you drinking a Guinness?"

The Guinness president replies, "Well, if you guys aren't drinking beer, neither will I."

Tee hee.

Oh yeah, about that whole "podcasting thing" I'm supposed to be doing - the episode about Michelle and I in the hospital is getting longer and longer, so I'm going to break it into 2 episodes.  Look for the first installment tonight.  I know, I know.....I'm excited too!

Peace, Love and Pee,  (Get it?  When you drink a lot of beer......)

Stevie Z

Hello all my little Sieve-illians! Okay, I know this episode is late.  At least there's something to be said for consistancy!  And, at least this week I have a fairly good excuse.  I've been playing Nurse to The Luverly Michelle (TM) for the last four days.  She had her wonky gallbladder taken out (as in taken out of her body, not as in taken out to dinner) on Thursday, and I've been looking after her since.  Damn she's lucky to have me.  I'm lucky to have her too, but shhhhh - don't tell her that. 

All of which means that I haven't had time to record the 'cast.  I've had time to write it, of course - 8 hours in a hospital is a great place to write....and also a great source of material.  Hopefully, I'll get to record Monday.  Tuesday at the latest.  Promise. 

Oh yeah, and by the way, this beautiful photo that accompanies this post?  Apparently you can get jewellery made from gallstones.  Oh no, I'm not kidding.  In fact, if you want to see something really disturbing, just type "gallstones" into Google Images.  Excuse me, I have to go now, wife is ringing her bell.

Peace, Love and Protractors,

Stevie Z

 

Well, just a quick little blawg post to let everyone know that my wife, The Luverly Michelle (TM) is going under the knife tomorrow.  Turns out she's got a wonky gallbladder.  I'll go into a little more detail on the next episode, as there are a couple of interesting stories about 8 hour stays in hospital waiting rooms, calling ambulances from hospital parking lots, and the kind of stories that can only really come from a country with socialized medicine.

So, wish her luck (heck, wish me luck too - I'm the poor bastard who has to sit there in the waiting room for who knows how long....just kidding)

Peace, Love and Patients (see what I did there ?? Well, didja?)

Stevie Z

 

.......that it takes 20 episodes of a podcast to "get there".  Apparently the first 10 are just figuring out "what the ?!?!" , the second 10 are finding "your stride" and then it's smooth sailing.  In order to power through to the point where I actually want to be, I'm going to do 12 very brief 1 minute episodes over the next 2 days.  Just kidding.   I would appreciate as much listener feedback as possible, however, because I've got some tweaks planned over the next couple of episodes, and I'd like as much input as possible.  So get off yer bums and fire me off an email or audio comment.   Hmmm, come to think of it, since most people type sitting down, I guess get on your bums and fire me off that email.

My email address is (and I'm typing this carefully) badlybentpub@yahoo.ca  Most helpful suggestions win a prize.  Oh, nothing that spectacular, and I haven't figured out what it is yet, but it'll be really expensive.  Or weird.  Or just lame and pointless.   But, you may get kudos on the podcast...and really...that would just be the highlight of your life, wouldn't it now ?

Oh yeah, filed under "Better Late Then Never" would be a shout-out to Steve at Steve's Midlife Crisis Podcast.  He's up for a Newbie Award at the Podcast Peer Awards.  Find em here.  Do it soon, the competition is almost over.  Oh yeah, you have to be a podcaster to vote.  (Hence the term "peer". )And check out his podcast here.  It's worth the listen. Would I lie to you ?  Well, actually I would, but not about this....only if it would profit me somehow, and as far as I know, there are no cheques in the mail. (hint hint Steve.......)

Anyhoo,

Peace, Love, and Pickles

Stevie Z

 

Hey all !   If you live in the Greater Toronto Area, and are in or thinking of getting into podcasting (which I don't recommend if you have Bengal Cats, by the way) then come on down to Podcamp Toronto this weekend.  There will be all sorts of seminars and such on an amazingly wide variety of topics.

If you're going to go, let me know and I'll keep an eye out for ya.

Here's a link to the website.

 

Peace, Love and Podcamps,

Stevie Z