mark tonin

math was never my strong point.

Even after a few days, the MarcO avatar is freaking me out.

Here's another math problem to solve:

Let X represent the number of people that show up to party on Friday night at the Boathouse.

Let Y represent the capacity of the Boathouse.

If X > Y, solve the equation.

On a Tigger-related note, I first met Scot at the May 2001 Come Together Music Fest. A few weeks later, Fat Cats were playing in Waterloo, at Time Square I think. There was this guy at the show that kept staring at me, and I kept staring back ... I knew this guy from somewhere, but I wasn't sure where from ... finally we pieced together that we had met up at Frontier Town, and realized that we now lived in the same town. It was the start of a close friendship, filled with many road trips to shows and lots of laughs.

Almost five years later, it warms my heart to be a part of Scot's 40th birthday party celebration at The Boathouse. I look forward to the celebration, in honour of a close friend with a huge amount of positive party energy.

Peace, Mark

P.S. For the mathematically challenged, here is the solution to above equation: Get there early.

I was doing some math and came up with the following equation:

Scot Regan + lots of friends + 40th birthday party + Fat Cats + The Boathouse = Get there early

Peace, Mark

Huge congratulations to everyone involved in pulling this thing off!

Peace, Mark

Happy birthday to you Margaret ... thanks for sharing your wonderful energy with so many of us!

Peace, Mark

hey mr tonin! are there still tickets available for the show?

Hey Tim,

As far as I know it's not a ticketed event, it's a first-come first-served gathering ... $5 at the door gets you in.

Peace, Mark

Hey Sara, great to see you posting on this board!

Looking forward to Friday ... it's going to be a blast ... tigger will be bouncin' and so will the rest of us!

I'll email you today re: a get-together.

Peace, Mark

I was playin' a little music with Rusty from the Clysdayles last night. Actually' date=' I'm not sure if they still call themselves that or not. I know that Rusty is still playing with Tim from the Clysdales, and another guitar player, but I'm not sure if it's the same band or not. I'll ask him the next time I see him.

[/quote']

Thanks Mark, I knew someone else on here would know who I was talking about. Say hello to those two guys for me eh. Haven't seen Rusty since CTMF last year & I never seem to cross paths with Tim anymore so if you could pass along my contact info (email), it would be appreciated. If you wouldn't mind that is.

Cheers

Will do Greg ... I should see Rusty in the near future, and I may see Tim at the arena at some point while my son is playing hockey.

Peace, Mark

And why do hot dogs come in packages of twelve while hot dog buns come in packages of eight?

Aloha,

Brad

Once again Brad, you made me howl with laughter!

Peace, Mark

Nelson Ledges July 28 & 29 ... hmmmmmmmmmm.

Nelson Ledges looks like a great place to be at for a summer weekend.

Peace, Mark

Hey Babsy!

Here is a link to a thread about a Christmas show that was played by Blackberry Blossum:

Rose Garland / Blackberry Blossum message board link

Dave Matthews, guitar player in Rose Garland (and Blackberry Blossum), is a fabulous player.

I was playin' a little music with Rusty from the Clysdayles last night. Actually, I'm not sure if they still call themselves that or not. I know that Rusty is still playing with Tim from the Clysdales, and another guitar player, but I'm not sure if it's the same band or not. I'll ask him the next time I see him.

Hope to see you soon ... like a week from today for Tigger's party!

Peace, Mark

Oysterhead is hardly a Trey solo project. Trey is not the leader of that band. If anything, (and judging by his role in The Police), Oysterhead is Copeland's baby or a fully equal group dynamic.

I agree that Trey is not the leader of this band. He doesn't come through that way on the cd, nor did he live when I saw the Toronto show. I thought it was Claypool's baby, but a good friend of mine who is a big Copeland fan thought that he drove this band. So I guess there really is no leader, or three leaders ... and it makes for a band with huge potential.

I'd love to see this band again. The cd is intense, as was the live show that I saw in Toronto.

Peace, Mark

My gift was late .......

but I knew it would be, and it was worth the wait!

Thanks guigsy for a separate gift for each of the five senses. Very creative, and the gift for my sight (the framed Kimock photo from the Toronto show we were at) looks amazing.

Sorry for the thread hijack!

Peace, Mark

Happy birthday hugs to you, Lex!

Peace, Mark

Thanks Diesel Doug and Diesel Dog!

As soon as I free up some space on my hard drive I'll be downloading this one.

Here is something that I wrote shortly after the party:

I am so thankful to be a part of this wonderful community of amazing people. I had the absolutely, positively best birthday party imaginable on Friday night … I was as high as a kite from the people energy and the after-buzz continues. Friday night’s festivities reaffirmed my belief that I have connected with a special group of people … people that love music and artistic expression, people that love to let loose and have a blast, people that are genuine, caring, open-minded and respectful of others, people that make me feel alive and comfortable when they are around. Words cannot express how fortunate I am to have met all of you … I am a happier and healthier person because of it. Some long-time friends of mine also came to the party and they were amazed at the community of people that came together on Friday night … friendly, fun, energetic, intelligent and extremely kind were words that they used to describe the people that they met … I couldn’t agree more.

Thank you to everybody that made it out on Friday night, and thanks to those of you that couldn’t be there but that sent your best wishes with posts, emails, phone calls, cards, etc. The love and positive energy that was communicated to me was almost overwhelming at times … I felt so warm inside on Friday night and feel that way now as I think of your smiling faces and all of your kindness. Thanks as well for the gifts … I honestly did not expect people to give me gifts and I was blown away by the generosity and creative energy that went into some of the gifts and surprises on Friday night. I hope that I have thanked and will continue to thank people for all that they gave and did.

On a musical note, thanks the guys in Harvard Mouse … we’ve know each other for years, jammed for years, been friends for years … thanks for the magical musical moments and for the friendship. It was a blast playing with you on Friday night! And to Diesel Dog … WOW! … thanks for playing at my party, and not only for playing, but for letting it rip and for the musical surprises … how about the Pink Floyd Brick in the Wall jam in the middle of Chico?!?! Or the Shakedown Street > Fishin’ with the Skipper > Shakedown Street?!?! Did I imagine all of this?!?!

Once again, thanks to everyone that came out and made my birthday party one of the best days of my life and a day that I will never forget!

Peace, love and hugs to all of you,

Mark

I'm so glad there's finally more and more DD starting to build up in the Archive. Bring it on!

Ditto.

And I hope that the July 9, 2004 show makes it up onto the archive. If I remember correctly, there was some great music played by Diesel Dog that night, including a Chico > Another Brick in the Wall > Chico and a Shakedown Street > Fishin' with the Skipper > Shakedown Street. I'd love to hear that again!

Peace, Mark

A friendly correction ... this was not the night of my 40th Birthday Bash ... the birthday party was on July 9, 2004. Thoughts of the "bass cake" and Tonin t-shirts from that night, along with the great music, still make me smile with delight and feel warm inside.

Having said that, this May 14 show with Diesel Dog and Jomomma was another great show at the Lanc!

Peace, Mark

Hey all,

Scot Regan turns 40 at the end of this month. Come on out and celebrate at what will undoubtedly be a super-fun night.

When? Fri. Feb. 24 starting at 10 p.m.

Where? The Boathouse in Victoria Park, Kitchener

Who? Tigger, Friends & Fat Cats

Hope to see some of you there.

Peace, Mark

Wishing you the best for your Birthday Bash Jay! Thanks for playing at the FUNdraiser ... you guys sounded sweet and a lot of people told me they realy enjoyed your set of music.

Peace, Mark

All I know is "Cully's Mix 2006" is hot!

Peace, Mark

Hey Skanks,

Thanks for coming out in a big way to make the FUNdraiser such a successful event on so many levels. We definitely had some fun while raising some funds for the jambands.ca community.

Although it is difficult to calculate exactly how many people attended the event, we had between 400 and 500 people there, including paying customers, band members, volunteers, and guests.

The event raised approximately $2100 after expenses. The plan is to put this money back into the jambands.ca community, in order to help this web site and community become bigger and more vibrant than it already is. Bouche, Keri and I will be discussing different alternatives for using this money, and ultimately bouche will make the call as to how to use the funds.

Thanks again to everyone who supported this event and helped to make it so successful!

Peace, Mark

Hey Ricky,

Glad you found your conga!

If the mic stand is not Diesel Dog's, it is probably Harvard Mouse's.

Not sure about the rest of the stuff.

Peace, Mark

It is Tuesday morning, and I am finally starting to put my mind back together after having it blown apart at the event. I am still somewhat stunned that my hopes for the night materialized in such a big way. Here are some thoughts, in random order.

I love music, which is why I get involved in events such as this one. I love playing music, I love listening to it and dancing to it, and I love helping to support a community that appreciates live music. This show was a huge buzz for me on so many levels, as I got to be co-promoter, musician, and an appreciative dancing fan all in one night.

Diesel Dog stepped up to the plate in a big way to help out downstairs. It was their pa equipment, drum kit and bass rig, and they looked after the sound all night downstairs and did a great job. Thank you so much guys, it has always been a treat working with you, as not only do you play great music, but you also are so willing to do what it takes to make things happen.

The sound upstairs was superb. No, it was better than that. Thank you to Eric Warren and Sherwood Systems for the huge amount of professional sound equipment, and for Matt Knischewsky for making it sound so incredible. As Wi!!y said to me, it was unbelievable how loud and yet how clear and clean the sound was ... it felt like I was swimming in sound. I would love to have that sound system running at all of my shows, and would gladly make it happen if people are willing to pay the extra money for it. It was a like a dream come true when I looked out from the side of the stage into the audience while Fat Cats were letting it rip, and saw 200 people appreciating it in a huge way. One of my all-time favourite bands, sounding as good as any band I've ever heard, playing music that had 200 friends either mesmorized in awe or shaking their bones like there was no tomorrow.

To my Harvard Mouse band mates and extended mouse family ... thanks for being such an integral part of the dream come true. Nothing is more enjoyable than playing music with you, especially when we head off into uncharted musical territory while jamming, where time ceases to exist and we live in the now.

To What The Thunder Said, Superfly, High Plains Drifter, and Organic Groove, thank you so much for playing at the event. I enjoyed what I heard from each band, and I heard lots of positive comments from people about all of the music that was played throughout the night.

Once again Keri, it was a treat working with you on this show. You understand what needs to happen to put on a show, and you’re willing to work hard to make it happen.

Esau, the picture that you won was donated by Guigsy.

I am sure that I am going to miss some names, and I apologize in advance for that, but thanks to all of the volunteers who helped with promotion, ticket sales, running the door, room setup and teardown, donated merchandise, pre and post show gatherings, picture taking, recording, etc. … Iliana, Becky, Scott, Barry, Sean, Scot, Schwa, Margaret, Julie, Blair, Mud, Cargo, Swifty, Jen, Floyd, Chris, Cary, Wi!!y, Leanne, etc. etc. etc. No event like this happens without the help and support of a lot of people.

Thanks to The Lanc for providing such a relaxed environment for a show of this nature. I would love to do this again, either as a fundraiser or as a winter festival.

We are still finalizing the numbers from the night, and I will publish them soon, once the last bits of money have been collected and bills have been paid. We definitely raised some funds while having some fun, and the money raised will go back into this community to hopefully make it even more vibrant than it already is.

Time to sign off for now … more later.

Peace, Mark

It is Tuesday morning and I finally am ready to start posting various thoughts and replying to various threads about the FUNdraiser show. I had my head blown wide open at the event, as it was a huge success on so many levels.

Large Marge, thank you so much for initiating this button idea, and for following through on it. You get the award for "volunteer who went above and beyond the call of duty without being asked to do so." To be honest, when you first approached me about the button idea, I was a little hesitant because I thought "here's another idea that is a good one but that I'm going to have to spend some time managing." Wrong. Margaret totally made this happen on her own. Her own initiative, her own money, her own idea for the 5 buttons, etc. Plus she also printed a huge number of photos and hung them up at the Lanc, most of them in the staircase. I didn't ask, I didn't expect it ... it just happened.

Thank you Margaret!

Peace, Mark

My strategy worked:

Hang out with brother (or sister or friend) when you are 8 or 9 years old.

Somehow get pack of cigarettes at that age.

Hide behind school with brother, sister or friend and smoke the whole pack as quickly as possible.

Feel very ill and lose all motivation to smoke ever again.

Ok, maybe that strategy only works for some people. My brother still started smoking later on ... but has fairly recently quit.

On a related note, I refuse to get moral about smoking or any choice that an adult makes about what to do with his or her body. But it is a drag the number of people that I know (including students that I teach) that wish they could quit but can't. And personally, cigarette smoke really does make me feel like sh*t. I think I must be allergic to it, even moreso that the average person.

We've had some excellent conversations about this topic in a few of my recent classes, which is why I was intrigued by this post.

Although I definitely don't seriously think that we should give cigarettes to kids as a prevention strategy, I do see time and time again how important prevention is.

Peace, Mark

Sorry for the double post, but a few people have suggested that I mention this in a separate thread, as not everyone will see it in the FUNdraiser thread.

[blurb]

There is an article about jambands.ca and the FUNdraiser show in this week's ECHO magazine. Hard copies of the magazine are distributed throughout the KW and Guelph region, and the online version of the article can be found here:

ECHO jambands.ca article

[/blurb]

Thanks Denise and ECHO for the informative and supportive article. Hopefully the story will help to bring some more great people into this community.

Peace, Mark