Nickelback back and gone

So as you can see (below) I covered Nickelback’s visit here to their hometown this weekend and mostly stood with the fans and shot pictures from a distance.

The production crew had been in town all week and I’d made friends with them including the director Nigel Dick, one of the most famous music video directors in the world. I had full permission from him and the highest ranking record company exec. I could reach to get access and while they were shooting B-roll stuff around town I did have full access.

When the band showed up they were surrounded by security, friends, family, record company lackey’s, a Much Music crew shooting a special and worst off an evil PR rep who made it her mission in life to keep me as far away from the band as possible. As the only media chasing them most of the time I was a pretty easy target. I managed enough OK shots for what I needed but I never did get to the band for even a simple comment let alone an interview.

As the “paper of record” for their home town I figured I had a good shot at talking to them, however briefly, and I figure if I’d ever gotten close enough and ask, they would have been happy to, but evil PR lady was impressively vigilant. I had less trouble getting close to Paul Martin and bigger celebrities than this band.

Anyway that story, which will be in the Calgary Sun in some form tomorrow, took up a big portion of my last week so I’m relieved to be done.

Thanks to everyone who suggested questions, especially the serious ones like Scott, Audrey, Stefanie and people like Joe who’s girlfriend wanted me to ask Chad if he's trying to look like Jesus or if it's just a coincidence. And by the way Marcel, there is a charity program in town where merchants give people a nickel back – dunno any details. Oh, and Tara I didn’t know anything about the drummer situation, that was exactly the kind of thing I was looking for.

Aside from that it’s just been more of the same, work, boredom, wah, wah, wah. Been some big news stories recently, crazy London terrorist situation, and of course that sport thingy with the puck…meh.

I kinda liked not having hockey this year (right Manny & Jess?). Less disruption to the real TV sched. I had a lot of trouble taking anything about the multi-millionaire bitch fest all that seriously. I got a kick out of how they reported hockey players having salaries rolled back to $2 million or whatever as a loss, not as people being paid millions to play, like that actually counts for anything. The MINIMUM salary increased to $450,000 a season – for playing a GAME half the year! I better stop, as I think about it I’m getting angry.

It reminds me of a headline I saw on a business page once about the CEO of a major Canadian corporation having his compensation cut from something like $10 to $7 million because the company performed poorly that year…um, let me get this straight, you’re going to punish him by paying him $7 million?!

In other thrilling news from my random thoughts I met a guy who’s last name is Rice today and he’s from the neighbouring town (village? Hamlet?) of Cereal - I liked that but he didn’t seem to ever have put it together before.

Speaking of Cereal this corner of the world seems to have more than it’s share of oddly named communities like: Batter Junction, Bymore, Scapa, Bonar, Hartshorn, Endiang, Bullpound, Finnegan, Western Monarch, Michichi, Dinosaur, Hemaruka, Sedalia, Loyalist, Monitor, Kirriemuir, Naco…etc. Teeheehee, Bonar!

Another random thought: what's the deal with movie & TV scenes at airport boarding gates? Those areas have been strictly passenger only for decades and everyone knows it, yet every dramatic airport greeting or declaration of everlasting love happens right at the boarding gate, what’s up with that? Night.
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Homer J. - "A gun is not a weapon Marge, it's a tool. Like a butcher knife, or a harpoon, or... or an alligator"