1pm or so Monday, Deeruncember 31^st

2012 had a lot of ups and downs for me. Everything is different  to me, lots of change good and bad.  I survived surviving brain cancer and was released from WRC on Thursday, July 26^th.  From Tuesday, February 5^th 2008- July 26^th 2012, I was almost paralyzed and had to be fed by Kim or my parents, then on TPN for a long time, then in my old room in the Pasqua Hospital for a week because of “sludge” in my gallbladder in November of 2009. In Room 333, that’s Mitch’s bands name now.  The same room I was in for a year battling cancer.  I think it was 2011 or 2010 when I could eat on my own and drink through a straw finally.  Now I can actually hold a cup and drink out of it, go into the kitchen and get my own beverage or food.  Kim looked at me like I was crazy when I went to the kitchen and returned to the living room with 2 beer.   I told her “I’m working smarter not harder!”.

2013 will be full of accomplishments hopefully!  New condo around October 3^rd if all goes according to plan, more laps around the track at the field house, guitar again, speech exercise/therapy and hopefully singing again. Someday I’ll be able to walk on my own, don’t know when, but it’s gonna happen, I’m stubborn!  The only negative thing in 2013 is that I will be 33 in January and our dog will be 7.  I have no desire to get old. “………..I’m on my knees.  I’m dancin’ on my grave. I’m runnin’ through the fire.  I never wanna die.  I never wanna die……………….”-you know!

Everybody in town be ready to help us move in October, we’ll supply you with the finest mix for drinks or beer and probably pizza or something for supper.  Just because you’re special!  Sorry Kayll no crock pots to give away this time :(!

Thanks Klimer, I have the photo of our band that you gave me at the last Big Wreck show, good memories of a simpler time for all of us.  Rydell has his 5150 amp and his Marshall cabinet, so I guess I had my Randall amp.  The 2^nd time we played we played the multipurpose room at the  U of R, when there was 50 people in attendance. 

The only thing wrong with 2012 was that Tim couldn’t make it here for the holidays.  Neither did Rob and Diane or Rydell and Candice from Calgary and I don’t know how much time Chris Thompson and Carla had off or if they were here from Albania? 

This year I’m looking forward to.  I’m not scared of change anymore, the last 5 years have been a big change for me, so we’ll do it again in 2013. 

Happy New Year,

“Hubby Boo Boo” aka Christopher

chrisg.fraser@gmail.com

7pm, Sunday, Deeruncember 30^th

I haven’t posted on anyone’s wall just the photo of Porkchop junior.  Some stupid hacker got into my facebook account. When I woke up and saw this I deleted a status update on a distant relative and changed both of my passwords.  Just to be safe.  As I said on my facebook wall, share this with whoever you like that knows me, or needs to hear a good story.  They don’t need to “Friend” me on facebook or email me, they can just comment on this blog if they like.

I think just about everyone is/was a Micheal Jackson fan.  Then Nirvana came along in ’91 and changed music for everyone.  I didn’t get into the “grunge” scene until ’97 when the Foo Fighters 2^nd album was released.  I went straight to Alice in Chains.  In ’99 the Foo’s released their 3^rdalbum in November.  Still listen to old Alice in Chains.  All of those “grunge” bands would have been up the creek without a paddle if Nirvana didn’t release Nevermind, which I still listen to.

When AIC came out they were lumped in with the metal bands (I saw this on some documentary on MMM).  Imagine a world without Nirvana.  Country would be the same, pop is not as popular as it was before Nevermind was released but it’s on it’s way to the top again, hair metal went away and is classic rock now, etc.

Here is a 2 hour interview from last year about Nevermind with Dave Grohl, Krist Novaselich and producer Butch Vig.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUx_xETYnhM

Metallica was probably just as influential.  But I’m not a fan of them, still, or AC/DC.  Listen to every bass line in AC/DC “………….Oh, I’ll just ride the E string/harmonize up top on my 4 string bass………….”.  Now pop music sounds quite a bit like the country music nowadays and there are no new rock bands coming out that I enjoy.  The only one I can think of is My Darkest Days.

I still listen to the latest Foo album from the spring last year, and any Big Wreck album.  Then lot’s of different stuff like Norah Jones, Phillip Phillips. The Dave Matthews band, Bruno Mars, Kelly Clarkson, Micheal Jackson, INXS, old Finger Eleven, IME/I Mother Earth, Naveed by Our Lady Peace, any Soundgarden album, Harry Connick Jr., The Kings singers, Phantom of the Opera, Ignite by Econoline Crush, Stevie Wonder, old Prince, In Flames, Lamb of God, Trivium, Into Eternity, The Watchmen, etc.  Not enough hours in the day for me! 

I wasn’t a fan of Whitney Houston, she was using drugs for a long time and 1 day she probably did to much, and dug her own grave.  Sad to see anyone die, but did she ever consider what she was doing to her body? 

Jennifer Hudson on the Weight Watchers commercials, it’s not her song, it’s MUSE from their 2^ndalbum in the early 2000s.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmwRQqJsegw

Bye,

“Hubby Boo Boo” aka Christopher

chrisg.fraser@gmail.com

Later, early afternoon on Sunday,Deeruncember 30^th

We watched the Kennedy Center Honors “program” that we recorded the other day with the President and First Lady there.  Led Zeppelin was among the honorees there.   Heart played “Stairway to Heaven” which was very well done.  Foo Fighters played “Rock & Roll”.  They should have done something like this……………

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpJIFlDOi0o or this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vz9qlW1Ei4

“I know it’s only rock and roll, but I like it….”-The Rolling Stones

I’m not a huge fan of the Rolling Stones, just a handful of their songs.  What other band can sell-out 2 shows back to back in just over a week?  Just Foo Fighters as far as I know.  Prince even covered them quite a while ago at the Super Bowl half time show.  Prince never covers anybody, doesn’t see the point! 

Finally there will be a sequel to my two favourite cartoon movies.  Finding Nemo and Despicable Me!  We had to rush out and buy Despicable Me ASAP.  I don’t know how long I waited to buy Finding Nemo, wasn’t very long though!

I was definitely born in the wrong decade musically anyways.  I would’ve loved seeing Queen, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, The Cars, Prince,  Elvis Costello, etc. in their prime.  Brian May from Queen played the harmony guitar parts on this song….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2mnoH1Fypo

I’m not a fan of any Rush songs which you all know, but Geddy Lee played bass on this song…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhFO-Fql5YE

Couldn’t find the studio version, but this sounds the same.  Very good to me!

I was a fan of Disturbed when they released the first 2 albums, don’t care for them now, just like 5 Finger Death Punch.  To polished for me for a metal band.  The lead singer for Disturbed couldn’t sing live, he was very flat on every song I heard of theirs live.

Bye,

“Hubby Boo Boo” aka Christopher

chrisg.fraser@gmail.com

Sunday am, Deeruncember 30^th.

Watched a movie on Netflix, YIPEE!  I don’t like change, who does!  I don’t want to watch movies off of a laptop, iPad or Smart phone.  I don’t like those things!  To small and hard to see for me!  We watched a movie on our 51inch TV off of Kim’s laptop from Netflix.  We couldn’t figure out how to get the sound to work?  I can’t get to the back of the TV to help Kim out. We had to blast the sound from her laptop!  I could have called my dad, it was late though.  1-800-George.  Just like mom, 1-800-Kim, for computer questions.

As long as I have a cable/PVR box, big screen TV, iPod, head phones, stereo and a desktop computer I’ll be fine.  Getting movies, TV shows and music off the interweb sucks in my opinion.  I will purchase DVDs, blu-rays, local CDs and Tool CDs for as long as possible, until everything is on the interweb and everything else is considered an endangered species.

Yes, we have two flat screens, a 42” enhanced definition TV and a 51” 3D TV.  With one eye I can’t tell if a movie or show is 3D, I have no depth perception, and it makes Kim sick after a few minutes.  We have a blu-ray player that takes DVDs as well.  That’s all I need.  Our vehicle is a 2009 Santa Fe, 2010 is when they added blue tooth to the vehicles, we just had to buy new tires for it, it just got a stone chip that spread instantly into a crack all across the windshield.

I so don’t want a cell phone, iPad or laptop.  I’ve joined the Social Network, that’s enough for me.  I have no desire to “tweet” or be connected to the world all day everyday.  Face time and Skype don’t want or need them, tried face time on Kim’s iPhone with my parents, not a big fan of it.  With all of this technology nobody will have to actually speak to another person in privacy at, the grocery store, home, movie theater, concert, retail store, etc. 

Bye,

“Hubby Boo Boo” aka Christopher

chrisg.fraser@gmail.com

P.S. Check out Andy McKee on youtube, acoustic instrumental music, AWESOME!  Or “Hey ya” by Andrée 3000, acoustic version by some other guy, also AWESOME!

5:30pm, Saturday, Deeruncember 29^th

TV, movies and music are all different to everybody, for example(s).  Corey loves Seinfeld, me, not at all I can’t find the humour in it.

Everybody said “The Hangover” was hilarious.  Kim and I went to the movie theater to see it, by the end we were still waiting for it to get funny.  Neither of us even chuckled.  Mitch wasn’t a fan of “Bridesmaids” we loved it. Kevin Smith doesn’t care for any “Lord of the Rings”, just the “Star Wars” series.  I like both.

James loves Rush & Metallica and doesn’t care for Foo Fighters, prefers Thornley to Big Wreck.  I love Foo Fighters & Big Wreck.  Rush, Metallica & Thornley I’m not a fan of them much.  Everything I’ve heard by Rush (the entire catalog up to 2008 when I could download anything for free), they are some of the best at their instruments, Geddy Lee singing is like nails on a chalk board to me.  Thornley was not a bad filler until Big Wreck got their act together, didn’t sound much like BW to me though.

I’m not a huge fan of Metallica either. Just the song “Master of Puppets”, “I Disappear” and the Symphony orchestra album.

I don’t think Sherry and James are fans of “Friends”.  Kim & I watched the whole series on DVD (it’s me with all of it on DVD).  We came into our wedding reception to the “Friends” theme song.

Our first dance we argued over what song it should be.  Kim wanted Paul Brant’s “I do”, I wanted something far away from country music.  Then Jack Johnson released his 3^rd album “In Between Dreams” and we both loved that album.  Laurie bought the record and had it framed for us as a wedding gift, it’s in our hallway almost 8 years later.

This was our first dance song.     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u57d4_b_YgI

I can’t play a thing of his on guitar, before cancer or now!  I know Everette is not a fan, most of the metal heads in town probably aren’t either.  Regina has a HUGE metal scene, with 2 of my favourite metal bands in town.  Into Eternity and Itchy Stitches.  Into Eternity actually makes the effort to tour, Europe, Canada & America. 

Not everyone is a fan of metal music, but that’s on my iPod to fall asleep to.  Grunge and Metal, mostly.

Bye,

“Hubby Boo Boo” aka Christopher

chrisg.fraser@gmail.com  

Sorry, I had to sit through the first chorus of that.

DEERUNCEMBER 27^th, later on.

I don’t know of many people who enjoy Madonna.  Along with most of my friends and my immediate family who don’t like Nickelback, Theory of a Deadman, Default, 3 Doors Down, Puddle of Mud, etc.  Chad Kroeger from Nickelback is right. “Nickelback doesn’t suck 8,000,000 people don’t think so.”.  That was before they got HUGE with “How You Remind Me” all over the radio.

Let’s face the facts, Nickelback is the new Nirvana.  Nickelback is all over Regina’s Rock station, 104.9 The Wolf.  Nirvana changed the path of music for the 90s and Nickelback will/has changed music for the 2000s.  Oh well, just have to wait for a decade or so for someone else to change the musical landscape. Almost everyone still calls Dave Grohl the most influential musician in the past 21 years.

He swears like a sailor live, even offends me a bit, and that takes a lot!  I’ve only seen Foo Fighters 3 times, they should tour more of Canada when they end their hiatus. They’ve played with Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, Lemmy from Motorhead, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, Brian May and Roger Taylor from Queen, David Bowie, Slash, etc.

Everybody but Metallica and Guns N’ Roses.  Nirvana was supposed to play the tour where James Hetfield of Metallica stepped on a pyro machine and burnt himself in Montreal. Then GNR walked off stage cause Axl Rose had a hissyfit and everybody started a riot all over town.  I don’t think Nirvana wanted to play on a tour with Axl Rose.  Nirvana won an MTV award and made fun of Axl at the time in their speech.

Bye,

“Hubby Boo Boo” aka Christopher

chrisg.fraser@gmail.com

P.S.  I’ll buy CDs of local artists and TOOL, and the rest on iTunes

3:30, Thursday, DEERUNCEMBER, 27^th

How could I not blog about the holidays so far?

I was spoiled rotten by Kim’s family and my side of the family.  iTunes, $135 and it’s gone already, I still have a short list that I would like to purchase.  I had $50 from Mitch and $60 from Corn Pop’s and $25 from Santa/Sherry in my stocking.  I have 13 cents left on the account.

Kim and I had my family’s Christmas on the 15^th and 16^th of DEERUNCEMBER.  We slept over the night of the 15^th.  We had planned to be up in Kim’s hometown, but James had to work, so Kim’s parents and brother came here to Sherry and James’.  We went to the house on the 24^th and stayed until the afternoon of the 26^th.  I got honey roasted peanuts, gift cards for iTunes and Best Buy, blue whales, my Roughrider season tickets with a deposit on my Grey Cup ticket, etc. And then my birthday is a month away.

Watched “The Dark Knight Rises” with my parents the other weekend, you need to see the first two in order to understand the third one.  My parents tell Mitch and I hear every year “Oh, you won’t get as much for gifts this year”.  And then they go overboard with more gifts.  As long as they keep sayin’ “you won’t get as many gifts”, that’s fine with me!  How many blu-rays did they give me?  6 I think, “The Dark Knight Rises”, 2 “Russel Peters”, “The Amazing Spiderman”, “Prince of Thieves” and “Ted” then a bunch of other stuff.  Same deal with Kim’s family, we have a draw for who to buy for and keep it under $100.  Then they all go crazy on stockings.

No Gerry, I have yet to nibble on my 10lbs Toblerone, maybe for an afternoon snack I’ll have some.  I’m gonna wait until later and finish it this year so it’s a challenge! Like my 1.5 pounds of  Old “forte” cheddar cheese at SIAST in an hour, it took me 1:04 to eat that brick way back when, didn’t poo for 2 days!

Corn Pop’s got a box of Corn pops for Christmas.  I was sure he’d get me some Sunny Boy, I got a box of Raisin Bran, like I need to poop more, right Cam and Robin M.?

A big thanks to Rachel for getting me 4 liters of beer for the Fraser Christmas!  I didn’t drink it all in one sitting.  I paced myself over 2 days!  Merry belated Christmas to everyone, the world didn’t end.  We’ll do it again next year I guess?

Bye,

“Hubby Boo Boo” aka Christopher

chrisg.fraser@gmail.com

P.S. I’ve tried following everyone on facebook, just to time consuming.  Please send me a message or email and let me know how your Christmas was

9pm on Sunday, DEERUNCEMBER, 23^rd

Yes that’s the reason for this entire web site.  As I have said before, pass it along to anyone who might know me, or needs to hear a story.  I survived, is everybody happy that I survived and lash out at random people now?  That is not how I was raised, or why Kim married me.  I was very polite before this all happened.  I was negative, anal and stubborn before, and I’m even more so now.

Who really want’s to work out everyday? I know I don’t!  I know I have a lot of people backing me, expecting the best from me.  I am so far away from being normal or perfect. That’s the reason this site is titled “A Million Miles Away”.

I’m angry at the world from time to time.  Everybody gets angry for some reason or another.  Me, just way to often!  Then somebody, anybody gets an angry message from me, even Kim gets upset about the things I do when I’m angry. 

Even with however many hundred friends on facebook and email, sometimes it feels as though nobody cares.  I survived though so I’m fine, I am thinking about going completely off the grid, no cell phone (like now), no facebook and no email.  Kim has all of those.  Why do I need all of them?

I don’t have or want Skype, a cell phone, iPad, laptop, etc.  I like being a hermit/grumpy old man.  TV and music are all I need.

When this blog slows down.  I may just use my email once a week and nothing else.  I have never been a social butterfly ever, even though I was the front man for every band I was in.

If anybody thinks I’m playing the role of a victim, DON’T because I’m not.  Just expressing my feelings in a public way!

Bye,

“Hubby Boo Boo” aka Christopher

chrisg.fraser@gmail.com

Noon, Saturday, DEERUNCEMBER 22^nd

I really enjoy a ton of music, Kim is always telling me I’m a human iPod.  Being a singer in a cover band and learning rhythm guitar for all of the songs, how could I not be? When I first started with singing in our band, I was terrible.  I never practiced but Jeffrey asked Dave a few years later if the band had a new lead singer.  NOPE!  It was the same old me.  I think we started the band in 2000 or so?  By the time we played Beerfest on 2002, I was much better, Candice (Rydell’s wife now 10 years later) asked me for an autograph, she still doesn’t have one, even though I’ve offered quite a few times. 

Beerfest was our biggest show.  My biggest show yet, 500 people.  After the first song was done I wasn’t nervous.  Some songs didn’t need two guitars, so I was just a singer, no guitar to hide behind.  That made me a little uncomfortable.

After we made it to our goal we didn’t know what to do?  We just learned more cover songs, were paid very well and played anywhere and everywhere we could.  I think at the peak of our band we knew 30+ cover songs and had 7 originals.  We left town twice to play at Pense Elementary school for 2 of their school dances. 

Mitch was or had taken his bass lessons so he and I would play “Steal my Kisses” by Ben Harper now and then.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkSaK4zXPzs

Pense was the furthest out of town we played.  Just at any bar in Regina all of the time, even the old Plains Hotel.  I couldn’t put anything in my car one night, because there was a guy in handcuffs on the ground behind my car, we walked down the street to  2 for 1 pizza, then went back later on and found out the police were looking for a gun.  A convenience  store down the street had been robbed.

Bye,

“Hubby Boo Boo” aka Christopher

chrisg.fraser@gmail.com

3pm, Thursday. DEERUNCEMBER 20^th

Rydell and I thought we would have more time once we graduated university/college.  SNAP were we wrong, I have enough (4) an acoustic/electric, and 3 electric guitars 2 in standard tuning which one of I have never tried, the one signed by Ian Thornley of Thornley/Big Wreck.  My first guitar is a green knock off of a Gibson Les Paul, extremely heavy (for a guitar) and very comfortable, tuned in drop C# as a gift on my 21^st birthday.  The 2^nd is a black Epiphone (Gibson’s cheaper model) black explorer that Kim gave me for our 1^st Christmas together.  All of my electric guitars have a meaning to me. My acoustic guitar, not so much.  It’s a good instrument but I bought it myself.  The rest of them, all gifts.

I have never taken a lesson, everything I know is mostly from tabulature books/websites.  My brother took bass lessons as far as possible.  That’s why he, Rydell, Corey and Messer played lead guitar.  I am very slow playing lead/solo parts. All in all Rydell and I don’t have as much time or moola as we thought, man we were dumb!

This will be my last blog before the Holiday season probably.  So everyone have a good Holiday week, I’ll still be on the computer of course, just not blogging.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypap19WTUEQ

Bye,

“Hubby Boo Boo” aka Christopher

chrisg.fraser@gmail.com