10 – Tuesday May 24, 2016 6:12 AM. The exact moment I found out about Gord’s cancer. I will never, ever forget that moment. That says something about how Gord has touched my life. I shed some tears and then moved on, focused on the million or so positive thoughts in my head of Gord and the rest of The Hip.
9 – Gord On Stage. No front man I have ever known has danced, rambled, gone off into a spastic, Joe Cocker like trance in the way Gord Downie does. Every live show is a blessing, a poetry reading, a weird and wild ride. Here’s hoping I get tickets to see them one more time.
8 – SNL. I used to love that show. I would stay up all hours to watch the show. Often the musical guests sucked, but sometimes they brought it. One band definitely brought it. They showed the U.S. networks that we can kick ass up here in Canada. The Hip brought their A Game, and Dan Akroyd could not have been prouder to introduce his fellow Kingston brethren.
http://www.pinkbike.com/video/125904/
7 – Fifty Mission Cap. My wedding had a hockey theme to it, eh. Our dj asked for a list of my songs and I wanted hockey songs, but off the top of my head, the only one I could think of was Fifty Mission Cap. The line “The last goal he ever scored. Won the Leafs the Cup.” I wonder if I will ever see that in my lifetime.
6 – Canadiana – No band before or since has brought as much Canadiana. Newfoundland, Millhaven Maximum, Sault Saint Marie, Regent Theatre, Niagara Falls, Bobcaygeon, Rideau Canal, Hundredth Meridian, Attawapiskat and many more are mentioned. Proud to call Canada home. They stayed here because we love them. We always will.
5 – Dan Snyder – Many people would not know the name. I grew up in Elmira, Ontario, Canada. Dan was told at every level to quit, as he was too small. He rose through the ranks and made the NHL against the odds. He was killed in a high speed crash in a Ferrari driven by a teammate. At the trial, Mr. and Mrs. Snyder forgave the driver and asked the judge not to put him in jail. The Hip recorded Heaven Is A Better Place Today in honour of Snyder, and Gord Downie has attended the Dan Snyder Memorial Golf Tournament in Elmira. Thank You Gord, and I miss you Dan.
4 – Front Row – In April 2009, The Hip announced a fan club sale of tickets to Danforth Music Hall for the princely sum of $20. I was on the computer at the designated time and lo and behold I had front row. FRONT ROW TO THE HIP!!!!! Ok. What is this? After I click to purchase why does this lead me to a US ticketmaster site. WTF. I want my front row tickets. Turns out I didn’t get my tickets. I got this instead. The Hip Apology At least I got a letter from The Hip.
3 – Bush Party – I first heard The Hip at a bush party in Elmira. Someone was from Kingston and they brought a Hip cassette. WTF is this. I need to hear more of this awesome music. I have never looked back. My dream party would be a bush party with Kawasaki and The Hip performing.
2 – My Hip Week. In the first week of October 2012, I was off to Toronto for some boring ass training sessions. I had the radio on during my morning commute and the dj mentioned something about The Hip doing a surprise show in a tiny bar in Kensington Market. I bailed on the training and got to the venue and lined up. Me and 100 or so of my closest friends got to see The Hip put on a mini concert. After the show I got to meet Rob Baker. Later that week my wife and I got to see The Hip perform the last ever concert at Ivor Wynn Stadium. One of the best weeks of music ever.
1 – Barrie. My girlfriend ( now wife) got my invite to come up and see me in Barrie and we would go to The Hip concert. She would bring a friend and my buddy and I talked about going to the show. Apparently he thought I was buying the tickets and I thought he was. The tickets sold out and I had to tell the girls that drove 2 hours to see the band that we had no tickets. We went to a party instead and had a great time. I knew my girlfriend was a keeper and since then we have seen The Hip many times. We still laugh about that this day. It is so awesome how people can bond over The Hip.
FYC has become my motto for 2016. It stands for FUCK YOU CANCER. In the case of Gord Downie. FYCATFPOSHYRIO. FUCK YOU CANCER AND THE FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT HORSE YOU RODE IN ON.
Lastly. I love you Ry Cooder. But I hope you stay away from Kingston, Ontario for a very, very long time.
This was a group post. Please click the links for others by Scotty G (Guest Post) at Mike Ladano, Aaron from KMA, Geoff at 1001 albums, James at KMA, Deke from Stick It In Your Ear, and Sarca from Caught Me Gaming.
Loved this.
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Thanks man.
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Great stories!
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Thanks. Your story was awesome too. I’m glad you weren’t hurt too bad. That time seemed like it could have gone much worse.
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This post is like two buckets of chicken and a drive to the liquor store.
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Deal
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I can fuck over like 10 pieces of chicken myself.
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Hahaha.
Now I’m hungry for a bucket of chicken.
Maybe I’ll just listen to some Buckethead instead.
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About once every year or two, I crave the bucket. Then I order one, eat some, and remember why it’s a year or two since I had it.
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When I grew up in a small town, that was our only fast food. It was a treat. With so many other options, it became less frequent. Now we never. But yes I crave it occasionally, but it has a similar reaction with me as those funny stories I read about the gummi bears.
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Thanks for that. Dave Rocks had Trooper on so I turned it off and watched the video.
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The Boys in the Bright White Sports Car.
I’d rather hear The Darkest One.
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I’d rather hear anything. Bowel movements. dentist drill. Nails on chalkboard. Anything.
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Funny how the old style money really dates that video
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Also funny how they will not advertise KFC, but will advertise Juicy Fruit
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A few more observations
STUBBIES!!!
Bubbles’ shit rats ate all the chicken.
Don Cherry is tough as fuck
Ford engines to not bolt into Chevy’s
Good thing they didn’t tell Bubbles ” You can’t see jack shit. How many fingers son?”
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New Hip on NOW! And it’s good!
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I’m listening too.
I like it as well.
I think with Gord’s diagnosis the new album will be his swan song, so an absolute must own for me. The minute the record store opens on the day it comes out. Next Friday I think.
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Same — Walmart before work, probably.
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They might stop you at the door and deny you entrance if you have proper work attire on. Might I suggest wearing track pants, Crocs and a Nascar shirt on, then changing before work.
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Cool stories. Thanks.
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Thanks. Glad you dug them
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All of this = awesome. We all have so many Hip moments. They’re integral, woven into our fabric. Seems like they’ve always just been there!
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Most of my adult life.
My roommate in College was from Port Hope and he had some cool early Hip stories. He was a bit of a bullshitter, but the stories sounded cool.
Hip stories might be the glue that holds this country together.
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As a side note Aaron, you should read up on Dan Snyder. He played for your hometown Owen Sound Platers Junior A team, he was the Captain, helped them win a Cup. I’m sure the people there have fond memories of him. I bet there is some stuff about him around your arena.
Also, his legacy carries on as the OHL, the AHL Chicago Wolves, and the Winnipeg Jets all have a Dan Snyder trophy for the player with great character and contributions to his community.
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Also, full agreement on Cooder. If anyone sees him around, tell him to get lost! Hahaha
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I should start a petition to bar him from Canada.
😉
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Great post Brian, The line in the Dan Snyder song “act like you’ve been there” is one of my main coaching mottos. Agreed, we’ve been blessed to see them, or as Gord said on the live cd about the rheostatics, we are all richer for having seen them
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It’s really starting to sink in that in just over 2 months the band will be done.
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It’s starting to for me too – I have a feeling I’ll be listening to a lot of TTH over the next couple months
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This is great, Bop. Truly great. Thanks for sharing these moments.
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Thanks J.
Glad you came along for the ride.
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