Music, the arts, film, family, friends, living my life, and much more.
I'd like to meet:
Tony Kakko (again, but with fewer drugs so that I can remember it a little more vividly). Raine Maida . Maynard James Keenan . Gavin Hayes. Tuomas Holopainen. Tarja Turunen. Stefan Hertrich (Formerly of Darkseed). Jay Gordon (Orgy). Eventually, my other half. Romeo Dallaire. Oh, and Varg Vikernes because the man is a brilliant trailblazer in his own rite, but also quite possibly one of the most insanely paranoid, prejudiced men in existence today. I suggest reading up on him, just thinking of him gives me chills down my spine. Antony Gormley, one of the most awe-inspiring English sculptors of present day.
Cool people I HAVE met/encountered include: Sonata Arctica(Tony, Henkka, Marko, Tommy, and Jani), Lacuna Coil, Stolen Babies, Muse, Snow Patrol, Jars of Clay, Pillar, Peter Mansbridge (yeah..so I'm a news/doc junkie), Aaron Lewis (of Staind), Three Days Grace, Billy Idol, Jared Leto, Aiden, Jet Set Satellite, and more that I was probably too drunk to remember. I've also met quite a few cool friends and individuals who aren't friends, and albeit are still very cool.
TARJA TURUNEN.
SONATA ARCTICA I had the honored privilege of not only meeting, but hanging out and getting trashed with Sonata Arctica after their February 1/06 show in Winnipeg. I was invited backstage by a certain roadie who thought that I seemed like such a "nice" girl. "Come along backstage", he said. My roommate and I were led down a smoke-clouded hallway to a small room filled with the intoxicating scent of weed. I was introduced to three of the five members: Henrik, Marko, and Jani. My personal god, Tony Kakko, was nowhere to be seen at this point in time. Basically, we just hung out and smoked a few doobies, and a few to drink. It was a good time, met some new people. After a couple hours, Marko invited us on the tour bus because they had to be out of the venue by a certain time. Needless to say, that's where the party wound up. If you've ever seen me trashed, you'll know that booze + Angie is a terrible combination. Not to mention mystery weed that was allegedly laced with some pretty wicked stuff. I wound up outdrinking the lot of them (unbeknownst to me at the time). After another hour or so on the bus, the roadie was getting pretty annoyed with my overall obnoxious loudness and affection towards the band. And hugging everyone within arm's reach. At some point, Tony finally made his appearance. At this point, I was beyond intoxicated, and the mere sight of my idol had me so captivated that I was nearly wordless. Unfortunately, I was not wordless. "Hey man, you RULE." I said. He gave me a priceless look. Not long after, the roadie who was, by this time, getting severely annoyed with the fact that I addressing him as 'Steve' and not his slavic name which I was unaware of (I believe it was Skeed..something of that nature. It's not important). He tells me to get off the bus. I start whining. He gets mad. Mad Finns aren't pretty. He twists my arm into a compromising position and convinces me that it's probably time to go. Marko goes outside for a smoke, decides that I should get back on the bus. I get kicked off again. Life lesson learned: If you want to make an ass out of yourself in front of your most highly respected band, get really drunk, really high, and make sure I'm there. Also - no more mystery drugs.
Now, why do I respect TONY KAKKO this much, you ask? I respect him because of his gift for lyricism and music composition. He writes all the lyrics and composes all the music, with minor exceptions. Tony Kakko is everything I've ever wanted to be, creatively. His style of writing - it's passionate, spiteful, begrudging, romantic, and hopeful - with a hint of fantasy. I love music with a bit of fantasy to it. It takes me to an entirely different place, but it isn't far-fetched enough to not gain something by listening to it. This man is a major, MAJOR inspiration for me.
MAYNARD JAMES KEENAN is the creator of many lyrically incredible songs that really hit the core of my being. I would like to meet him because he's one of my greatest role models - not because he is anti-anything, but because he is so wonderfully capable of creating beautiful music.
DREDG (frontman Gavin Hayes) has created some of the most imaginative, symbolic, soulful music that I have ever heard in progressive rock form. The songs he has written don't simply sound incredible, but in my opinion, they truly are. There's so much hidden within his lyrics, so many of his views on life, living, love, and death..but only when you look beneath the surface of the music. I want to meet this band because I want to pay my respect to the musicmakers who have given me a lot to think about when it comes to my life.
Music:
Let me see here..I would have to say that the sort of music I listen to more than anything else would have to be metal. Power metal, black metal, melodic metal, symphonic metal, gothic-metal, opera-metal, death metal, and hair-metal are a few of my personal choices.. I also listen to a lot of industrial metal and dark industrial techno music (a lot of EBM), in addition to random 80s cheese, opera (Maria Callas is a favorite), indie and 70s classic rock. Did that narrow it down enough for you? No, you say? Well then - here's an obnoxiously long list of artists I listen to on a regular basis:
Sonata Arctica
Nightwish
DARKSEED
STEFAN HERTRICH & SPIRITUAL
Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus
Xandria
APC & Tool
Nine Inch Nails
Finntroll
Death
Burzum
Sisters Of Mercy
Mayhem
Jet Set Satellite
Skinny Puppy
Kraftwerk
VNV Nation
Arch Enemy
Death
Switchblade Symphony
Draconian
Static X
The Mars Volta
Suicide Commando
Lacuna Coil
Our Lady Peace/Raine Maida
Dimmu Borgir
Orgy
Epica
Moonspell
Kidneythieves
Kamelot
Breaking Benjamin
Boy Hits Car
Chevelle
Finger Eleven
Tristania
Cradle Of Filth
Stratovarius
Blind Guardian
Celtic Frost
Dissection
Deathstars
Dredg
Korn
Disturbed
Imperative Reaction
Laibach
Maria Callas
Pain
Rammstein
Sepultura
The Faint
The Gathering
OhGr
Deadsy
Iron Maiden
Leaves Eyes
Muse
Rhapsody
Gamma Ray
Oratory
Stolen Babies
Altaria
Mudvayne
Machinehead
Dreadnaut
Faith No More
At The Drive In
Deftones
Bullet For My Valentine
Boy Hits Car
Type O Negative
Theatre Of Tragedy
Visions of Atlantis
Movies:
Film noir, drama, comedy (love any Chris Farley flick), and foreign. Here are some of my favourites:
The Wisdom of Crocodiles (Immortality)
The Neverending Story
The Motorcycle Diaries
The Lake House
Tommy Boy
Cocoon
My Life As A Dog (Swedish),
Karakter (Dutch)
Insomnia (Norwegian)
Garden State
The Phantom Of The Opera
Carrie
The Shining
Monty Python (ALL of them)
Psycho
Nowhere in Africa (German)
Constantine
Pretty In Pink
The Breakfast Club
The Wrong Guy
Princess Bride
American Beauty
Casablanca
Rear Window
Notorious
The Omen
Rosemary's Baby
Interview With A Vampire
Queen Of The Damned
Bangkok Girl (CBC Doc)
Television:
CBC's The Passionate Eye (doc), CBC's The National, CBC's The Correspondent, The Lens, most travel-related programs, Seinfeld, Family Guy, and The Simpsons. Oh, and my guilty pleasure would have to be The Hills.
Books:
I like Stephen King. Not always his storylines and plots, but rather his style of writing - it captivates me. If I can suggest anything, it will be to read his memoir on writing - "On Writing - A Memoir Of The Craft".
Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Dracula (Bram Stoker's), Frankenstein (Mary Shelley's), 1984, White Oleander, The Shining, Stephen King's "On Writing - A Memoir of The Craft", poetic anthologies such as the works of Edgar Allen Poe, Percy Shelley, Robert Burns, Pablo Neruda, and - so sue me - Shakespeare. I also enjoy reading works that my friends or peers have written themselves.
Future Reads
Romeo Dallaire's "Shake Hands With The Devil", in which Dallaire recalls what he witnessed during his time in Rwanda (during the Tutsi/moderate Hutu genocide)
Michael Talbot's "Holographic Universe"
Philip Blond's "Post-Secular Philosophy"
Heroes:
I think that heroes are overrated. Go to hell, Batman.
