How 'Bout Them Nimbostratuses?

Wednesday was one of the hottest days of summer yet here in Winnipeg. No clouds in the sky and the sun was laughing in my face as I painted profusely. I was not looking forward to my soccer [football] game that night...

I strolled up once again to the blumberg fields just outside Winnipeg to see a massive cloud formation evolving from the west. Could it be that I would be playing in severe storm weather conditions for a second game in a row? Unbelievable. I was discouraged. The referee called captains and during this moment the wind began to pick up. In the distance a wall of dust was making its way to our field. It hit us hard; I would say it was almost at tornado caliber. Our whole team took cover behind one of our player's Jimmy (jeepish GMC vehicle). Will our random weather never end?! We ended up playing the game in the extreme winds and rain. Thankfully it cleared up in the last 5 mins. Fortunately the newly established rainbow dominated the sky as we scored the game winner in the last 3 mins and beat those Central Americans (the team we lost to in the CBC Soccer Day in Canada Cup)(Not a racial slur! They all were Central Americans)!

Over the past week and a bit I have become fascinated with cloud patterns. I've never looked at the sky so much but I guess that is because I'm painting outside all day. I'm tellin' you, our clouds have looked messed up lately (I'd say apocalyptic almost, if I knew what that looked like). My co-worker (Ryan Malech) and I have recently taken sudden breaks to look up and admire the gorgeous patterns of Stratocumulus, Nimbostratus, and Cumulonimbus clouds (I'm legit [legitimate], I looked 'em up)! Though we have been noticing a strange type of cloud pattern. Look up Jane Wiggins' strange cloud picture on Google. Anyways, I'm no expert but I like to think I am. Therefore I love to give predictions on the weather these days, I love acting smart (Well in a professional degree kind of way). Hmm Manny the Meteorologist?

p.s. Got a another soccer [football] game tonight. Looks like it'll rain again! Ridic [ridiculous].

Canker City

I was unaware and unprepared for the battle I was to encounter at work today. We arrived with high hopes of finishing this humongous home and it felt good to be done with that damned lattice fence! I was painting the side boards of their pathway when I was startled to find something dangling in front of my face (okay, I know someone just said "that's what she said"). I freaked out (in a quiet way of course) and tried to keep working. Now I was paranoid. I looked up and saw thousands upon thousands of cankerworms perched on every leaf of the looming tree beside me. The cankerworm's only purposes in life seem to include: 1. To rappel at impressive and unbelievable speeds, 2. To destroy every tree they land on, and 3. To dangle and sway with the intention of scaring the living bejesus out of people. I cannot believe I'm saying this but I think I hate cankerworms more than mosquitoes; I live in Winnipeg (Mosquito Headquarters)! The brown twig lookin' ones are the worst (this is not a racial slur) because they blend in with the trees and don't look as friendly as the green ones. I nicknamed them all Mortimer (mor-tuh-mer) because I thought it would help me get over my fear of them, so the rest of the day my co-worker (Ryan Malech) and I called them that (I thought it was funny...). After our morning break we headed up to a bedroom balcony to paint the railing and found the place swarming with Mortimers [cankerworms]. With a scraper as my sword in my left hand and my paint brush in my right, I was ready for battle.

Life Lesson: Never have sympathy towards a Paleacrata vernata [cankerworm]. It will back stab you when you least expect it. I was actually bitten on the neck a few days ago and I returned no mercy to the wee beast.

I believe I ended up flicking over 100 Mortimers off the balcony (PETA, please don't come after me). It's funny because once you touch them they jolt upright and stay stiff (oh wow, I set myself up again). So, as Ryan and I imitated their actions, the woman and her baby/toddler in the pool below looked at that exact moment. All we could do was laugh and wave. After this I was lucky to be able to paint and not worry about the little buggers getting on me because they were preoccupied playing king of the hill with my paint bucket. I actually saw one wrap itself around another and try to fling it off the balcony. Survival of the fittest is all around us my friends.
We made it to lunch alive and were surprised to see a messed up cloud formation above us (it was really messed, one cloud looked like the eye of a hurricane). I cannot believe how unpredictable Winnipeg's weather is! Last week them meteorologists called for thunderstorms all week when it turned out beautiful and, of course, this week was suppose to be beautiful but now we're getting the thunderstorms! Anyways, we were forced to retreat early from today's battle due to rain, but I have a feeling we will wage war on more Mortimers in the days to come...

~~~

Check this song: In Our Bedroom After The War by Stars (I can play it on piano!!).

Booster Shot

Today, being father's day, I was sure to listen to my father's one and only album: Booster Shot. For those of you who have not experienced the soft soothing melodious musical talent of Randolph Goossen, be sure to contact me so that I may give you a compact disc. Your life will be changed the instant you press play. I am indeed his only marketer and publicist, and I'll do anything I can to get these songs out into the world! Enjoy a couple songs by following this link:

http://www.myspace.com/2boostershot

Love you, Dad.

~~~

Wow, I'm so burnt right now. As I write this blog my shoulders feel like pure magma and my chest is steaming. Why did I not put on sunscreen at the beach????????!

The Super Seven

Once upon a time, there were seven people who gathered, unknowing of what was about to come. Some did not know each other well, but that was about to change. We ended up planning a vaycay [vacation] for December; it was going to be at some location in some country with a beautiful hot and sunny atmosphere. Over numerous meetings in one night we solidified as a crew, and we were named the Super Seven. Seven, being the number of members and of total completeness. This last Friday we reunited. We celebrated one of the member's birthday with a night of surprise. It included a limo, steak, The Hangover, and Bud Light Lime (it is defs [definitely] hyped up too much).

We surprised our member as she came to her boyfriend's home to find the Super Seven awaiting in a limo. Thrilled, she was (sorry for the Yoda speech). We got dropped off at our designated restaurant and shamelessly walked a lap around the restaurant (including the patio) due to not being able to spot the entrance (how embarrassing; we were dropped off in a limousine!). The steak was impeccable but the chicken appeared to contain salmonella. Luckily I ordered the drunken steak sandwich (it was marinated in Stella Artois!) with yam fries and a glass of Australian white wine (exquisite)! We finished up and headed (in our limo of course) to the theatre to enjoy a highly anticipated comedic film called The Hangover. Hilarious. Unreal. I totes [totally] loved it. I recommend it if you don't mind profanity and crudeness, so don't blame me if you are offended, it is 18A. Afterwards we winded down the night with a good ol' backyard fire with Bud Light Lime. We contemplated on an initiation for those who wanted to experience the Super Seven's company. I'll take suggestions if you have 'em. I think we're half set on an awkward questions period with Ryan Malech though. Should be good.

Com'on... Hatty?! ... Please?

I've been playing for Saint James United for a season and a bit now and I haven't scored for them yet so tonight I felt the need to do so. Before the game I was warming up and taking shots on net when I happened to nail the crossbar. Our keeper then mentioned that I should shoot like that during games but of course score. I was hittin' the ball well and I knew I was going to give'r this game. About 15 mins in we strung some passes together and I ended up receiving a lay-off beauty just outside the 18 yard box. I took a control touch towards the net and blasted it as their defenders closed in on me. It sailed and I was very optimistic about the shot. A laser beam. Right over the keeper, top shelf! I was pumped. A few minutes later as the score was 3 nil I had another unbelievable chance. Their keeper bobbled it and I over ran it a bit and tried to flick it back to my front (my hacky sack skills kicked in). As I flicked it, the keeper totally ran by and missed it so I had the open net! However, I was not directly in front of the yawning potate [potato] sack. In order to score I needed to lunge towards the ball and shoot diagonally behind me to the left. I did it and took the fall... PING! Off the post! Unbelievable. Whatevs [whatever] I got back up into the play. It got crossed back in, my teammate pulls off a mini scissor kick, and the keeper stones him at point blank. The ball rebounded to my feet and I swiftly side footed it into the bottom corner. My work paid off, although I was pretty sure I was totes [totally] offside... meh, I'll take it!
My teammate actually beat me to a hatty [hat-trick] in the first half! Unreal. Before the game I actually mentioned how Fernando Torres scored a hatty in the first half of Spain's game against New Zealand; and here I was about to do the same! We had a corner, the ball popped out to the middle and I yelled for the switch. I was wide open on the left side. The ball came and it was an easy one on one break between me and the keeper. I had no angle to shoot and I didn't want to toe punt so I cut back into the middle of the box... a defender came out of no where and cleared it! My hatty was there! Oh well. I didn't get much chances after that but overall it was such a stellar game. The final score was 8-1 (Yes we dominated, though they were short a player). Good times, I felt accomplished this night.

Rondo vs. Bolt

My last few posts have been frightfully long (yes I did just say frightfully). I'll try to keep it shorter and just as sweet for the comfort and pleasure of my viewers.
So I've debated a few times about those G Gatorade commercials. The soulja boy like dancer is either Rajon Rondo from the Boston Celtics or the Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. From a glance it looks like Rajon to me! Although I hear Bolt does that dance every time he races; so it looks like I'll have to look it up.
... Just did, I guess I'm wrong... DANG YO. I hate it when I am wrong. I should be in that commercial, my last name starts with G, I'm an athlete, therefore I'm the perfect candidate. What's G? The seventh letter of the alphabet (I totally had to do the finger count)! Stupid Gatorade.

p.s. I was lookin' at Volkswagens yesterday at the dealership and when I peered into the show room I took a double take to find the soccer [football] striker my team played against in the CBC Soccer Day in Canada tourney [tournament] final. He ended up getting MVP [Most Valuable Player] (You should know that) and he was a fast little bugger too. Anyways, he was vacuuming the dealership! Random eh? It's strange how you can run into anybody in a big city.

Drive-Thru Antics

So at 2:30am coming back from Niverville my bud Jesse starts to crave some good ol' late night McDon's [McDonald's] (There's just something about McDonald's in the early hours of the morning!). We get there at rush hour (right when the bars close). It's dang busy and we get annoyed, so we head to the BK Lounge (Burger King, Dane Cook lingo) across the street. Their lobby isn't open 24hrs so I come up with the idea to walk through the drive-thru. Well, I persuaded Thom and Jesse to at least, Jord and I decided against it and followed up in my silver jet [VW Jetta wagon]. We get to the intercom and Thom and Jesse order and then walk up to the window. Jordan wanted to order but the guy bitterly said "Drive up to the window... please." He thought Jesse and Thom were in the car and apparently the BK didn't have a video feed on the drive-thru. Weird. Well we didn't argue and Jordan was convinced they would defs [definitely] spit in our food (so he didn't order). We pull up behind Jesse and Thom and the guy slides open the window to see the two lads standing there. His temper kicks in and he gave us some tude [attitude], "What the hell is going on here?! I get robbed like this!" Obviously frustrated, he says "you have to be in the car to order." Now I'm the driver so I repeatedly apologized and was trying to calm the guy down. "You guys are wasting my time," he says (He works the late night shift... wasting his time??). I get handed the money as the lads jump back in the silver jet and I have to unbuckle and stretch my lanky body half way out the window to deposit the funds. As the food is being transferred Jord decides to be funny and honk the horn when the guy isn't lookin'. Wow, I'm embarrassed, though I can't help but laugh. Jord does it again. Unbelievable. I finally get all the goods and want to peel off but I forget to straighten the steering wheel and almost crash into the brick wall. Now I'm really embarrassed; this is RIDICULOUS (I didn't abbreve to ridic because I needed the full length of the word to describe my feelings)! I reverse and then red lined it the hell outta there. Good times.
Now as we left the BK Lounge I mentioned that that was my worst drive-thru experience ever. However I didn't know that the same day about 17 hours later a similar scene would develop. Jord needed a ride out to our graduated class' 2 year reunion, however, my silver jet was crammed with a volleyball net with 8 foot wooden posts for my church picnic. So he ended up having to sit in the only available seat, the one right behind me. First of all it was odd because it felt like I was his dad chauffeuring him around, and secondly he wanted to go through the drive-thru at Tim Horton's for an Iced Capp on the go. Well, I pulled up so that Jord himself could order from the back seat. When the woman asked what he wanted he replied "Hey baby (it was quite swift), I'll take a medium Iced Capp with chocolate milk." Of course I chuckled and then pulled up to the window. I asked the guy if he had seen our sitch [situation] before, he laughed and said "Oh yes." As Jord is paying for his drink, I am not paying attention in the least and faintly hear Jord say thank you. I take this as my cue to leave but I was wrong. In fact, Jord just received his change back and did not receive his drink yet. Jord was startled and while laughing told me to back up (I bet the truck behind us was just loving it). This made the clerk's day for sure. He was loving it, he struggled with keeping his laughter down as he passed over the Iced Capp. Wow, I was in disbelief. In the same 24hrs I happened to fail at going through a drive-thru smoothly twice. And in both instances I did not even order anything! Though it is always nice to have a hard laughter sesh [session], and I loved lookin' back on these two events during the following days.

p.s. I just founded an amazing food combo... wait for it... Pizza and Rice Krispie Squares!!!!!!! You may think "No that cannot be," but it's true; try it.

Exhaustion

Life Lesson: A power nap is always a good thing.

It's actually a fact that a power nap should be between 10-15 mins [minutes] (I'm pretty sure most people know what mins is. I mean it must be the first abbreve ever!). This is because your body starts to shut down after this amount of time and you would've been better off if you didn't take your "power nap". 'Cause then you wake up more tired instead of being rejuved [rejuvenated].
The last 5 days, including today, have been pretty hectic. I believe I've had no free time due to the activities I have partaken in! It all starts Thursday night with my soccer [football] game out at the windy Winnipeg blumberg fields. Horrible game. We should have destroyed the other team. I believe we had about 90% possession the entire game and failed to score. That drives me nuts. After that I went to The Albert (sweet pub) downtown to see one of my new favourite local bands: The Ripperz. Excellent show. Now keep in mind I have work the next day; though I still see this band when their set starts at midnight. Friday after work Thom, Jord, Jesse and I headed out on a small road trip to Niverville! We met up with more peeps [friends/people], the fair had begun, and it was time to party with our good ol' friends from the little town. It's awesome catching up with people you haven't seen in forEVER! Fireworks were excellent and we ended up getting back at 3:30am. I'm saving our funny late night drive-thru story for another entry... stay tuned!
Now Saturday was a beautiful scorcher of a day here in Winnipeg (I am now badly sun burnt, it's unreal). My soccer [football] team was involved in the country's CBC: Soccer day in Canada mini tournament. Overall there were only 4 teams that had the opportunity and if we won our first game we'd be in the final which would be taped for television! It so happened that our first game went to PKs [penalty kicks] and I had the priv [privilege] of kicking first. Oh I defs [definitely] slotted that ball in the bottom left hand corner (I was pretty pumped, but I played it cool). The other team missed two of their shots and we were ecstatic because of our victory. We celebrated at Boston Pizza even though we still had to play the final in just under two hours... bad mistake. We lost in the final sadly, though we had no subs and were dying in the sweltering sun. Whatevs [whatever], we got free t-shirts (I'm Mennonite). Also, let me tell you that Mitch Peacock for CBC (he reports all those Toronto FC games) looks shabby, dishevelled and old in real life (had to mention it).
Saturday night was also our high school's grad class 2 year reunion! Craziness. We just like to party, that's all. Two beautiful clear hot nights in a row is extremely rare in Winnipeg around this time and us Winnipeggers took advantage. After hanging out late into the night as a big class crew, I headed to Josh D's home to catch some zzzzzzzz's before our church picnic. The picnic was stellar as I mostly played volleyball the whole 3 hours (I need to practice before I coach at Prov)! Now, at the moment right after the picnic, I'm bushed (meaning extremely tired, apparently Americans don't know this) and head home for my POWER NAP! However, it was a straight up nap because it was about 45 mins... oh well, I like my sleep. Sunday night was a concert at the the Kingshead pub downtown where the band All the King's Men play every Sunday night. They're phenomenal, and it's just the best thing to enjoy a pint while groovin' to some classic tunes. Too bad I had to work in the morning (this morning). Finally, tonight I went to a spectacular concert performed by the Howling Bells (I loved her Australian accent), Snow Patrol, and Coldplay! Wow, what a show, I was especially amazed at the location of our seats. I didn't even know I was coming until Friday and I end up getting seats seven rows up from the side of the stage; what an experience! They definitely know how to work the crowd and Chris Martin surprisingly knew stuff about Winnipeg as he referenced to the Jets! I can't even describe the amount of pizazz that went into this show. Everything from glow-in-the-dark maple leafs to giant yellow balloons to confetti to hanging spheres which showed live footage of the concert! Coldplay even headed to the back of the arena to perform an acoustic song. Unbelievable. To top it off everyone got a free live Cd. That's over 16000 Cds!
Well as I write this I'm exhausted, and you are probs [probably] exhausted as well if you happened to read the entirety of my longest entry yet. If you have, I applaud you. You win a hug from Manuel.

Scraping and Sanding Surprises

Yo (isn't alliteration fun?). Today was a tedious day of work. Ridic [ridiculous] actually. Note that I only place square parenthesis around the abbreves because there may be an older audience reading my blog that is not caught up on these social times. Now, at work I had to scrape and sand this one fence for 8 hours. This isn't any ordinary fence, it's a lattice fence and wow why do they exist? This one is especially pointless because it's not even guarding anything and is definitely just for decoration. Who wants a 10 foot fence as a decoration? Well, maybe when I'm retired just 'cause I could have one and not be hassled for it.
Anyways, I had a few unexpected and unusual surprises as I worked on that fence all day. It so happened that some dudes were playing basketball next door and they decided to pump some tunes in their flashy beamer. The first song they play is that 'jump up and get crazy, your mother gets all crazy' catchy clubbin' rave tune, so I'm expecting like a pump up playlist... I was very wrong. The next song happened to be Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. Now that's such a surprise; I think I chuckled and then sang a long. Secondly, some time after lunch, I was replacing the sandpaper on my power-sander when I sensed something in my periphs [peripherals]. It was the eerie feeling where you know that someone or something is defs [definitely] watching you. So as I was sitting on my step ladder I glanced to my left and saw, no word of a lie, a fox which was around 15 feet from me. And I'm not talking about a pretty lady, this was a legit [legitimate] animal. It was scruffy lookin' and quite petit(e) (not sure if it was a guy or gal, them French like their gendered words). The fox was just staring at me, and I just stared back for maybe 5 seconds due to being shocked seeing an actual fox in the neighbours driveway. It took a couple steps towards me and the thought of it looking at me like I was food actually popped into my head! Unreal. I stood up and it realized I was a threat and it scampered down the backyard towards the river. Naturally I chased it, but it was dang fast and disappeared into the brush (pshh I probs [probably] would have skinned it...). After that escapade I went back to the boring ol' scraping/sanding, but that moment made my day.

~~~

The song I'm listening to as I write this blog: Everything I Build by The Stills (Check it, it's a chillin' song).

Tight and Bright

You know what the best thing ever is??! Going places with mass amounts of people in themed costumes that make you stand out. Yes, this Sunday a bunch of us went to see the awesome 3D movie UP! Let me tell you that this movie is quite the roller coaster of emotion. Just as you are laughing your head off the plot turns and gets really deep and personal. I cannot remember another movie where I laughed as hard or teared up as much (yes, I'm a sensitive guy). The 3D was extraordinary too by the way. Unbelievable. It has come a long way since the last one I saw which was Muppets in 3D at Disney WORLD (hmmm in grade 5)! In the Muppet movie things would just randomly pop out and people would ooh and aah but in UP the actual scenes are in 3D which boggled my MIND. I won't spoil this awesome movie for you because I do recommend you go out and sport those snazzy glasses at the theatre!
ANYWAYS, back to the title of this blog... The lot of us ended up wearing very tight and colourful clothing to the polo park cinema. I showed up to the Froese's to get a ride and was shocked to find Daniel in a flashy sweater, head band, and jean cut-offs that bordered his crotch region (Dan must be a nevernude. Arrested Development anyone??). Yes that's right, try not to conjure up a mental image of Daniel Froese in ridiculously short jean cut-offs (I love how I said it again to double the chances of you imagining that). I ended up fitting into clothing that my friends Gaby and Jess brought which happened to include a very snug yellow shirt, a dancer's skin tight colourful halter top, and a very constricting red vest. I was unable to relax my shoulders and muscles throughout the entire movie, it was that bad! It actually felt like the halter top was piercing through my ribcage. Oh well, my TCBY helped me through the pain.
Overall, people must have thought we lost a bet (at least Mr. Geddert and his family thought so... YA, Mr. Geddert witnessed such a thing), but it just so happens we are definitely adventurous.

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The song I'm listening to as I write this blog: The Guitar Man by Cake (check it).

Proper Attire

I have officially collected professional painter's pants (There's a little alliteration for y'all). Yes, I am now sportin' regular fit, all white, double knee Dickies with triple stitched seams as well as brush and tool loops! Unreal. I know I'll be OCD trying not to get them dirty for the first bit because they're purely white. Though at the same time I'm pumped to get those wee little splashes of paint on them so I don't look like such a rookie.
Next week our two man duo acquires a third. He is my man, Malech. I'm very excited to work with such a close friend and we'll see how he does as my work friend now! So we're pretty much doubling up our friendship. Should be ridic [ridiculous] (got that abbreve from my friend Gabriella)!
~~~
Here are some of my favourite quotes from toddlers at the houses we've painted at:
3 yr. old Isabella - "Don't let the man paint my shoes!" as well as "Don't let the man paint my toys!"
Similar aged Joanna - "Hey Manny watch OUT!" She says this repeatedly as she sits in the family car pretending to drive.

Drafted

Tonight I auditioned for The Score's Drafted the Search for Canada's Next Sportscaster! Let me tell you that it was quite interesting and worth my time. I applied for this contest with the intentions of not receiving any contact in the future whatsoever. Well I happened to check my email and I was shocked to find an invitation to attend the audition in Winnipeg! Now I was nervous, I thought I needed to prepare a small sports sketch or interview. Thankfully it wasn't that complicated and when I found out my man B Rew was auditioning as well it calmed the nerves just that bit more. I stepped into the pub where the auditions were taking place and sat down with Marlon Brando (B Rew). Before I could speak with him two guys from Saskatchewan came unexpectedly and sat down beside us. How can you catch up with a friend when two strangers barge in on your table!? Meh, we all talked about the contest and were sitting patiently for the thing to begin. Sure enough Sid Seixeiro and Derek Snider from The Score introduced themselves and began the process.
My audition number got called mid way through and I was taken up the stairs to where they shot the vids. Then I was handed a script of the highlights to jot down some notes, watched the reel, and was thrown in front of the camera for the audition. It all went sooo fast. Of course I stuttered and messed up, but all in all I loved it and got a taste of the effort it really takes to sportscast. After, I stepped out, shook Sid Seixeiro's hand, and shot another cool promo vid for Gillette. There was this video camera with a massive lens surrounded by a ring of bright white light and I had to look in it like it was a mirror. I inspected my "recently shaved face", gave a slick look, and then exited. And that's when I decided I wanted to do commercials. The guy loved my exit as I raised my eyebrows in delight as to "approve" my handsomeness and shaving skill.
Phew the audition was over, now I could chill and have a pint. Out of the 60 people that auditioned only 7 were picked for the second audition call-back. Sadly neither my friend B or I were mentioned in that list. Though the one guy from Saskatchewan at our table was chosen (probably just because they needed to represent every province)! B and I were shocked at that decision, but hey, you win some you lose some. Actually, this is funny, B forgot to pay for his meal due to his saddened state of mind so the guy at our table who got a call-back had to pay for his $23 tab!!! I enjoyed that, and of course I denied that I knew my friend just so I didn't have to pay for it.
Overall it was a fun and interesting experience and at least I walked away with a $30 value of Gillette products in a goodie bag! However, I just wish I could re-do it to fix allll those little mistakes I did!
www.drafted.ca

Sore Jaw

So this weekend just after my youth's lock-in the left side of my jaw began to really hurt. Every time I tried to bite down it felt like I had a severe tooth ache. I tried to remember if I had been elbowed when I was dancing at this past weekend's concert... no. Hmmm strange; I couldn't figure out what it was that I did to endure such pain! Then, it occured to me, when I paint I seem to concentrate extremely too much on doing a good job that I strain my jaw unknowingly in order to achieve the perfect coat of paint. I fixate my jaw in such a way that gives me the look of an angler fish. That's not a pretty sight.

Life Lesson: When you paint, always concentrate on keeping a relaxed posture. This includes facial posture. Without being aware, you may end up with temperol mandibular joint (TMJ). Look it up.

From now on I will concentrate on getting the perfect coat while keeping my perfect bite (Thank God for braces and retainers).

Lock in, Rock OUT!

Yes our church had a lock-in for the youth. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the beginning couple of hours due to soccer but then I again I had the whole night still to hang out and have fun. The theme of the event was 80's rock, and boy when I showed up, the youth's outfits were screaming 80's. I wasn't fully prepared with an outfit so luckily one of my fellow leaders provided quite the pair of pants. Tight purplish sequined pants to be exact. Wow, these things were soo short and soo tight. I couldn't zip up the zipper in the back and ended up having my bum showing the whole night. I struggled to put them on and then we were off to the Park Theatre for a sweet concert.

Life Lesson: Never go out in public with sequined pants.

However, I happened to do such a thing. It was funny but embarrassing of course. It didn't matter. I danced the night away and it was much easier to do so dressed up ridiculously. We went back to the church and prep'd [prepared] for air band perfomances. They were quite hilarious; as one group of girls who sang Cyndi Lauper's 'girls just wanna have fun' ended up hitting eachother immensely during the last bits of the song. Afterwards, Rock Band was hooked up to the large projection screen in the theatre (sick jamming room for such a game). This is where we found out that my brother Willie can belt out any lyrics with very clear tone and at unbelievable pitches. He sang 'run to the hills' by Iron Maiden and literally sounded like he was actually a part of the band. Props to my bro. I think I'll start a band with him.
At 4am we went on a sev run (7 11 slurpeeees)! I actually managed to get a klondike cookie sandwich... I found out I get weird food related urges in the middle of the night (including lemonade). To wind down the night we played shuffle your buns and watched the classic Jack Black movie School of Rock.
Lock-ins are fun until you feel the unbearable tiredness in the morning. Fortunately I could go home and sleep for 6 hours! Aaah I love not working on weekends.
Check out TMP's youth website at www.tmpyouth.com