If you’re a regular reader of this site, you know I’m a huge fan of Denton’s Snarky Puppy. The awesome band has made 2 appearances here in Montreal and has rocked the fuck out of this city. Seriously. Their last gig was awesome, pumping, and had everyone in the place grooving.

Unfortunately, these awesome dudes ran into some trouble in Toronto. Their bus had broken down and during that time, some asshole hooligans broke into it and made way with over $6000 worth of gear. That.fucking.sucks.

Here’s a video by Sarah Crisman explaining a little more:

If you’re in Texas, I urge you to head down to that show and party it up for this awesome cause. The FB event can be found here.

However, there’s people like me, stuck here in Montreal who can’t make it down there and help out with the cause. Sure, I can (and will) donate but I want to take it further.

See, Snarky Puppy is so insanely awesome that I really want these guys to be back on their feet and playing music and making their way back to Canada. I’m also hoping to redeem a little bit of Canadian trust cause it sucks that this had to happen to them here, in Canada.

Here’s what I’m thinking. I haven’t done TWITdrawings in a while and I’d like to get back into that groove so how about this – YOU make a donation and I make you a TWITDrawing. It’s a win-win situation. You get a drawing and Snarky Puppy gets a donation that’ll help ‘em get back to their music.

How do you go about this? It’s simple – just click on the DONATE button at the bottom of this page and put in any amount you want (really, anything!).

You can also leave special instructions if you want but I usually like to draw what comes to mind. If you want, you can tell me about yourself, what colors you like, how old you are, who your favorite Power Ranger is, etc.

The drawings will all be digital drawings, I’ll tweet about them once they’re done, and eventually I’ll post them on my blog for all to see.

If someone makes a high enough donation I’ll draw something on paper and send it via SNAIL MAIL so you can touch it, smell it, and lick it.

If you’ve never heard of Snarky Puppy or have seen them live, it’s hard to understand why I’d do something like this but then again it’s not about the band but rather that a group of individuals have had their creativity sabotaged by the actions of thieves. The way I see it, creativity is something to be nurtured so that it may grow. I support any creativity in any form and it’s sad to see when something sabotages that. However, it’s in moments like these where fans of creativity can band together and really do something about it.

So, my friend, click the little DONATE button at the bottom of the page to get your TWITDrawign.

I’ll leave this up until about November 22nd. Give me 2 – 3 weeks per drawing (depending on the amount of drawings I need to do).

As random as it would seem, Nonna Maria is not something born out of nowhere but rather an idea that had been festering and has been brought to life. We asked the question – “what can we add to Italian comedy?” Nonna Maria is our answer. I’ve worked a lot with Italian comedians – namely the Calabrese duo Pasquale and Rosina Parmigianno who’s videos can be found easily on YouTube. Their most famous video being the one where they have to turn to OnStar for help and instead get chewed out by the gay OnStar representative. I was behind all the animated elements of those videos. It was fun too do but grew very tedious by the 8th video in which the formula was very apparent ( Pasquale + Rosina + Conflict + Italian Swear Words = Skit ). The greatest thing I had against those videos were that they weren’t mine. I mean, sure, I animated them but the audio was all provided. I had no say in the story, conflict, or development of characters.

Frank Spadone introduced me to Pasquale and Rosina Parmiggiano. Frank is the awesome Torontonian comedian who has found a comfortable space in the niche of Italian comedy. You can find my animated version of one of his songs on YouTube. Frank is really what inspired me to take a look into the world of comedy, starting with Italian comedy. My music video for one of his songs was basically some born from just being a fan of Frank and wanting to help him get his name out there via the internets. I met Frank when I was ushering at a theater in St.Leonard – he was the opening act for the famous Australian-Italian comedian Joe Avati. Frank opened up to night after night of sold out shows to predominately Italian crowd. Years later, Frank would headline his own show and easily pack the place. Check out more of Frank’s stuff on YouTube.

I always remained the dude who worked in the background. The guy who would take your skit and turn it into an animation. I was the Lady Gaga of Italian comedy (holy shit, a Lady Gaga reference). Even now, you really don’t see my face in the skit. I still remain in the background, a mystery. I kinda like it that way. This is what lead to my Halloween costume which was basically me, dressed all in black, carrying around Nonna Maria who was in her Dave costume.

Here's MJ, a Gypsy, Nonna Maria as Dave, and some random dude in black.

It wasn’t until Halloween that I realized how big Nonna Maria really was. Nonna Maria’s is doing pretty well on YouTube. Her most popular video has amassed over 30,000 views and continues to grow. When you think about it, 30,000 pairs of eyeballs have watched only one of Nonna Maria’s videos. That’s like one Bell Center that’s illegally over capacity. That doesn’t even count group viewings, as I heard of many stories where groups of people get drunk and watch Nonna Maria. However, those were just ways of rectifying it in my head. The real impact of all this hit me on Halloween when people I didn’t even know recognized her and took pictures with her. Even in her costume, people knew that she was Nonna Maria. I heard that it’s also the most popular thing at my former High School. How ironic, it took my 8 years after I graduated to finally be the most popular thing at High School. The most surreal thing was running into someone at the Halloween party dressed as Nonna Maria. Not sure what to make of it when you meet someone dressed as one of your characters. I’ve never really dealt with this amount of success before. It feels a little dangerous. Almost as if something wrong can veer it in the wrong direction. Either way, I’m learning bit by bit.

One thing I can’t get over is the fans. The fans are awesome. Consisting mostly of High School students, they repeat Nonna Maria’s most famous phrases with such ease. They know every video, some of them by heart. One girl told me how she watches Nonna Maria to cheer her up. My friend’s nephew (who’s a little over 1) recites her most famous quotes while he’s in the bath. This all takes me back to when Nonna Maria was just an idea and down on a piece of paper I had the question – “What do you want to accomplish with Nonna Maria?” I wrote down, “I want to make people laugh.”

That was it, simply enough, I wanted to make people laugh and add just that little bit of happiness to their day. After what I witnessed on Halloween it seems I’m well on my to accomplishing that. Also, I’ve proven to myself that if you really do what you love the most, the rest will fall into place. Thank you everyone who’s watched a Nonna Maria, sent it to a friend, got drunk and watched it in a group, told me how much you love Nonna Maria, told me how sexy you think Dave looks as Nonna Maria, sent me comments, suggestions, anything. I love hearing from the fans!!

Thanks again and as Nonna Maria would say, ” I love you! I love you! I love you! I love you! I love you! I love you! I love you!”

]]> http://thezimp.mindofchester.com/?feed=rss2&p=734 1 http://thezimp.mindofchester.com/?p=729 http://thezimp.mindofchester.com/?p=729#comments Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:25:50 +0000 antzimp http://thezimp.mindofchester.com/?p=729 Had a lot of fun filming/editing this video of Nonna Maria! Happy Halloween everyone!!!

Hey hey hey.

I’m fucking excited for Thursday cause one of my favorite bands is playing with one of my other favorite bands on the same night – AT THE SAME FUCKING SHOW.

Snarky Puppy and NISTA!!

Snarky Puppy is an FUCKING awesome band. Here’s a little press release-y paragraph on them:

An animal as innovative and engaging as its 3 generations of legendary musicians, Ropeadope Digital recording artist Snarky Puppy has one of the freshest sounds in the world of instrumental music today. It is a gathering place for the best that Dallas has to offer, from the unparalleled genius of keyboardist Bernard Wright (Miles Davis, Chaka Khan) to the raw groove and vibrant spirit of Grammy Award-winning drummer/keyboardist Robert “Sput” Searight (Erykah Badu, Snoop Dogg) to the hunger and passion of its young founders. This convergence of different cultures, races, ages, and musical backgrounds has birthed a sound that is setting trends and defying boundaries worldwide.

It is a delicate mixture of real American music, from jazz to funk to R&B to rock, and seasoned heavily with the sounds of Brazil, Puerto Rico, Africa, the Middle East, and the Balkans. While exotic, virtuosic, and laden with musical depth, the success of Snarky Puppy can be largely attributed to the group’s ability to “go in multiple directions while remaining imminently listenable” (Dallas Observer), and ultimately, danceable. Reaching an audience is something that these players have loads of experience with, having played with major league artists such as Dave Brubeck, Sting, Stevie Wonder, Snoop Dogg, Roberta Flack, Morcheeba, Erykah Badu, and countless more. The music is completely uncompromised, unorthodox, and unmistakably unique.

Along with that, my good friend Sarah Crisman is coming down from Texas for her first time in MTL! Sarah’s written for The Zimp and now she’s the music editor for Pegasus News. She’ll be hosting the show and I’ll be helping her out!

Seriously, read my previous review of the Snarky Puppy show – these guys are awesome!!

I hope to see you there!! Here’s the FACEBOOK event page for more information.

“It’s been six painful, agonizing months since we made our tearful farewell to the fine city of Montreal after a night of beautiful music and excessive amounts of poutine. So, naturally, we’re pretty f-ing excited to be coming back.”
- Snarky Puppy – (Denton, Texas) http://www.myspace.com/snarkypuppy

Special Guests; Nista – http://nistamusic.com/

SNARKY PUPPY
“Excellent f*ing music” -Andre 3000 (Outkast)

Thursday, October 29
Le Gymnase w/ Nista
4177 St. Denis
Montreal, QC
doors @ 7:00pm
$10 / all ages

Photo by Eva Blue

Not sure how Eva Blue can say I’m photogenic. I look so wasted in this pic.

Besides that, I’m arm in arm with 2 women and we’re in our boxers, so it can’t be all that bad.

This was part of the Wildcard Cupcake Camp Montreal photoshoot that went on yesterday. Invited by Eva Blue to take some pictures with, well, Wildcard shirts, Cupcakes, and we took off our pants for good measure. And all for a good cause, right? I mean, we’re trying to promote CupCakeCampMtl – a charity event where the proceeds will go to Kid’s Help Phone… not that I need a good cause as an excuse to take off my pants (actually, it took a lot of coercing to take off my pants. I’m self-conscious, okay?!?).

I’m feeling bigger and better these days. In fact, I feel like I’m working with an empty canvas in which I can pretty much create anything. A lot of this has to do with the support of my beautiful girlfriend Melissa. Sadly, I haven’t realized until now how important someone can be in your life and how they really can contribute and help get you to the places you want to go in life…. even if those places include pantless photoshoots

I’m falling love with the things in my life, the ups, the downs, the places I stay, the people I know and meet.

There’s a quote I read that really struck me about the way I used to got about my life, it read: “If I try my best to be him, then who will be me?” The author of the quote escapes me but that’s the way I used to live. I used to try and be someone else all the time, comparing myself to others. I think we’re all this way to some degree and I think we need to somewhat compare ourselves sometimes so that we can assess our situations and improve them but for me, it was a constant dialogue.

Now, it’s just me. And that’s it.

and something tells me there’s gonna be more scantily clad things going on in the future (yes, be afraid).

Bloody hell it’s cold in here.
I swear, I’m not gonna blog about how cold it is, but the air coming out of these vents is damn freezing. I need to pee also.

Okay. Well, I’m in class (giving class, I’m a teacher y’know) and I thought I’d blog about what I’ve been up to.

I’ve got quite a few projects on my hands. Mainly, I’m putting a lot of effort in Wildcard – the premium apparel company that has a love for Montreal. Figuring out some new designs and where we can take the company in a direction that’s socially inclined, where we’ll do something that’s never been done before. Become socially conscious and at the same time produce some seriously kick ass shirts. I’m excited – which probably contributes to me having to pee even more.

Nonna Maria – have you heard of Nonna Maria. Chances are that, if you’re reading this, then you have. A lot has happened with our favorite Mini-Nonna – mainly she’s ballooned into a mini-celebrity. It’s quite surreal when you hear people quoting Nonna Maria when they have no idea that you’re the voice behind her. It’s awesome too – I’m ecstatic people are enjoying it, laughing, sharing it with their families, and more importantly it’s invoking the awesome memories we have of these awesome ladies. There’s so much I want to do with Nonna Maria and so many places I want to go, so rest assured, we’re not going to just sit on it and do nothing. We’re taking this to the next level and it’s going to be fuuuuunnn. Also, we’re doing this all under the guise of the comedy troupe name “The Salty Pigs” – Why the “Salty Pigs”? you probably didn’t ask – well, if you think about it hard enough… you might get it.. (only if you’re Italian though… or… if you know what Prosciutto is… damn, I just revealed the answer).

CupCakeCamp MTL – In case you haven’t heard there’s an event where you’ll get to go and try a bunch of different cupcakes and it’s all for a good cause. What the fuck more do you want?? I’m going to have some fun with CupCakeCampMTL and try to get the title of FAILCAKE and also produce some videos before the actual event where I’d love to see your face (stuffed to the gills with cupcakes). Also, their website looks strangely familiar.

There’s more going on but I’ll save that for another post.

I unfollowed a bunch of people on Twitter… I mean, cause I had some cleaning up to do. They’re mainly people who weren’t following me back. I used Friend or Follow to find out who I’m following that is not following me back. I didn’t blindly unfollow – i made sure to read the stream and see if it contributed to what I wanted to know (mainly, if they tweeted funny tweets or anything involving robots). I was sad to see some people who I would regularly interact with were not following me anymore, not sure why, then I remember that I do occasionally tweet about how your ball sack sticks to your leg in humid weather. That must’ve been why.

~ You taught me to be nice, so nice that now I am so full of niceness, I have no sense of right and wrong, no outrage, no passion. ~ Garrison Keillor

Behold, my conundrum. I’m the “nice” guy. Even typing this is going against every fabric and cell in my body. I’m supposed to be nice, I’m not supposed to complain about being a nice guy. It’s a good thing to be a nice guy. Well, is it?

Firstly, let’s make a distinction here. There’s no white/black – if you’re not “nice” doesn’t mean you’re an “asshole” and if you’re an “asshole” doesn’t mean you’re not “nice” either. Does that make sense? It probably doesn’t.

Now, let’s make another distinction, I’m not going to say “I don’t want to be nice anymore” – no – I want to be nice but I want to keep my integrity too.

It’s like that whole thing, “nice guys finish last” – I remember that line cause of the movie The Mask when one of the characters uses it to describe Jim Carrey’s character. I never really understood what it meant until lately. Nice guys do finish last.

I’m not talking only in terms of relationships either but in terms of what goes on in life. See what I’m doing here, with this post, that I’m writing, RIGHT NOW. Can you sense that I’m trying to say “I don’t want to be nice” anymore while still trying to be “nice?”

Being “nice” is inauthentic. It’s not who you are. “Niceness” hints to someone seeking validation. So, when I’m “nice” I’m looking to be validated, so I can rationalize why I act the way I act. “It’s okay if I deviate from my plans, I’m doing some nice!” Well, it doesn’t work that way. If everyone was “nice” nothing would ever happen on this planet. There’d be no progress, no innovation. If you’re not stepping on toes, you’re really not doing anything. So, henceforth I proclaim death to my “niceness.”

Now now now now now wait. I can’t NOT be nice to people. I LOVE people. I really really do. What does it mean now, when I say I won’t be nice? Does it mean I’ll make fun of people, will it mean I’ll steal your candy, will it mean I’ll post naked pictures of you on the internet? NO NO NO. See, when we say a word like “nice” there’s all these distinctions that come with it, all the presupposed factors. Being “nice” is neither good nor bad just as much as being “not nice” is neither good or bad. “Nice” is an identity we give ourselves, something that can help us deal with the actions we make everyday. “Hey, I’m a “nice” guy so I won’t tell the waiter that they gave me the wrong order.” “I’m doing this work for free but that’s okay, cause they’ll think I’m ‘nice’”. “Hey, I won’t go talk to that girl over there, that way she’ll know FOR SURE I’m a ‘nice’ guy cause I didn’t go bug her.” And so on and so on. Get my drift?

When we’re nice, we lose our sense of self. We lose our grip with reality. We become inauthentic with ourselves. Worst of all, we lose integrity. “Niceness” comes from not wanting to feel uncomfortable, from not wanting to get out of a comfort zone, from not doing something cause it scares you. Everyone knows that extraordinary people will do things, even if it hurts them. There’s an ego at play here that we confuse as ourselves. I know, cause there’s so many things I’m afraid to do and I don’t jump in cause I let this “nice guy” get the best of me.

So, if I’m not “nice” then who/what will I be. Well, I’ll be loving, I’ll be pleasant, I’ll have a sense of humor, make people laugh, I’ll be humble, and I’ll have a feeling of lightness about me. To go with this, I’ll be courageous, I’ll be passionate, and I’ll be a man of my word. When you become a man of your word you know, right then, that there’s times where you can’t be nice. Where you MUST make the call. Where you must admit your defeat. Where you must admit your inauthenticity and your lies.

So, behold, the birth of a new me – the possibility of love, courage, and passion.

Who are you going to be?

The Pac-Mannery

Back to the story – SNL new girl swears on live TV -
Here’s the video:

Now everyone’s all atwitter (okay, yes, pun intended **sigh**) about it. Asking whether or not she’ll be fired for saying a bad word. What’s wrong with US?!? Are we really such prudes?? We can turn to ANY channel on TV, on ANY time of day, and probably catch a rerun of CSI where you’ll see a half-naked woman get her skull bashed in with a hammer yet saying the word FUCK is OUT OF THIS WORLD. Why is that?

I find this parallels to when Janet Jackson had her wardrobe malfunction on Super Bowl Sunday and everyone was up in arms over the sight of a nipple. Parents were like: “OH NOES!! What if the children’s saws that?!” Yes, what if the children saw a nipple, the very thing they SUCKED ON and drank MILK from when they were babies. What if that happened?!? Oh hell no!!

Personally, I think our stance on sex is insane. I think seeing sex as taboo, crazy, out of this world is probably the source of all our problems and why everyone is so tense. Seriously. I think there’d be less wars if people just got laid a lot more. I think, in general, people are just sexually frustrated. Ideally, I’d love to see more of the stance we have against sex put up against the violence we see on TV. Why is it we’re so opposed to something that ensures the continuation of our species yet when we see acts of violence it’s basically your normal day regular programming.

I mean, look at Europe. Europe shows full on tits during their commercial breaks at any time of day. TITS!! During their commercial break. Imagine my surprise when I was having breakfast with my aunt and uncle at 10 in the morning and saw nudity on T.V. It was both refreshing, arousing, and heellllllaa awkward. However, the air and vibe in Europe is one that is more relaxed. People are less tense. They don’t turn the little things into big things. Words are just about as little as things can get.

It’s the same thing with bad words. What’s a bad word? It’s NOTHING. It only means something because WE give it meaning. Since we’ve given it meaning, well, that means MORE people will see Jenny Slate swearing on live TV. As with everything, what you resist persists. If we resist not allowing bad words on TV, it’ll get out another way, tenfold. As is the case with this whole SNL fiasco. If you missed SNL you didn’t see her swearing but now with the miracle of the internet you can go back and watch Jenny Slate drop the f-bomb on live TV. So now, cause of the fuss, more people will see her swearing then there would’ve initially been if we didn’t make such a big thing about swearing.

There. That’s my little rant. I also think that seeing as SNL has SUCKED for the longest time, maybe a little swearing here and there would boost their ratings. It won’t last long but, hey, I’m sure they’ll take anything.