SO much has happened since my last post that I don’t even know where to begin.

I had to put a hold on my Awareness card collection due to an amazing turn of events. In late September there was talk on Facebook about a possible fundraiser for my friend Tiffany, maybe a gig or a cabaret. A week went by and nothing had been organized, so I emailed a couple of local bands and asked if they would be willing to play a Benefit for Tiff.

Lizband was my first choice, as Tiffany and I have been fans since 1993. Of course Liz said yes, so my next email was to Jody Richardson, lead singer/guitarist of The Pathological Lovers (another local band). In my email, I told Jody what was going on and mentioned that I was still looking for a third band with a personal connection to Tiff. Jody replied and said “Lovers are all in. All proceeds go to the cause. Just wait on the third band for a sec will ya’?”

So the next morning Jody emails me and tells me “The third band is Fur Packed Action. We have all agreed. ALL money goes to the cause.” I cried from joy, I could hardly believe such a selfless act. You see, Fur Packed Action, aside from being my *favourite* local band of ALL time, have been broken up since 2001. TEN YEARS. They have played only ONE reunion show since that time, five years ago in 2006. There was always something so special about an FPA show.

I can’t even begin to tell you how many friendships I’ve forged through mutal love of this band. My best friend Jenni and I spent every other weekend at FPA shows. I met my other best friend Peggy at an FPA show. I instantly adored an old co-worker named Susy because she loved FPA – she is still my friend today. When I met my friend Heidi, we bonded over a mutual love of FPA. Deebs (Darryl) and I met at FPA shows and became fast friends, and he introduced me to other great pals who love FPA. Jody, the singer of FPA has become like a brother but better – he’s been there for me through every tough time in my adult life with just the right amount of perspective.

Anyhow. Needless to say, I love that band a lot. Jody asked another old fave, Persona, to play the show as well and they all agreed. We announced the Benefit on Facebook on a Wednesday, the tickets were available the following Friday at 5pm and they were *totally* sold out by Saturday evening. Over 250 tickets sold in 24 hours. It became apparent we’d need to announce a second show, so that’s what we did and it looks as though that show is almost sold out too (tickets available at Fred’s Records until they sell out!).

Talk about overwhelmed. I am so excited to see FPA again, but that excitement is matched by feelings of shock and joy, knowing that… I put this in motion. I didn’t ask FPA to play, I never would’ve been so presumptious, I just wanted to raise $1000 for a friend in need. As it happens, we have currently raised almost $10,000 for Tiffany so far. The bands are not just giving up their time for two nights, there will be countless hours of rehearsal for them all to relearn songs they haven’t played in 5 years. I just cannot begin to thank them enough.

In other news, I decided to book a trip to Toronto on a whim, so I spent a week on the mainland visiting some friends and see a Canadian band called C’MON play their last two shows. October was certainly a whirlwind, and November is shaping up to be even crazier. Exciting times!

To keep this post relevant to the usual content, here’s a few pictures of the Star Book I made after the last FPA reunion in 2006…