03:08pm Jul31, 2003 

What a blast, indeed!  Seems many grabbed tickets as a souvenir without the intention of braving the crowds due to huge concerns of not being able to get home until 5 am like the press around here had been predicting...  Bet those people are kicking their own asses this morning now that the "Concert of the Century" is over and as it turns out, the park was empty in under 90 minutes...  The sheer size of this gathering was beyond anything the Stones had ever seen, said Mick Jagger, who also paid tribute to the Canadian and U.S. forces watching the live televised concert in 177 countries.  Jann Arden opened the show, along with a back-up chorus of thousands and thousands belting out O'Canada, but not before gasping in astonishment as she looked out over the sea of humanity. "Hey Toronto, thanks for inviting us here," said AC/DC's Brian Johnson, "We wouldn't have missed it for the f@cking world."  He later had the audience make "the loudest, nastiest noise in all of Canada" during Thunderstruck.  Nicknamed "SARStock", there were some tight similarities with Woodstock, as the smell of marijuana filtered through the crowd (...Ahh!  Little wonder the crowd was so well behaved!..) and young women were urged by crowds of cheering men to bare their breasts (...and they did!  There's lots of things we get to do here as Canadians...)  There where some serious errors made in the planning of this mega-concert though, The wait  to get a beer was two hours.  "It's a lot easier to go up and buy two bottles of water than wait two hours for beer. We're in Canada, we shouldn't have to wait two hours for beer," one patron said.  Spoken like a true Canuck!  (...did I mention it was also watched on the Space Station?..)
 

Speaking of Beer...  It's the long weekend almost!!  To celebrate, a woman attempted to destroy her car last night and take mine with it (...the women depicted here, is in fact my dear, sweet Aunt Monica who complains of not being mentioned in the LAN Minutes, this was a 'Gratuitous Monica Shot' we thought we would throw in...)  Driving away from the store after work, a woman threw her car into reverse and without so much as a peek in the mirror or a shoulder glance, hammered the gas and attempted to mate the rear of her unit with the front of mine...  Again, the MeatMan's "Quake" reflexes snapped into action and my wheel snapped to the left avoiding her ramming machine by mere inches...  Now I wish I had let her hit me.  When I gave her the "dropped jaw, arms wide open" look, better know to you and I as the "WTF!?" glare, I attempted to drive off but my car had other ideas...  CluNk, ChiNG, thUmp, CrunCH, GriNd...  I get out and head to the front passenger side to see if my super-sudden-quake-action blew my tire off the rim, nope...  I glance up to see the woman who CAUSED all this see me inspecting my car, just like moments ago, her foot hits the peddle and she bolts...  God, please strike her car down.  I drove (...limped...) into the garage today at lunch expecting a CV Joint blew or something, turns out a pin from the front brake callipers snapped, I'm only out $90!  Guess the point is, I shouldn't be out $90...  Time for a Cottage Recharge, a long weekend of fresh air and people who still understand the concept of courtesy will be a refreshment for the sole.  Keep safe, don't drink and back into other peoples cars.

 

09:20am Jul30, 2003 

History in the making this morning as the gates at Downsview Park swing open allowing the thousands and thousands already waiting to flood the grounds and pick their turf for what's been billed as the largest ticketed concert in history!  The Stones, along with all the other bands performed sound checks all day yesterday, thrilling fans already camping out hoping to be some of the first in gate this morning...  One promoter, when asked how the checks went said, "If you don't have a ticket yet, don't worry...  You'll be able to hear this concert all the way to London." (...London, Ontario I would imagine...)  The media has been interviewing people in the crowd all morning and have found people from as far as England, Ireland and even a couple from Switzerland that have never been to Canada and flew in just for the Toronto SARS Benefit...  Welcome to Canada, eh!
 

Event organizers announced just the other day that preparations have already been made to send closed circuit, live feed of the event around the World to troops everywhere.  I don't mean to be a stick in the mud here, but isn't this sort of deal a prime opportunity for terrorists to make a big time impact?  Think about it...  500,000 people packed into one park, huge super stars, every television outlet in the world almost is represented (...even CNN sent up a team...) now imagine "landing" a plane there...  Forget the Trade Centre, think of the impact that would have.  But that's not going to happen, because this is Canada!  If any terrorist start acting up, we'll simply beat them into submission with empty beer bottles and shove donuts up their ass.  (...we mean it!..)  Cummon, Toronto...  Let's show the World how to Rock!

 

11:25am Jul28, 2003 
Smile, Monica!Look out, Folks!  It's "the Mother of all updates" coming your way (...'bout time too!  We've been getting hate mail..)  Right off the bat, I'd like to say it's great to have everything "back to normal" (...whatever the hell THAT means!..) and we can get back to hosting LAN Parties and the like.  The wedding went off without a hitch (...sorta' speak...) with only a few issues that cropped up... like the Best Man losing the Bride's wedding ring, our DJ's equipment not able to play our wedding song, you know, little things like that...  Huge thanks from both of us for the great work the Abattoir Staff did to hold it all together, it would not have happened without you!  Cam (SkunkWorks) Wright, Cam (CorpsE) Smith and Evan (DieJestor) Smith were all a buzz in the background snapping great photos and rolling video along with making sure everything ran smooth...  We have over 800+ photos to pile through and they're still coming in.  Since there were people at the wedding from near and far (...like my dear, sweet Aunt Monica and Chas the Porno Star from England who read the Abattoir all the time and complain she's never mentioned in the LAN Minutes, so here's a picture of her!  Happy, Mon?..) we've decided to actually come out with "My Big, Fat, Croatian Wedding - The DVD".  For those with a SuperFTP Account, you can actually download the DVD chapters as they're produced, the final proofs are in the Movies folder, at this writting, there's only the first chapter done "Stag&Doe" -- For everyone else who would like to browse images, we'll be putting up an online wedding album server, a great way to share images with friends!  Isis looked stunning at the least...  I think I've done a good thing. :)
 

So the Rolling Stones are flying in to Toronto this afternoon for the history making SARS benefit concert...  If you live in the Toronto area, I'm sure you're very up to date since this is all they've talked about for the last month now.  Attendance is expected to be over 500,000 people.  Mick Jagger and friends have interrupted their European tour to be here for Wednesday's big bash, since Toronto's Mick's favourite place to be, and they'll get the royal treatment. The plane will be taken to a secluded area of the airport, where the group and family members will be kept from the prying eyes of fans and the press. It's likely the Stones will tour the concert site, and could make their first sound check on Tuesday, in advance of the gates opening at 8am Wednesday.  What a bash this is going to be too...  Just check out the line-up of entertainment that'll be packing Downsview Park on Wednesday: Jim Belushi, Dan Aykroyd & Have Love Will Travel Revue, Sam Roberts, Kathleen Edwards, La Chicane, Tea Party, Flaming Lips, Sass Jordan, Isley Brothers, Blue Rodeo, Justin Timberlake, Guess Who, Rush, AC/DC then the Rolling Stones!  There's rumours flying around that Mick Jagger and the boys will be playing with the other bands throughout the concert, but that's yet to be confirmed.
 

Okay, let's finally talk LAN Party!!  As you may have noticed, the cry for a BTM has become deafening around the Abattoir, but with schedules as they were, it was impossible to accommodate...  To show our appreciation to all our patrons who've been so patient, we're having a "MeatMan's gone Crazy!" Summer Blow-Out Sale Edition!  A mini-BTM if you will...  We're rolling prices back to 1998 for this one time, no frills BTM-Quickie...  $10!  Now THERE'S a LAN Party value for you!  Get your registration in now for BTM39.9 to be held August 9th, with BTM40 to follow in September.  This BTM will not have an "Early-Bird", doors open 10am on Saturday - This will be a bare-bones BTM, but all the killin' needed will be there, don't delay because it's going to fill fast!  If you have a friend who's been itching to check out a BTM, this one is a great opportunity to come as a Spectator and see what it's all about...  Check your calendar, then get your reservation in!

 

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