When this world goes to shit I’ll be ready. People already stampede and panic over Black Friday shopping and hackers fucking up their video game time.
How about when the real shit hits the fan, in the form of a natural disaster or some bullshit war or riot scenario? Those cops everyone hates won’t be around to assist you, nor will the bogus government who continue to throw your tax dollars at exploiting corporations. I’m grateful I wasn’t raised a total city slicker thanks to the yearly childhood excursion to northern Saskatchewan to become a tent dweller for a month.
My calendar New Year’s wish for everyone is to become more self-reliant. It’s the foundation of D.I.Y. I’m a duct tape MacGyver girl who loves black paint.
Someone asked me the other day why the Cobes existed. I said that it’s because I needed a real place to hangout with my favourite things. At that point it was booze, and punk and metal bands. It was also crazyman Leblanc, who was my partner at the time and was constantly kicked out of every bar in Gastown. Thus it began.
I’m truly thankful for all of you that have continued to support our vision of a dedicated punk and metal venue. John the sound guy and I appreciate all of you. We’ve been doing this together for 15 years. We’ve survived slumlords, and all the ramifications of living in a dive bar. We’ve been subjected to hatred from city hall, closures, shitwater, vermin, a hipster usurping, bandwagon copycats, cop callers, threats, thieves, street dealers, tyrants and imagined slight boycotts complete with Internet slagging.
Yet, here we still are. That folks, is all because of you, the bands and the fans
who continue to support having a legit venue dedicated to heavy music. Gratitude to all the staff past and present for your dedication. We couldn’t have done it without you. It is such a relief to finally be at a point where the bar owner isn’t a slumlord, although waiting for the bathrooms to be fixed is a bit trying.
Sheri, our sparkly bar manager is a gem, and constantly going to bat to improve conditions for us. I guess the only drawback of corporate ownership is being the smallest interest in the portfolio.
I’m just here enjoying the yearly hellfest that only booking coordinators for a venue would understand. The dreaded January booking sheet. This is especially bad if you release control of nights to outside promoters. I don’t know what happens in December but it’s like people crawl into a vat of eggnog for the whole month. Communication is strained and glitchy and you can barely get a straight answer from people. Truly a bizarre experience. I’m so glad I dropped out of that societal segment years ago. Christ mass drives people batshit crazy.
-wendythirteen
