Jason Dove

 

Tomorrow marks one month since the sudden and tragic passing of Jason Dove, AKA Jay Dove AKA J.D. AKA Jolly Lolly AKA Jay Bird AKA Doves in Love, though simply known to most of us as Jay. He was a husband, a father, a son, a brother, and a great friend to many. Jay was loved, respected, and appreciated by numerous people, all of whom have been effected by this tragedy. 

Every morning I woke up I kept hoping this was all just a bad dream, but alas such is not the case. Now 30 days later I am still in shock, and find myself searching for the words to express my sorrow. 

I met Jay back in high school around 1987/88’ and have many great memories of him gracing my life over the years. As fate would have it, we all grow up, start families, face responsibilities, which in turn limits the time we get to spend with our old friends. 

With that said, the true bonds of friendship never die, as years can pass by yet when we get to see our true friends it’s like a day has never passed since we last saw them.  Such was the case with Jay, who will forever be in my heart and be apart of my life despite him no longer being here. 

I’ve lost many loved ones over the last 15 years, but losing Jay really hit me hard, more so than my own family members I’ve lost. It’s one thing to lose a loved one, but what makes this even harder is my friendship with his widow Julie aka Jules, whom I met back in 1984 when we started grade 6 at Williams Parkway. We became best friends, and she was really my only close female friend growing up. 

Who would of ever known that years later 2 of my great friends would end up dating, marrying, having kids, and living a happy life together. So as I said, it’s one thing to lose a loved one, but it’s a whole other world when said loved one is attached to another loved one. My heart truly goes out to her, as well as his children Randy, Kennedy & Campbell, not to mention his family, co-workers, and friends from all walks of life. 

Jay was a hard working man who was always on the go, doing whatever it took to provide for his family, although he still found the time to get his little naps in when feasible. He lived his life the way he wanted to, and never compromised his integrity or his beliefs for anyone or anything, a special trait that unfortunately a lot of people on this planet cannot proclaim. In short he was a real one and true till’ death. 

Tomorrow not only marks one month since we lost him, but it will also marks the date for Jay’s celebration of life, where we will leave our sadness and mourning at home as we remember the great times and great memories of him, and what a great human being he was. I hope to see you there as we share our fond remembrance of him and celebrate the life of an amazing individual who touched the lives of many. 

As I struggle to find the words to express myself, I would like to add some links from previous blog posts of mine that include memories and stories of Jay that we can reflect on, and for my readers who didn’t know him, this will give you a window into the life of the man that was taken from this world much too soon. 

In closing I would like to say take action in your life now. By that I mean don’t think about doing something, don’t ponder an idea, rather act out your thoughts with gusto and swiftness. Reach out to your loved ones, hug the people close to you, tell them how important they are to you and how much you love them, contact that dear old friend you’ve been thinking about, and live for the moment every day of your life, as none of us know when it will be our last day. Life is short and it moves by in the blink of an eye. We can’t go back in time, we can’t change the past, but we can take charge of the present and the future every morning that we wake up breathing. 

I miss you and love you Jay, until we meet on the other side…

*SIDE NOTE* Some of these older blog posts may just have a blurb or mention of Jay, while others will be stories involving him. These are laid out in chronological order from when I first met him. 

http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2013/02/heavy-metal-party-pt-2.html

http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2013/03/mike-c.html

http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2013/04/shut-up-be-happy.html

http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2013/06/herbie.html

http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2013/12/roll-call.html

http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2013/12/woodstock-91-pt1.html

http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2013/12/woodstock-91-pt2.html

http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2014/08/big-fuckin-bender.html

http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2015/03/party-animals-from-hell-pt1.html

http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2015/03/party-animals-from-hell-pt2.html

http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2015/04/party-animals-from-hell-pt4.html (pt.3)

http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2015/04/party-animals-from-hell-pt4_8.html

http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2017/01/welcome-to-malton.html

http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-death-of-96.html

These are excerpts from a blog which is essentially the story of my life in a nutshell, I am only in 1997 as far as the timeline goes, so there will be future posts as time goes on, some of which will include stories of Jay, thanks for reading. 

R.I.P. J.D.

 

Dallas Good

On February 17th, 2022 many of peoples worlds were rocked by the sudden death of Canadian musician Dallas Good, a member of The Sadies, one of Canada’s most prolific bands of the last 20 years. With minimal digging you can find and learn what a great friend, brother, band mate, husband, and person Dallas was, if you weren’t already aware of that. 3 months later I’m still shocked and saddened by this, and still don’t really know what to say. 

I had been wanting to get out and see The Sadies perform live for my first time a few years prior to this, which was difficult with the whole Covid mess. Now as things were finally starting to calm down I couldn’t help but notice The Sadies were starting to play live shows again. I had planned on going to see them whenever they played in Toronto next, so I could surprise Dallas and hopefully catch up with him. Sadly I never got to do that and see my old friend. 

 Although I haven’t had contact with him since the mid to late 90s, I’ve always felt connected with him and he certainly left an impression on me as a young man to say the least. When the Internet age came upon us he was one of the first people I tried to track down, although it was somewhat unsuccessful, as he didn’t seem to have any social media accounts…which in all honesty really didn’t surprise me knowing the type of guy he was. 

 My search however did lead me to discovering The Sadies and I was thrilled to see Dallas was still out there and making music. I followed them (Sadies) on social media and definitely professed my brotherly love I have for him on a few posts, in hopes that the message just might be relayed to him. I’m not sure it ever was but I like to think and hope it was, and hopefully put a smile on his face.

 Seeing as I’m at a loss for words I thought it would make more sense to re-visit some older blog posts of mine that Dallas was included in, and celebrate his life through my great memories and stories of him. Some of these posts just have small blurbs mentioned in passing, while others center around Dallas, but I will provide links to all of them regardless. 

 My deepest heartfelt condolences go out to his wife, his family, his band mates, his friends, his fans, and all the people he touched in this world through his kindness, his friendships, and his musical genius. You will be missed by so many people who loved you, and although it saddens me that I never got to catch up with you as I had planned, it fills me with great happiness that you will forever be in my memories and in my heart as one of the greatest people I’ve ever met in my life and had the honour of calling a friend. 🖤 -K 

 [It was at Songbird that we first met the best repairman Jeff, and his band mates Dallas, Bernie, and Ruston. They had a new up and coming band called "The Satanatras"] 

http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-songbird-connection.html

[While down in the city one day, Derek and I went to watch The Satanatras jam one evening. It was pretty mind blowing to witness such great musicianship up close and personal like that.]

http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-combination-is-born.html 

 [SIDE NOTE: After hours of skimming through old posts I realized there never was a “Looking for Mr.Good pt.2” that completed this story, so I will be writing and posting that in the weeks to come in memory of Dallas.] 

http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2014/06/looking-for-mrgood-pt1.html 

 [Our Satanatra friends ended up getting us backstage at the show, so we got to meet, party, and hang out with Unsane.] 

http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2014/07/unsane-unsung.html 

 [Of all the friends I had downtown, the one I cherished the most was Dallas from The Satanatras. I was still going out of my way to hang out at his place for a couple of days whenever I had the chance.]

http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2015/02/serial-business.html 

 [I was contacted by my good friend Dallas of The Satanatras. They wanted to know if we'd be interested in opening for them and "The Hacksaw Jim Duggans" at a booze can on Halloween.]

http://kabal73.blogspot.com/2015/05/hoolie-ween-93.html

Altered Native

 1997 was shaping up to be a monumental year. I was creating art, making music, reuniting with friends, & working my “dream job” at HMV records. In my spare time when I was alone you could find me playing WCW vs. The World on playstation, as that was the newest and hottest wrestling video game to come out at the time.  Wu-Tang Clan had also released their second full length album that year entitled “Wu-Tang Forever” and that was pretty much the soundtrack of 1997 for me. 

Shayne and his family had moved up to Orangeville so I took a trip up there with a friend one day to visit them and catch up. Turns out Shayne was making plans to open a small head shop in the town of Orangeville, and he already had the wheels in motion. It was very cool and exciting to see my friend going out on a limb and taking a leap of faith on what could possibly be a major career for him.

Before I knew it Shayne already had a location and had already started painting the place, acquiring stock, and getting things set up. I spent a day there with him and his mother Amber, and we painted some incense burners that he would be selling. 

Being a stranger in a strange town Shayne did not want to gamble on locals he didn’t know and couldn’t trust to work for him, so I offered to work weekends for him devoid of pay to help him out and give him a bit of a break. Being the stand up guy that he is, he offered to pay me in product as he felt bad about me working for free, and that agreement was absolutely fine with me. 

The shop officially opened in October of 1997, and although I was still working weekdays at HMV in Toronto, my weekends would now be spent in Orangeville. Thankfully my girlfriend Jenny was gracious enough to drive me there and pick me up each weekend, but that soon came to an end as we decided to mutually part ways, as our lives were going in separate directions and we weren’t getting to spend much time together anymore. 

Shayne ended up naming the shop “The Altered Native” which was a nod to our circle of friends, as we always used to pronounce the word “alternative” in two parts, Alter-native. It was merely a simple and funny play on the word that amused us, but he was now taking it to the next level. I helped out and designed a logo for him, which he put on business card sized stickers with the shop’s information, and proceeded to commence “operation guerrilla marketing tactics” which consisted of sticking these things everywhere and anywhere, with fast food drive-throughs  being the main target as they saw so much traffic on a daily basis.  

The shop was small and quaint, and he started off mainly selling incense, burners, smoking accessories, and t-shirts. We had a lot of friends in bands at the time too, so Shayne was gracious enough to let them sell their CDs on consignment there as well. Over time he started to branch out and acquire new products from different companies, thus the store was slowly growing into something bigger and better every passing day. 

Eventually he convinced his cousin Jason to join the crew. Jason lived in Kitchener and had recently started tattooing, so he also took a leap of blind faith, sold most of belongings, and moved to Orangeville. It was a very exciting time and I was more than happy to start getting tattoos from Jason. 

As the months passed by the shop was really starting to pick up momentum. Shayne planted the seed in me that it would only be a matter of time before he would need me there to work full time, and I was totally game for that…

The original location at 85 Broadway as it stands today.

Post Secondary Education

 It felt like it wasn't very long after the "one night only Wiggaz show" when my telephone rang one day and I was surprised to hear Gerg on the other end. Despite my former grudge I was holding it was a pleasant conversation and I can remember being happy to hear from him. Our circle of friends was somewhat divided the last year, and deep down I wanted nothing more than for all of us to be one big happy family again. 

Greg and I caught up on the phone for awhile then he brought up a new musical project he was working on with former Wiggaz drummer Frank, and a fellow named Carlo who was the bass player for the band Fraktured. The trio dubbed themselves "GRIFT" (after the movie "The Grifters") & cooked up a batch of fresh songs that they were looking for various people to sing on. I told him I was definitely interested, and not long after I was in possession of a cassette recording of a few of the songs he thought I might like to work with.

I can still vividly remember listening through the handful of songs a few times and decided on two of which I thought I could do something with. I put the word in to Gerg and it was decided. I can also vividly remember having a puff, then excitingly sitting down on the couch in my apartment on a nice sunny day with pen and paper ready to write some lyrics.

I honestly can't remember the window of time from when I finished writing until I was in a car with Greg on my way back to Rumblefish studios, our old Wiggaz rehearsal space. The owner Dave Caravaggio had since built a recording studio in what was once his oversized office and it was legit! Although I had been playing in bands on and off for 10 years at this point, today was actually my second time ever in a professional facility, the first being the Grasshopper demo 4-5 years prior.

From what I recall we were in and out of there like the wind, myself killing everything in one takes for the most part, and there was an overall buzz of excitement in the air amongst all parties involved. It was nice seeing Dave again, hanging out with Greg again, and re-uniting with Frank who I hadn't seen in some time. I'm pretty sure Carlo was there as well although we weren't close friends by any means at that point in life. 

I was feeling great about how things went and I couldn't wait to hear the final product. I was extra excited to learn that Gerg and the boys were putting this out on CD which was mind blowing to me at the time as it would be my first musical endeavor that was to be captured on compact disc. Recording was said and done then it was back to regular life. 

Eventually our lease was up and myself, Jay & Julie decided to part our separate ways despite still being great friends. I can't remember if I ended up back at my parent's house again or not for a brief window of time, but I did eventually end up living with Jenny and her family. Her oldest sister had gotten married and flew the coop, so her folks decided to sell their house and get an apartment on Lisa street, which was literally a 1 or 2 minute walk from Silver Maple where I had just moved out of.

I wasn't working with Jay at Beak Industries in Woodbridge anymore by this point, but I was still working at HMV in the Eaton's Centre, so it was nice still living across the street from the Bramalea City Centre where I caught my bus to Toronto for work.

At some point during this year my dream came true and our circle of friends were once again re-united and in full force. All my former room mates from "The Slayer House" were back in the picture, and it was great hanging out with Mike C. again as well as rekindling my friendship with Shayne, whom I considered my best friend. Him and Jay were talking, and after time we were all "one big happy family" yet again! 

I also did eventually end up back in my Mom & Dad's basement and my mom was now dropping me off to get my Go bus to Toronto in the mornings. When I moved into the Lisa apartment with Jenny and her family, her parents allowed my faithful cat Fritz to come along for the ride even though they weren't thrilled about the idea. When I moved back home they asked me if they could keep Fritz as they had grown so fond of him, I instantly said "YES" as it was the least I could do considering how hospitable they had been to me over the last 2 years.

After some anticipation, the day finally came and I had the Grift CD in my possession. As per usual I instantly headed to the stereo, threw on the headphones & listened through from front to back as I followed along with the lyrics. It was really cool hearing some familiar old voices again including Pat from Fence, Jim from Fraktured, Scott from Viciousphere, Fudd from Dirge, Kenny from Perfectly Normal, and my old BBJ brother Mike Myers. It was also very interesting to hear what had been done with the songs Gerg gave me on the tape way back when.

I can remember being so proud to show my parents I was on a real CD, as they somewhat frowned upon my musical ventures. I think it was out of spite to a degree like "HA! LOOK WHAT I DID! I MADE IT!" but the reality of the fact was I wasn't anywhere even close to making a living off of a musical career. 

In the Grasshopper days I had delusions of becoming a rock star, but at this point of my life I didn't think like that anymore. I just loved making music, being creative, and hopefully giving something to people that they could get something positive out of. My whole philosophy at this point was that even if I can change one person's life that is all the payment I needed.

I was extremely satisfied with how my two songs with Grift turned out and it was a trip to see a photo of myself in a CD. That could of been the end of the chapter and I would have been more than happy, but unbeknownst to myself this was just the beginning of a much bigger chapter...

GRIFT - Post Secondary Education

Dumpster Fire

 

Well once again I've failed in my promise to bring this blog back to life with some form of legs again.

I attempted to continue the story once again in early 2020 with the free time I'd been granted due to covid, yet I only managed to post twice the entire year. I remember being very excited and motivated at the time as well to get back at it with consistency, but it ended up being a very un-motivating and somewhat depressing year for myself and many others I'm sure. 

It was nice to see tons of other people however reveling in all the free time and having creative explosions in bountiful abundance. For what some might call one of the worst years ever I feel like many people created what they would consider their "best works" to date, and that always kept a light of hope in me to get out of my creative slump.

I did still create some art through drawing, I did still write some lyrics here and there, and I did still create music which has yet to be released, I just let myself down a bit in how little I did of all 3 of those and the above mentioned creative writing slump. 

The most positive and inspiring aspect I personally received from 2020 was all the time I got to spend with my son, and watching him grow in his own musical adventures through his guitar playing (something I could never do) it's just been a drag that him and I can't get out and do the things we enjoy outside of home, but I still cherish every second I have with him regardless of where we are or what we do.

So I guess you could consider this another empty promise to get the story going again? I certainly hope so, but one that finally plays out. 2 months have already passed by in 2021 and I've been struggling to break the chain of 2020 but I'm happy to report I have made some chinks in it. Pushing through with motivation, inspiration, & positive changes moving forward from here. 

If you are reading this, I hope you and yours are well, and I hope the last 12 months haven't been hard on your families and loved ones. 

On that note I'd like to share a posting of mine from Facebook dated January 1,2021:

To the ones we’ve lost in 2020...

Thank you all for the inspiration,

motivation and memories...

Neil Peart (Rush)

Juan ‘Pampero Firpo’ Kachmanian (Pro Wrestler)

Jesús “La Parka” Escoboza (Pro Wrestler)

Kazuo “Kendo Nagasaki” Sakurada (Pro Wrestler)

Wayde “Rocky Johnson” Bowles (Pro Wrestler)

Ruben “Hercules Ayala” Cruz (Pro Wrestler)

Sean Reinert (Death, Cynic)

Christoper “Justice Pain” Wilson (Pro Wrestler)

Reed Mullin (Corrosion of Conformity)

Thomas “Tommy Mac” MacDonald (friend)

Josh Pappe (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles)

Max Von Sydow (Actor)

Jason Rainey (Sacred Reich)

Jeff Grosso (Pro Skateboarder)

Howard Finkel (Ring Announcer)

Lester “Supreme” Perfors (Pro Wrestler)

Steve “Thee Slayer Hippy” Hanford (Poison Idea)

Kenneth Osmond (Actor)

Fred Willard (Actor)

Shad Gaspard (Pro Wrestler)

Hana Kimura (Pro Wrestler)

Kendall “Chi Pig” Chinn (SNFU)

John Saxon (Actor)

Gabriel Theodoropolus (Grandfather)

Annie Theodoropolus (Grandmother)

William Dent (Uncle)

James “Kamala” Harris (Pro Wrestler)

Malik Basit (The Roots)

Joseph “Animal” Laurinatis (Pro Wrestler)

Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen)

Tracy Smothers (Pro Wrestler)

David Prowse (Actor)

Gangsta Ridd (Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E.)

Richard Corben (Artist)

Tiny Lister Jr.(Actor)

Jeremy Bulloch (Actor)

John “Ecstasy” Fletcher (Whodini)

Jon “Brodie Lee” Huber (Pro Wrestler)

Daniel “Zev Love X/MF Doom” Dumile (Rapper/Producer)

I know there were numerous other losses in 2020 such as Sean Connery, Kenny Rogers, Pat Patterson and many more, but these are the ones that affected me personally, so please don’t take offense in any names I have omitted. Here’s hoping for much less loss and heart break in 2021!

One Night Only?

Although I was loving my new job at HMV it was really my only connection to music at the time as I wasn't playing in any bands, however that would all change with one phone call.

I was relaxing on the couch in our appartment on the 19th floor of Silver Maple Towers one day when the telephone rang, and obviously I answered it. I was surprised to hear Gerg's voice on the other end of the line, as we hadn't spoke since the demise of Wiggaz. I was still somewhat bitter over the whole situation and was harboring feelings of resentment towards Greg.

He was very humble as he apologized for the way things had transpired but I was not sure if I was ready to forgive him. We caught up with each other over some small talk and eventually Gerg got to the purpose of his phone call.

Rob, the former bass player of Wiggaz had moved to Vancouver awhile back and he was coming down east to visit. Greg expressed interest in playing a Wiggaz reunion show at our old stomping grounds of The Ivy Bridge where we first cut our teeth. I mulled it over in my head as he proposed the idea and in a matter of minutes I made my decision.

I agreed to play the gig but my heart was telling me I was making this decision for Rob and not for Greg. I don't think I was ready to forgive him at the time, but I liked the idea of our band getting back together even if it was for one night only.

The buzz of this show circulated quickly and the year was flying by rapidly which I had no problem with. Before I knew it the magical day of August 9th 1997 had arrived and it was time for the gig.

I had thrown out my old suit I wore religiously in Wiggaz so I had to figure out something to wear, but thankfully I still had my trusted Satan mask. My girlfriend Jenny took me to her parents house to rummage through their Halloween costumes and I happily stumbled upon a priest robe. I thought to myself "this is perfect" and snatched it up along with a cross on a rope that I somehow managed to invert.

I also planned on wearing a bloodied white shirt underneath which signified I was still wearing the shirt I had on when I was "assassinated" at the final Wiggaz show prior to this. Furthermore I made the concious decision that I would finally unmask myself for the first time ever.

I arrived at the Ivy Bridge early that day and there was already a small crew of friends hanging out. I was surprised to learn that we were performing on the main floor, as we had always played in the basement. I was even more surprised to see my old pal and EBS frontman Steve Waller was down from BC and in attendance. This really made my day and it was awesome catching up with him.

After a few hours of schmoozing and drinking the place was packed and it was time to rock. I stealthily slipped away into the bathroom or kitchen (I can't quite remember) and transformed myself back into "Satin" once again.

I heard the boys instruments as they warmed up and that was my cue. As I entered the room I got a huge pop from the crowd and it was time to fuck shit up. I was overwhelmed by the amount of people packed in like sardines and they went absolutely bonkers for us. Quite possibly one of the greatest receptions we had ever received during our time together as a band.

The rest of the night is really all a blur to me but I still remember that it was an incredibly magical evening. It was like we had never missed a beat.

Later on down the road a friend of ours Bob Kareer, who worked at musicplex with Greg, had given us a copy of the show he shot with his camcorder. It was amazing to relive the memories and see how crazy the audience went. Thankfully I was able to get a copy of it recently and I added it to my YouTube channel for all to enjoy via the links provided.

It seemed like the perfect reunion and farewell of the Wiggaz all rolled into one, but was it really our last performance?

Wiggaz AD live @ Ivy Bridge pt.1

Wiggaz AD live @ Ivy Bridge pt.2

Wiggaz AD live @ Ivy Bridge pt.3