Yeah I can be cocky, I can afford it.

From time to time, I think I come across as a cocky S.O.B. I don't think this is a bad thing because for the most part I am a fairly modest person, when I think I can be cocky, I take full advantage.

One way in which I am cocky is my insistence that I have the best musical taste in the world.

Don't believe me? Well just take a look at my record collection. When I say record collection, I don't mean a stack of CDs or my iPod, I mean my LPs. I have close to 1,000 LPs in my parents basement (yeah they don't travel so well) but its all there. From ABBA to Arcade Fire I've got it all on vinyl, precious vinyl. If this isn't enough to make me an elitist prick musically I don't know what does.
When I was bartending at the Black Dog and making decent coin, I spent a lot of money at Sound Connection on 124th Street in Edmonton. That place was a goldmine. Every time I went in I would emerge with an aching neck from looking down, thumbing through LP after LP in search of that rare find that was sometimes something new, or another copy of a favorite album. I have 5 copies of the Joshua Tree and 3 copies of the White Album - just to name a few that I will buy on the spot EVERY TIME I see them for sale, no questions asked. Last time I was in Edmonton I was sad to see that it has closed OR maybe (crossing fingers) it has moved to a new location. The basement flooded a lot in the passed three years so maybe they moved because of that. So thank you Sound Connection for aiding my cockiness.

Another way I consider myself cocky is my undying belief that someone has my back.

When I was working in clubs like Lush and the Rev this was the case, if I was ever in a situation that I couldn't handle, I had 6 or 7 huge dudes a radio alert away from joining the situation. After a few months, just knowing that they were a call away, I started taking on more and more cases on my own and I found that I was assertive enough to diffuse almost any situation that presented itself - especially in those booze drenched crowds at 50 cent highball Wednesdays at Lush. This cockiness transferred over to when I was a doorman at the Black Dog. I dealt with EXTREMELY drunk people working the doorway between the best pub on Whyte ave and the Chads (read: chachi jocks) who had just been kicked out the "Thirsty Turtle". I rarely lost my temper and would go toe to toe with basically anyone who challenged my authority to deem them too drunk to be allowed in. Actually in the 4 years I was a doorman, I threw one punch and took one punch. Not bad. But I was assertive because I knew that if anything was to happen to me physically, I would have at least 3 other guys at my back in no time.
This effected me not only in real life situations, but also in print.
Remember in one of my earlier posts this month, I wrote about the time I was badmouthed in a local paper? Here is a link to it. Well I had been cocky enough to compare my band at the time to Jimmy Eat World, not really saying we were bigger than Jesus, but some people took offense apparently. Well the next week in the same paper, a retort from a friend and fan of my band!

Thank you friends, fans and co-workers for aiding my cockiness.

Finally, here is how I am cocky spiritually.

Recently I saw a video that almost made me a devout Christian.

Then I saw this.

Goddamn it. Well, it's back to my Jesus-bashing. Thank you science for aiding my cockiness.