AND THE GUITARS WERE LOUD AND COULD BE HEARD ACROSS THE BORDER

Because it is great!

OUTSIDE SMOKE

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In 2004 Canada had its ass kicked in the pool at the Athens summer Olympics
What happens when a country chooses to win, what are the sacrifices, how high the heights to which they may climb?
Savannah King, Ryan Cochran, Brent Hayden and Erica Morningstar these swimmers that have podium on their minds:
Outside Smoke- when a swimmer in an outside, and slower lane, wins the race.

Parsley Days spoof

survivor

SURVIVOR

ok so here is the deal..
I have this toilet seat that sucks.. wobbles all over the damn place..
kinda worries me that one sleepy morning I may end up on the floor
with my pants 'round my feet.
so today I was trying to change the toilet seat, bought a new one at
Rona.hardware( a Quebec thing). and the god damn screws were rusted
tight as anything.. so I am vice gripping, hammering, screwdriving 'em and nothing, or next to nothing, so I try all of them just with a little more vim.. and what happens..
I bang on one and a whole chunk of toilet goes flying, I mean when I
say chunk its really a big sliver, like one of those bubble tea
straws.. I look at it and think-" that can't be good" but then I
think, well actually the new toilet seat will hold it on tight and I
can get some goop to glue it all together latter- perfect. So I
tighten the seat, looks great, excellent throne.. no more wobble, good
reading stability...then I flush.. and I suddenly get this lovely
fountain effect. As it turns out my little "sliver" of toilet had a far
more important role in the balance of toiletting than originally
assumed. So now I am thinking. FUCK!, but still I am also thinking..
some kick ass goop and it will all be good to go. That high tech goop
fixes everything

I crouch down and take a closer look only to notice that the piece that flew
off was only part of a long razor think crack.. a really long one, like Nile
long. So then I really think- FUCK!

But what to do?
I call Canadian Tire and ask if they are in fact at the Alexisneon
plaza.. they are.. a metro ride away, so off to the plaza.. I get
there and look around, and look around.. hey... no toilets.
You see I have decided that in my unemployed state
better I should fix this mess rather than wait until 9 pm for my
landlord and then perhaps even tomorrow.
Well no toilets at Canadian Tire, unlike the Canadian tire I know and
love in Halifax where they got toilets all over the place.

When I first moved here, to this loft, this area of town(Old Montreal),
the business district circa 1600, I began to realize that I have in
fact entered into - URBAN SURVIVOR- There is nothing here, no amenities.. it is all businesses and law firms, after 6pm it goes deathly quiet...even most of the caffes close after 4pm.

So each day there is a new challenge; laundry, groceries, videos,
wine, tennis balls for Milo, coffee...so today- Toilet.

While gathering my thoughts at Canadian Tire I ask some dude that
seems to speak English better than french, I figure this
after I ask him something in French and he sort of answers.. but as it
turns out he speaks both poorly and one is most def his native toung, just not sure which.

He tells me of a Home Depot on St Urbain. 20 min walk, he thinks...

Excellent!

off I go. Wandering my way through St Henri a little inner city suburb..in a cab.

Once I get to Home Depot,they seem to call it that in Quebec too,I
ask this short round fellow about a toilet and all the fixings to get the job done.
He fills my orange cart with everything I need.

Taxi back home.. and then to work.
Fear grips me when I suddenly realize that things could go extremely
wrong...stinky wrong. I mean its a toilet.

Well I followed the directions to the letter, no man without a map here.

And so the loft now has a brand new toilet and toilet seat, a little
smaller than the last one but everything seems to fit and flush and
work. No wobble and no trickle either. I shimmed the little white god steady
and I think it is very happy and stable in its new home.

take that Jeff Probst, give me the immunity idol.

Voila.

summer night

two weeks of summer and already I feel fall in the air, the nights cool. the Gospel is loud and strong tonight, the BBQ tasty. summer winding down- life caries on. these days its New Buffalo I'm spin'.

julius

sweet elevator music sustains me in my travels to my local mall. In this case it is the sound of The Parsley Sound. Hot dogs and orange juice - who came up with that?

c'mon

Stephen M has a new song and a new album on the way. You may also enjoy to make your ears bleed with some Canadian ROCK. C'mon!

may 2 2005

Lemmy and his Motorhead were in Halifax on Monday night first time since 1988, or so I am told. I was awed.

FRIDAY

Two things that are making me very happy these days

The Milk of Human Kindness
JUST SO YOU KNOW THIS IS MANITOBA’s NEW NAME- CARIBOU.
This is Dan Snaith’s (formerly Manitoba now Caribou-- seems the very lame frontman for punk band The Dictators, Handsome Dick Manitoba, sued Snaith for trademark infringement) first full length recording under the new alias and it does not disappoint; sweet beats, tweets, buzzes and all the pop hooks reminiscent of his last effort- Up In Flames. This new album seems to be an inspired electronic exploration and celebration of sixties psychedelia and swamp rock.

Everything Comes and Goes-Tribute to Black Sabbath
Four tracks into this compilation, which will blow your mind, is the Four Tet version of Sabbath’s “Iron Man”. This track alone requires that everyone own this CD, a tribute to Ozzy era Sabbath and never has the word tribute been more appropriate. These bands come from musical worlds far distant than that of the aubergine fog engulfed planet we know to be metal. There is incredible range here; a country folk interpretation of “Planet Caravan” by The Anomoanon as well as a noise version of Sabbath’s catalogue titled “Reversible Sabbath” by Japan’s The Ruins. Not one of these nine tracks is a toss off. Each is a well considered interpretation of music that changed the world.

Life During Wartime

LIFE DURING WARTIME
Heard of a van that is loaded with weapons
packed up and ready to go
Heard of some gravesites, out by the highway
a place where nobody knows
The sound of gunfire, off in the distance
I'm getting used to it now
Lived in a brownstone, lived in the ghetto
I've lived all over this town
This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
this ain't no fooling around
No time for dancing, or lovey dovey
I ain't got time for that now
Transmit the message, to the receiver
hope for an answer some day
I got three passports, couple of visas
don't even know my real name
High on a hillside, trucks are loading
everything's ready to roll
I sleep in the daytime, I work in the nightime
I might not ever get home
This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
this ain't no fooling around
This ain't no mudd club, or C. B. G. B.
I ain't got time for that now
Heard about Houston? Heard about Detroit?
Heard about Pittsburgh, P. A.?
You oughta know not to stand by the window
somebody might see you up there
I got some groceries, some peanut butter
to last a couple of days
But I ain't got no speakers
ain't got no headphones
ain't got no records to play
Why stay in college? Why go to night school?
Gonna be different this time?
Can't write a letter, can't send a postcard
I can't write nothing at all
This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
this ain't no fooling around
I'd love you hold you, I'd like to kiss you
I ain't got no time for that now
Trouble in transit, got through the roadblock
we blended in with the crowd
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines
I know that ain't allowed
We dress like students, we dress like housewives
or in a suit and a tie
I changed my hairstyle so many times now
don't know what I look like!
You make me shiver, I feel so tender
we make a pretty good team
Don't get exhausted, I'll do some driving
you ought to get you some sleep
Get you instructions, follow directions
then you should change your address
Maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day
whatever you think is best
Burned all my notebooks, what good are notebooks?
They won't help me survive
My chest is aching, burns like a furnace
the burning keeps me alive
Try to stay healthy, physical fitness
don't want to catch no disease
Try to be careful, don't take no chances
you better watch what you say
(lyrics by the Talking Heads)

April 15, 2005

milo

fever

Last night I went to Fever Pitch, a film based on Nick Hornby’s first book. I do not understand. The film was so uneven, poorly acted and the soundtrack sucked (yes the soundtrack SUCKED). Nick Hornby was even the Exec. Producer. How very disapointing and sad, good for the pocket book no doubt. The only saving grace was the memory of that incredible series last fall and Boston.This though was not really a true save.

buzz, spurt, zip

The clocks in my house all seem to be in variance of each other by between five and ten minutes. I feel as if I exist in a soft time, nothing dramatic, but never quite at time, on time, in time but deffinitely moving forward. I wonder if I might blame the clocks on my oft time perplexity of things solid. The time has now jumped a full hour ahead, I remain soft.

Daft Punk-click, zoom, buzz. Daft Punk have once again spun together an album of electronic sounds from their limited pallet . What takes Daft punk to a different dimension of just plain fun is their unforgiving love of ROCK. From thrust-your fist-in-the-air power chords to massive drums, this duo are bananas for all that is great about 70’s cock rock. It is as if two kids from another solar system intercepted the whole KISS catalogue and sent their interpretation back to earth at Commodore-64 driven warp speed, farty sounds and all. This recording is often silly, but when it rocks it does so for all the right reasons. : Human after All(Virgin)

Spring

We have had the incredible opportunity of a few days of spring in the midst of the winter hell called Halifax - post February. I am listening to Monade, Laetitia Sadier's new solo project, the music is stereolab and that is more than ok, is this more french, perhaps, but just as many breathy lyrics, loops and sounds.Perfect for my spring mood.
Last night I saw Lily Frost, backed by Rome Plow/Silver hearts Mike Begin. Mike tells me he is building a restaurant for my former roomie Brad, in Toronto. Strange world. Lily Frost was all wriggle and swoon, very sexy but I wondered about substance, the place was packed and she was fully enjoyed. Should I worry less and just enjoy the ride? Then what fun would it be?

This and that

and so it begins again