Sister Ray-minder

Sister Ray
Originally uploaded by Ampersand Photography.

Just a wee reminder of the the show this Friday [Nov. 3rd] at Fascinating Rhythm [51 Commercial st. across from the pit]. It will be at 7pm. Three “bands” and it’s cheap as in free. If you heard the jam involving all three acts on Pins of Light two sundays ago, you know the potential of this show. Gown, Sister Ray, Partli Cloudi.

Extreme reverb

~ What the hell is that noise? Oh, right, Gown lives next door now.

My biopic

~ John‘s posted the movie he claims was not inspired by my recording of a superPOP album about Tikki or the Jacob Neil album about Petra. Anyways, it made me laugh uncomfortably when I saw it at InFest. With Petra. Who gave me a dirty look.

Hallowe’en ’06 x2

halloween13
Originally uploaded by brainwash.

~ Apparently Robo-Coon is a party animal. He was spotted at two parties last night. I heard he didn’t intend to leave the Vancouver Ave party without saying goodbye to anyone because he went home to get more beer and his voice-box and then realized he was due at party #2 a half hour previous. 

~ It was probably a good thing Sister Ray played at Sylvia and Mike‘s party as playing for an audience turns out to be different than playing in my living room. Sometimes I’m practically laying on my couch when we practice — not really paying attention, just off in my own little dreamland. It felt good though as since we didn’t have a drum-machine we were entirely thrown off and still managed to keep it together… somewhat.

Crushed by nihilism

~ I would like to have two pills. One that makes me less cynical and have faith in people. And the other to make sure my heart doesn’t break when they inevitably let me down. 

This isn’t in reference to anything that’s happened lately or anyone specific — I’m just having rather a bit of a crisis. Suddenly I’ve come to agree with Chelsea when she used to say, “How can you live like that? Everything you like [philosophically] breaks my heart.” 

Thing is, I just don’t know how to go back to the Cave. I’ve come to believe that Truth doesn’t so much set you free as shackle you to the pillars of aloof angst and guarded nihilism. It’s like I’ve been walking around in a deep-sea diving suit — entirely protected from my environment but only able to interact with it in a cursory way.

I don’t think I can change my belief in human-nature, but I suppose I can forge ahead more — take more chances, consequences be damned. There will probably be fewer consequences than I expect. And if there is, probably less severe than I fear.

Bright Ideas – Portastatic

I thought I found the channel but it got choked off
Thought I found the channel but the channel got choked off
Thought I found the channel, it was just a shallow trough
I’ll put my bright ideas right back in the box

I thought I found the panel but the switches broke off
Thought I found the panel but the switches were broken off
I sanded down my edges but the world plays rough
I put my bright ideas right back in the box

Every step I take is part of my path
But none of my jokes ever make me laugh
Sometimes you wanna put the past in the past
But every generation gets bit in the ass…

I kept the same dirty frame but I got new glass
I kept the same dirty frame but I got new glass
It brought the future into focus, it was easy, ugly and crass
I’ll put my bright ideas right back in my ass

I pull my head on the pillow and stare at the clock
when you’re expecting the worst
you know you never get shocked
I wanna crush this feeling, wanna climb out of this box
Today I’m gonna push back yeah I’m not gonna stop

Every step I take is part of my path
But none of my jokes ever make me laugh
Sometimes you wanna put the past in the past
But every generation gets bit in the ass…

Daunted and un-haunted

~ It appears I’ve been denied access to the Vancouver Ave Hallowe’en party. I got [not one but] TWO snarky replies to my RSVP.

~ I’ve gone down another belt hole. Which is beginning to make my jeans pleat by themselves. And pook like in that Larry David episode. 

~ The Robo-coon costume is too daunting to begin construction of. Which means I’m leaving it until the last minute. Which is even more daunting. Compounded daunting. Daunting to the power of pi [maybe even pi squared].

60 supposedly random questions we’ve all answered before.

1. Who is the last person you held hands with?
Melissa.

2. If you were drafted into a war, would you survive?
Yes. I would go AWOL on the way to bootcamp.

3. Is so random, it went missing. Okay, I’ll make up a new one. How many fruit stickers on your computer monitor?
56

4. Have you ever drank milk straight out of the carton?
I have OJ. Milk is for babies. Baby cows.

5. Have you ever won a spelling bee?
Know. Knot liklee.

7. How fast can you type?
Faster than I can print. And more legibly too.

8. Are you afraid of the dark?
Fuck. I’ve totally done this survey before. Oh well, I’m commited now. Anyway, if I have a fever, I sometimes get freaked out.

9. Eye color?
Grey. Maybe turning blue again. There’s something wrong with my diet I bet.

11. When is the last time you chose a bath over a shower?
I had a bath last night so that I wouldn’t have to shower this morning because I decided I wanted to sleep in an extra 15 minutes.

12. Do you knock on wood?
If it’s a door.

13. Are you drinking anything right now?
Tepid coffee. Time for a warm up. Garçon!

15. Can you hoola hoop?
No. But I can hullabaloo very nicely, thanks.

16. Are you good at keeping secrets?
If by “good” you mean tell less than 6 people, yes.

17. What do you want for Christmas?
Two weeks off.

18. Do you know the Muffin Man?
I AM the muffin man, bitch.

19. Do you talk in your sleep?
Once I woke up moaning “Noooooooooo!” in an apparently terrified voice.

20. Who wrote the book of love?
There’s a book? Why didn’t anyone tell me? That explains it. I’ve only read The Book of Awkward and The Book of Fucking-up. I didn’t know there was a Book of Love… Anyone who wants to lend me this Book of Love… Jesus…

21. Have you ever flown a kite?
I have. It’s really not very fun, you know.

23. Do you consider yourself successful?
I’m somewhere lower-mid-level in my career. I’ve been [for all intents and purposes] divorced three times. I by-passed stardom [or even attempting to obtain it] and went directly into arrongant eccentric hermit songwriter mode. I pretty much rock.

24. How many people are on your contact list of your cell?
1 billion.

25. Have you ever asked for a pony?
I have been a “pony” various times in my life.

26. Plans for tomorrow?
Constructing Robo-coon headpiece.

28. Are you talking to anyone right now?
I’m concentrating on this survey obviously. I cannot multi-task.

29. When was the last time you told someone ‘I love you’?
How long ago was April? Though I may have said it platonically and drunkenly sometime since. Like to Ken or Mel.

31. How are you feeling today?
Unmotivated and alergenic.

32. Are you black?
My t-shirt and my coffee is.

33. Have you ever been suspended or expelled from school?
I was suspended for “lewd gestures an choriography” in an airband contest in grade nine.

34. What are you looking forward to?
Sister Ray practice tonight.

35. Have you ever crawled through a window?
Lots. Usually ending up on my head.

38. Can you handle the truth?
Yes. I expect the worst so the truth is usually a relief.

39. Do you like green eggs and ham?
Seuss is da bomb. But if I were served them at a restaurant I would probably vom in my fist.

40. What 3 things you always bring w/ you to places?
Keys, wallet, fear.

41. Any cool scars?
Self inflicted wrist burn scarification. Oh… cool scars. No.

42. Do you like or have a crush on anyone? Do they know?
I have it bad. I can’t see how they could not know. But I think they actually might not.

43. How many kids do you plan on having?
I’m focussing on the wife first. I’ll let you know about kids later.

44. What do you do when no one is watching?
I live alone so pretty much everything. Right now, no one is watching me do this survey. But apparently in the new office, there’s going to be cameras everywhere.

45. Have you ever been in love?
As Bon Jovi sang, “In and Out of Love!”

46. Do you talk to yourself?
More of a mutter really. I talk to my cat though.

47. Is there something you want that you can’t have?
Apparently yes.

48. Three things about the opposite sex that you first notice?
Social class, Eyes, intelligence level.

49. Who are you thinking about right now?
My boss. Wondering if he’s standing behind me. No, he’s not. What was that noise then?

50. Who did you last hug?
Adrienne.

51. Where is your phone?
At home on the floor.

52. What was the last thing you ate?
“Fruit+Veggie” bar.

53. What is your fav. color?
Electric Ice Blue. or Crimson Fire Passion Red.

55. What is the last movie watched?
The Devil and Daniel Johnston.

56. What song do you currently hear?
“Fall” by Bleach.

57. What do you want?
The universal things. Security, love, recognition of my genius.

58. Would you ever date anyone on your friends list?
For sure. There’s some quality people on there. That doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be a disaster.

59. What TV Show are you watching?
Star Trek original series on DVD.

60. What color is your cell phone?
CMYK

Going bananas

~ Went on a picnic at the old folks’ home with Adrienne at lunch. That was fun. We didn’t get kicked out though. I think we both kind of hoped for that. It was freezing.

~ We start the Maximum Yield  redesign tomorrow. Crap. I have no ideas for it.

~ The other day I ate a banana because I was really craving one. I don’t particularly like bananas.

Echoes of Light

~ Eli stopped by yesterday. That was a nice visit. He shared with me his new Echoes of Forever disc which is… really freakin’ good. In that pseudo-classical prog-metal kind of way. But not too ridiculous. Good to see him.

~ Andrew guested on Pins of Light which resulted in one of the most insane freak-outs we’ve inflicted on the airwaves. The best part was the office was full of Songwriters’ Circle people who were either scared or baffled or both. The Led Zep medley was particularly stellar. We got all of one pledge. Thank you Adrienne.

~ Update: I have made an honest man of myself and renewed my CHLY membership.

Jebus Phoebus

~ I can’t believe Old Phoebe won. Holy crap! I really wanted them to but left to go to 70 Below in order to miss the heart-breaking announcement that rock-dudes had once again triumphed over indie-nerds. But no, rock-dudes, your time is over. I’m glad my $7 was well spent. That was an unbelievably ballsy move on Got Pop‘s part. Actually, not unbelievable so much as anticipated. But ballsy none-the-less.

~ Ran into Homer which was less awkward than I assumed.

~  For some reason I really wanted to leave 70 Below at about 1:30 so I went to The Palace with Mel and Elle J.  It was a strange, strange trip. That place has a weird negative vibe that reminded me of the bar in Near Dark. I’m no longer curious about the Palace. And won’t be returning.

~ There’s a message on my machine that is literally two+ minutes long. 

~ Back porch jam was insanely cold. I forward a motion future back porch jams will instead be bonfire jams. I think Ken and Brent forward this motion as well. Or we all need fingerless hobo-gloves.

Music notes

~ Listening to Under a Bloodred Sky on the way to and from work the past few days, I’ve decided that after filming Rattle & Hum, U2 died in a plane crash and were replaced with robots. Probably made by the same company that built Robo-McCartney.

~ Listening to my 4.5 hour-long shoegazer playlist at work, I’ve decided shoegaze is the only genre worth preserving for future generations.

~ Listening to Urbane Decay rough-mixes last night, I decided to scrap all but five or six songs from the album and then re-recorded the majority of it in semi-lo-fi in one go. There will now be a semi-lo-fi album and a hi-fi EP. When I informed Jamie of this via MSN I could sense her fist coming through the screen on a trajectory for my nose. When I suggested  she should write me off as insane she said, “Sounds good.”