Secret war, Queen of the Apocalypse + Brunched

» I’ve heard jet fighters fly-by twice in the last two days. I’m beginning to wonder if there’s a war on we haven’t been told about.

» Sarah Palin might be the best thing to happen to pop-culture since Elvis. Just when I thought American politics couldn’t get any more totally awesome. Who better to help McCain lead the world towards certain apocalypse than a god-fearing, homophobic, climate change denying MILF? I’m pretty sure Obama has no chance of winning now. America will be entranced by her wardrobe full of "naughty teacher" costumes.

» Nicole and I had brunch at the highly regarded Mitzi’s this morning. It took a mere hour for us to get out food. That’s what happens when you hire staff based on their appearance of hippiness and not their cooking or serving skills. My "pancake" was more like a flat muffin, fried in grease. It was actually tastier than a pancake. But an odd meal none the less.

Month end, movers, daze off + Apocalypse Watch

» I can’t believe it’s the end of August already. I would almost not believe it except I know I’ve watched full seasons of Heroes and Rome, so a month must have passed. Because watching those, in what feels like a week, would have been insane and a little pathetic. I have a feeling September will see me watching season two of Rome and Dexter. Probably in a week. While I pack.

» I hired a moving company for my move. Tippet-Richardson, the friendly movers. I’m staying in my next apartment until I am able to buy a house.

» I was unaware this is a long weekend coming up. Which is good. I need it. Badly. Actually, I needed it last weekend. But this weekend is fine too. I haven’t had any time off except for long weekends since In started work here so I’m feeling a bit squirrelly. If you consider a squirrel to be an animal which walks around bumping into things, misplaces pens and stares off into space when people are talking to him. Then I’m definitely squirrely.

» Apocalypse Watch: Today’s happy news item. Death Continents. Brought to you by atrophe.

Canzine

» PLOG: Paper Blog (and Ampersand Publications) is going to be at CANZINE this year on October 26th. That is all.

Caramel smell + Roman intrigue

» Somebody, in a cubicle near mine, eats something, maybe porridge, that smells strongly of caramel, or possibly maple syrup, and maybe cinnamon, every morning. It’s the most hunger-inducing smell ever. 

» I’m on disc IV of season one of Rome. It’s very good. I’m surprised. I’m glad there’s only two seasons though. Or else the whole next two months of my life could be written off.

» Some interesting news items.

    > No more life vests on planes.
    > Antichrist born.
    > Second-coming born.
    > Holy smoke, it’s cancerous.
    > Hari Puttar

Gig, recycle + formula

» First show in almost exactly a year last night. It went as well as can be expected for not having performed in public for so long. Only one song went awry when I started second guessing where the B7 chord goes, but it was still my most popular song. I guess I should record that one. Small crowd, maybe a dozen people.  The venue was a cross between a rec room and and a utility closet, though exotically dubbed the Tiki Room. It was nice and homey. Mostly it was nice to have finally played a show in Toronto and to see my Nanaimo friends. Two of who have become Montreal friends which means I might actually visit Montreal.

» This week’s podcast segment is a review of the items in my recycling bin. Not sure if Ken aired it on Enthusiasm Radio or not.

» I picked up the new Stereolab album, Chemical Chords, yesterday. I’m going to have to listen to it a few more times before an opinion really forms in my head. So far it sounds like a decent would-be follow-up to Emperor Tomato Ketchup. But are they just cynically recycling sounds from their golden age or is it music they actually want to make? It almost feels they’re taking their name literally and have come up with the formulation for the perfect Stereolab record by scientific means. It sounds good, but is it good? And is thinking about this kind of thing counterproductive to actually enjoying the music?

Side-don’t-walk

» When I got home last night the sidewalk in front of my steps was torn up. There was some new cement poured at least. So it looks like it won’t be a permanent nuisance. I love how the City never warns you when they’re going to do something to massively inconvenience your life. 

Easy, stationary, movement + Jebus

»  The Apple Store makes it excessively easy to buy a Nano. Literally walk up to a guy in a blue shirt, say, “I want a red Nano, 8GB.” They grab one out of the back, swipe your credit card and you leave not even having to wait for a reciept to print out because it’s being emailed to you. In and out in 2 minutes. That was the most surreal shopping experience ever. Especially since the store was packed like sardines with people going Apple product berzerk.

» Seems The Phrenologists’ van broke down in Sault Ste Marie. Not sure what the status of the show tomorrow night is. I suppose I should try to get a hold of the Phonemes. **EDIT: Some Facebook stalking has revealed their van is fixed and they’ll be at the show.

» I read an article in Friday’s Toronto Star about dodgy moving company nightmares. I guess It’s time to do some serious research into reputable companies. 

» Finally got around to watching Passion of the Christ last night. Was shocked at how absolutely silly and melodramatic it is. I was under the impression, due to the famous gore and using the original languages, that it was supposed to be a gritty, realistic telling of the story. But instead it’s as stylized, mystical and overwrought a telling as any Jesus flick I’d seen before. Perhaps more so. Even Jesus Christ Superstar has a greater sense of reality and historic accuracy. Passion also caps off with what has to be the cheesiest final shot of any Christ movie. Resurrected Jesus with all his wounds healed, except the holes in his hands. Also, JC comes off as kind of a douchebag through the whole thing. Arrogant and wishy-washy. He kind of had it coming. Fuck you Jesus, you’re a dick. The demon children were pretty awesome though. And Satan’s man-baby. Though it’s a good thing everyone knows the story because if you didn’t, you might be confused about who the pale bald guy is who keeps showing up and just what is he up to anyway? Don’t mind me, just hangin’ out, lookin’ ominous, not really advancing the plot, just here for effect, hey look, scary baby! Anyway. Film provided me with a few giggles.

Shitbag, noPod lunch + unheroic

»  This morning I was befriended by a smelly, hairy man on the subway who was not able to get on the previous train because the doors closed on his bag. He asked me, “as a young man,” what I though of this. I said, “Yup. They’ll do that.” This opened the door, so to speak, for him to tell me that next time he was going to teach “these TTC assholes a lesson” by shitting in the bag and leaving it in the door for them to deal with. He said, “What’choo think about that?” I said it sounded like a lot of effort. He said, “No effort. You just have to shit in a bag.” Then my stop came up and as I was leaving he whispered, “Y’not gonna turn me in are ya?” I said no, of course not. He congratulated me on not being a “rat fink.”

» I wanted to buy an iPod yesterday but the Apple Store is closed until Saturday for making itself look flashier and more pretentious. Instead I had lunch with Sophie. It was one of those hang-outs where you realize you’ve never really had a conversation with this person before. Not one on one anyway. Our waiter boy was pretty and dumb as a chunk of cement.

» Last night I finished Heroes, Season 1. I don’t think I will bother with season 2, if there is a season 2. It got fairly lame by the end. Though it didn’t fall apart the way something like the Twin Peaks storyline did, the conclusion felt forced. As if the show had begun to take on an organic quality, but continued to work towards a pre-ordained finale instead of changing the finale to suit the way the series began to develop. Or maybe it was stretched about 4 episodes too long. At any rate, I began to stop caring at about disc 4.

Vindaloo, sudden gig + 20 movies

» The problem with cooking a tasty vindaloo in your apartment is you have to be prepared for your apartment to smell of vindaloo for a long while. Not a bad smell. But a smell none the less.

» Seems The Urbane Decay/Jakob Neil will be playing a show a week from today in the Tiki Room of the TRANZAC club with Nanaimo’s Phrenologists and Toronto’s Phonemes. 7pm. I feel like I need a “ph” band name for this show.

» This week’s too-long podcast review of 20 movies based on their posters.

On goldfish, heroes + liars

» I seem to be living in only the back half of the apartment now. Instead of a goldfish growing to match the size of its space, I’m shrinking my space to match the size of me. Good thing I’m moving to a smaller space. I don’t know how I managed to fill that huge apartment in Nanaimo all those years without feeling like a nut rattling around in the bottom of an empty cereal box.

» Started watching Heroes on DVD. Not as good as the hype suggested as it’s a network TV show and, naturally,  plays very network TVish. Without the cliffhangers at the end of every episode, it wouldn’t really be very good at all. You could call it Desperate Mutants or Grey’s Superheroes. Also strange that half the cast is made up of 7th Heaven alumni. And Adrian Pasdar was doing a God-themed show about miracles for a while too. Makes me think there’s going to be some kind of religious explanation at some point.

» This week’s [p]Review is downloadable here. A guy from the internet named BearPolice requested I review this album by Liars. In fairness, the album was really quite good, for its type. Just tired of that sound right now.