Where I Been

So my friends...

Here is a picture filled resume of the last couple of weeks.

Usually the end of April brings a bit of a lull... a decompression following the eight months of two job overdrive. I'm sure it's akin to how Evel Knievel used to feel right after jumping about twenty schoolbuses full of dynamite... roughly. This year things seem to simply ratchet up as the month closed and reopened on May.

For one, we bid our friend and compatriot Joe Merrick farewell as he set out to offer his very body as food for black flies and bears on the left coast. Our forest filled future depends upon his success to some small percentage.

Next on May 11th the next installment of Surge! rocked the Charlotte St. Art Centre. One thing I learned this time around as a front-of-house/tech person instead of performing is that some people have very large balls. I didn't learn this by cupping groins in the dark, except my own of course. Instead it was revealed as I sat near the entrance, greeting the arriving audience... a full two thirds of which showed up after the show had begun (some up to 40 minutes after), and being informed that admission was "Pay as you will" i.e. based upon your means, a goodly number gave a cow-like gaze and proceeded to their seats. Large. Balls.

On May 14th I was fortunate enough to be invited by Matte and Kora of Vetch (via Andrew Titus) to read for the Governor General of Canada on her brief tour of New Brunswick. I bought fancy clothes... even fancier than my Warrant 3/4 sleeve and Jordache jeans... an actual suit jacket and fancy pants. The rest I had (sorta), and the purchases were mostly second hand. There was a brief moment where it looked like my fellow literary types and I might spend most of the evening at Tim Hortons on King since The Blue Door (where the shindig was held) hadn't saved seating for us... but something soon opened up and we were able to enjoy and spectacular view of... the stairwell going upstairs and a sideview of the stage where the musicians were performing. We could also kinda hear the music. Only when at the mic did I get my first glimpse of Her Excellency and Her Excellent Husband. The reading went quite well and we were treated to an audience with her and her entourage after the entertainment had wrapped. All cynical expectations of quick service of handshakes was dispelled when we had a good half hour of "actual conversation" time... who'd-a thunk?

A couple of days later it was off to the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville. It's a music festival in Quebec (about halfway between Quebec City and Montreal) that I've covered for Exclaim! for the last 8-9 years. It's extremely well run and a pleasure to attend. This year I went up with M. who had initially planned a three-city multitasking sort've vacation but eventually pared down to just the festival.

We met Marc LeBlanc there... he has been my wingman in all previous years as well... at the residence of the Cegep in Victoriaville. I should say we actually got there about and hour before and went to the residence to find him... but he hadn't shown up yet. So while waiting I went to take a look at our room. Marc had specified in the reservation that he wanted a Suite... basically two small rooms linked by an antechamber that has it's own shower and washroom. When I asked the cardplaying student security in the lobby they looked on their flowchart and said, "No, no, no... we have him in a double bedroom." As is turns out a "double bedrooom" is a bedroom with a double bed... and no bathroom attached... and showers that are stalls out in the hallway. After being told there were three of us staying there the young lady said, "I'll go down and have them install a cot." I backed slowly away and said thanks and see you later and fled the building... bumping into Marc who'd just arrived. We quickly regrouped and headed over the a nearby hotel that thankfully had a room for all four nights of our stay. We bought a Hawaiian Pizza and some beer and briefly celebrated before heading over for the first show:

8pm Cinéma Laurier
Marilyn Crispell, a longtime festival friend performed with a quartet... her on piano, Lotte Anker on woodwinds, Mark Helias on double bass and Andrew Cyrille on drums. It was a nice opener with a mix of free play and composed pieces, often alternating within performance. Cyrille's drums seemed to be a little staid, all similarly tuned and unfocused... but eventually he came around and actually had some of the brightest moments toward the end of the set.


10:00pm Colisée
Corkestra. Led by Cor Fuhler on piano this group featured members of The Ex and ICP Orchestra. They billed themselves, jokingly, as "New Dutch Swing," a tag that wasn't without merit given their intricate and interlocking play of parts that included two drummer / percussionists, a three piece woodwind section, a "Cimbalom" player (seemingly a homemade, prepared xylophone of sorts) and a double bass player that looked like he was hired by central casting to be a "swingin' cat." Push-to-shove this was probably my favourite show of the festival... it featured just the right blend of melody and invention, from the small group excursions into improv that were eventually coralled and brought back to a central theme... it never lagged for a moment.

Midnight Cégep

Not pictured is Jean-François Laporte who performed {{WAVES}}, not in the hall as previously expected, but in a three story stairwell in a wing of the building. His apparatus was a jerry-rigging of pvc tubing, balloon bladders and compressed air that was meant to delivery a body-shaking aural experience. Ultimately it never really amounted to much. The body remained unshaken and the small range of tones overexplored for the duration of the show (40 minutes or so). A short encore featuring a bullroarer-type contraption swung on a rope was much more sublime and effective.
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DAY 2

1:00pm Cinéma Laurier
Michael Snow, Alan Licht and Aki Onda. Not an immediately obvious trio. Snow is a Canadian trailblazer in all things avant garde in music, theatre and film... Licht is a NYC (primarily) guitarist who has played indie rock in groups like Run On, large ensemble jazz/noise in Mandarin Movie and released fairly delicate solo works, such as New York Minute on Phill Niblock's XI records... and Onda is a Japanese/Korean artist who's known for his improvisational work with cassettes. Their ability to listen and incoporate Snow's piano sounds and old school electronics with Licht's treated guitar and Onda's on-the-fly loops and washes of noise made for an engaging listen.

5:00pm Cégep













Theresa Transistor. A quartet of Electroacoustic musicians improvising... not something that's usually within their scope of work. Electroacoustic composition usually involves meticulous placement of sounds recorded from "natural" sources (i.e. non-musical) along a manipulated timeline in a kind of narrative. Spontaneity isn't in that job description. Monique Jean, Christian Bouchard, Christian Calon and Mario Gauthier, all Quebec artists, did a commendable job of transporting sound within a multi-speaker, multi-source system... but trying to conjure a distinct memory of the experience seems to pose some problem for me at the moment. The closing moments featured a portable interchange between pocket radio and walkie talkie. I guess that would be a distinct memory

Midnight Cégep










Koenji Hyakkei. Japanese 5-piece led by Ruins drummer/vocalist Tatsuya Yoshida, they bridge the metal, jazz, prog, even opera genres with a heavy precise attack. It's generally the kind of thing that wears on me, but the instrumentation (drums, bass, sax, keyboards and voice) is a little offbeat and overt showmanship is downplayed in favour of fun and group dynamic. A high energy way to end the day.

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DAY 3

1:00pm Cinéma Laurier
Signal Quintet. Being convened by Cut label boss Jason Kahn this group of European improvisers hypnotized with a minimalist flow of sizzling electronics, stringed drones and occasionals storms of noise. Kahn and For4Ears capo Günter Müller have released a trio of live albums on Müller's label and the sound from those was well represented here. Kahn and Müller have similar approaches in turning organic and percussive sounds into synthetic pulses (Kahn spent a large portion of the show finger tapping a floor tom and loose cymbals).
Tomas Körber follows in the line of European tabletop guitarists who seldom actually touch their guitar, instead manipulating the feedback gently and evocatively through a network of effects. Christian Weber played bowed standup bass for extra drone texture, but also refreshingly did not shy away from occasional musicality... giving the rest of the sound something to hang up from time to time. Shrouded in darkness was Norber Möslang, formerly of Voice Crack, with a table full of homemade electronic toys, some of them light-activated, necessitating his shadowy countenance.

3:00pm Colisée
Victoriaville Matiere Sonore. Sound art seldom makes it's way into the biggest of the venues... but when it does the room's massive sound system makes for an enveloping atmosphere. Curated by Spanish artist Francisco Lopéz (who lives part of the time in Montreal), the source material for this programme was recorded in various public and private spaces in Victoriaville by several of the participants during the previous winter. This sound bank was then used by eight artists to craft their electroacoustic portrait of the town... performed one after another in the large hall. Predictably some pieces were more accomplished than others, but while the artists were introduced by name their unclear order (other than Lopez as the closer) rendered them a little mysterious identitywise. Of those "known" artists Tomas Phillips, Lopez and Chantal Dumas' pieces stood out. Each began with quiet birdsong and went into varied terrain, such as an ambient wash built from the sounds of a hockey game punctuated by referee whistles; layered conversations in malls and living rooms with snatches of interchange made more obviously audible; others, including Lopez, preferred to obfuscate the sources, melding them instead in layers of frequency and complexity to tickle and overload the soundscape.

5:00pm Cégep
Larry Peacock. A difficult bird to name... this "artist" is actually a trio of German women who, for the purposes of performance, take on male personas and multiple roles. Andrea Neumann and Sabine Ercklentz are well respected minimalist improvisers on piano soundboard frame and electronics-enhanced trumpet respectively. In this trio they primarily function as backing band for Antonia Behr's frontman character, Henri Fleur. Through a pastiche of tongue-in-cheek electropop tracks (some featuring pre-recorded music, lip-synching, dance routines, spoken word introductions) they explode issues of gender, nationality and audience expectations in modern music.

8:00pm Cinéma Laurier
Carla Bozulich. Having had a career that dates back a couple decades and crawled out of punk and jazz/metal subgenres through bands like Ethyl Meatplow, Carla became more visible in the early 90s with the high energy alt. country band Geraldine Fibbers. In recent days she's performed in a left of center duo with Nels Cline and solo... gaining notice for her song-by-song cover of Willie Nelson's Red Headed Stranger and last year's Evangelista on Constellation Records. It was primarily from the latter that the show was drawn... assisted by ladies of the Montreal scene and her right hand bassist Tara. By far the loosest, sloppiest and warmest show of the festival, it was a wonderful counterpoint: the heart taking over for the brain if only for a while.





10:00pm Colisée













Acid Mothers Gong. Did I say the Bozulich show was the loosest and sloppiest? Well this one upped the ante... but given the more jammed-out nature of the set it fit. A melding of Japan's premiere heavy psychedelic collective, augmented here by Tatsuya Yoshida on drums and Koenji Hyakkei saxophonist Komori Keiko, and 70s psychedelic pioneers Gong represented here by three members including founder/leader Daevid Allen. There was plenty of space debris littering the air the whole evening... with the precedings "guided" mostly by Yoshida's forceful drum suggestions or Makoto Kawabata's guitar leads. They managed to bridge the four decade gap fairly well, though the goofiness of Allen and singer/poet Gilli Smyth at time derailed the heaviness.

Midnight Cégep
Magik Markers. Stripped down to a two piece, the best way to explain MM is to suggest a White Stripes where Meg played guitar, Jack Drummed and they listened to Sonic Youth's "Shaking Hell" for inspiration. Pete Nolan keeps things nailed down for Elisa Ambrogio who dresses and approaches the guitar like an angry eleven year old... that is until she opens her mouth and this soulful blues lady voice comes out. But the crux of the show is the tension that builds and explodes into a crush of feedback and wailing... seemingly to be just barely under any control.

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DAY 4

1:00pm Cinéma Laurier
Quasar/Alexandre Burton/Julien Roy. A saxophone quartet and a couple of laptop loopers... Burton and Roy set up digital cameras in the mic stands of the players and grabbed brief moments of their live playing, then would loop both video and audio, projected in tetris blocks on three screens at the stage's rear. The novelty of the process was engaging, but as with most novelty it's capacity was soon met and exhausted. The music, perhaps overshadowed by the technology at the beginning, was competent... but not very memorable.

3:00 pm Colisée
Anthony Braxton
Diamond Curtain Wall Trio. Returning to Victo with two shows after only a year away, Braxton's DCWT project is unveiled, revealing a new interest in technology... here in the form of laptop Supercollider software. The electronics acted as a kind of untreated granular feedback that would normally be manipulated and shaped by a perfomer, but here was left to provide a kind of backdrop the three players bounced off of (hence the name, I suppose). Given this lattitude the trio, Braxton with trumpet player Taylor Ho Bynum and guitarist Mary Halvorson, was able to patiently explore the smaller spaces of sound that existed between them.

5:00pm Cégep













Fine Kwiatkowski/Hans Tammen. Dance isn't usually featured at the festival, but this duo make an argument for its inclusion. Kwiatkowski apparently trained as an acrobat and mime and her dance improvisations reflect this blend of flexibility and expressiveness. Stark and minimal lighting enhanced a gray shaded performance that mixed extremities of force and fragility. Tammen's laptop-channelled guitar similarly went from whisper to scream as the two fed off each other's energy.


8:00pm Cinéma Laurier
Wishart/Kurzmann/Dafeldecker. Originally slated as a quartet with pianist and elder statesman John Tilbury, this was trimmed back to a trio when Tilbury's doctor advised against travel due to health concerns. Perhaps it was his absence that muted the resulting set. Christof Kurzmann's laptop burbling was fairly evocative and Stevie Wishart explored the noise and drone of her hurdy gurdy with skill, but ultimately failed to really connect with a listless Werner Dafeldecker on bowed bass and electronics. Dafeldecker seemed to be attempting a much more restrained and microscopic sound while the other two pulled upwards into a more crowded soundspace. Moments of transcendence aside neither camp succeeded in convincing the other.

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DAY 5

The drive back... we left Victoriaville around 9:30-10am and headed for the U.S. border at Jackman (we saw no Wolverines... in case you wondered.


Along the way we passed through a few smaller Quebec towns including Thetford Mines (I think) that featured an omninous and towering pile of some mined material dominating it's landscape. I snapped a few pictures on the way by, but it wasn't until I looked at them on the computer that I noticed the word LIBERTÉ had been scratched near the top of the mound. If you click and enlarge it you can see it a little better.


There were a few overlooks that had no real foreground reference points to indicate scale... trust me though... pretty. Why would we have stopped otherwise?


As the day wore on hunger took over so we stopped in Skowhegan at the Empire Grill. Small towns in Maine are reminders that Fredericton turns it's back on it's own small town-ness. In Maine (as in outlying areas in N.B.) places seem more lived in, worn down. Most restaurants in Fredericton look like they might've just opened the week before. Exceptions exist, like The Cabin or Joe's... but they are out of the downtown core. If there was an Empire Grill in Fredericton I'd like eat there 3 times a week.


We stopped in Bangor for a few hours. M. went off clothes shopping and I got dropped off at Bull Moose Records to peruse their surprisingly stocked shelves. Used Cd-wise they more or less follow most new/used store templates with a few hidden gems (I picked up an Early Day Miners disc and passed on a Coachwhips I wasn't sure about and the Animal Collective 2 disc set, Spirit They've Gone/Danse Manatee, because I have the original version of the first disc), but it's their DVD selection that impresses. A lot of cult horror and Asian cinema titles both new and used. I ended up getting a copy of Takehashi Miike's Audition and the Spanish version of Vanilla Sky, Alejandro Amenabar's Abre los oyos. I reconoitered with M. over at Borders. Because Maine doesn't seem to believe in crosswalks I had to dart over highways and even had to startle a woodchuck as I hopped over a stream bed between a strip mall and the Borders building. After a little browsing we headed over to Target to grab a snack, some Italian Soda and then hit the road again.


The tales of what came next will follow... I'm tired and my wrists hurt.

Cheers.

Not done yet

We're working through the night to bring you better... stuff.

Wire shorts out. Dozens of jaws go slack.

In an obvious bid to drum up dowtown camaraderie a wire outside the Towne Shoppe shorted out a little before 5pm today.



People stopped what they were doing, stopped going where they were going and gazed in wonderment at the three police cars, one fire truck and slightly blackened brick on the second story of the building on the corner of York and King.


The gentleman pictured above turned to me after I put away my camera and asked:

"What is it that has happened?"

"A wire shorted out"

"So is it a fire or an electrical fire?"

"A wire shorted out, I guess that makes it electrical"

"Do you think they will extinguish it?"

"I suppose they have that in mind."

"Is it a fire that..."

"Look I just got off work, go ask the people with their mouths open over there."


Still despite the over-inquisitive few it was an event that united, however briefly, the blue of collar and white of trash...

...with the white of collar and blue because of bad parking.

Ciao

eats

All hail mighty protein protector!

Sunny sun sun.

So now I'm on vacation, right?

Well, no. But I am one job lighter... my evenings are again my own. That's sort've a vacation, right?

Well, no. Waiting in the wings was an avalanche of tasks put on the backburner... including the Surge! event advertised in the poster above. But in my ardent desire to feel like I'm on vacation I've spent as much of the last ten days as possible either watching movies, playing video games or asleep. Or eating. I've eaten a lot of meat in the last ten days.

And I did my taxes.

And I visited M. a couple of times.

And I went to see Sleepy Driver and Andrew Titus read up a storm this past Saturday.

And I went into work on Sunday at the lab, even though, it turned out, I didn't have to.

And I came into work today at the Store, because suddenly I had to... and today turned quickly (probably because of the warmer temperature) into a clusterf*ck where three people in rapid succession called to tell me the same goddamn story:

"I just (found/inherited/collected) a box of vinyl and I was wondering if you'd buy them?"

After applying the appropriate list of provisos and questions... we don't take country, classical or easy listening... they have to be in good shape... etc.... I had dismissed all three. But did they go gently into the good night? Ha ha ha.

(1) These albums are really old... some of them are thick... really thick. Can you buy equipment to record onto vinyl at home? Some of these have handwritten labels.

Me: We don't have any collectors for 78s... I'd try either antique stores or auction houses.

He: You think these are antiques?

Me: Well they're old... that's a criteria.

He: And you don't know anyone else who'd buy them?

Me: I don't know anyone here in Fredericton... most of our vinyl buyers are way too young to know what any of your titles would be... I think it's the same for most music stores in the Maritimes?

He: And you wouldn't have anyone who'd want them here in town?

**there should be a "see above" button you could push on the telephone.

(2) I have this bunch of records someone left with me... I don't really know most of the titles... I'm keeping three of them myself.

Me: Well could you give me a rough idea of the kind of music... generally?

She: I don't really know what kind of music... these aren't artists I know.

Me: Give me a couple of the titles, for example.

She: I don't really know the titles either.

Me: But you could probably read them, couldn't you?

She: Well, yeah (fumbling noises) I don't know... (fumbling)... (silence).

Me: Do you have them there?

She: Yeah, OK... (fumbling) there's, uh, Mac Davis and uh, Al Stewart... and... who's Connie Kaldor?

Me: She's a Canadian singer... it doesn't sound, from those three titles, like there's anything we'd be able to use at the moment.

She: There's some 80s stuff, too.

Me: Ah, OK... like what?

She: Some Tears for Fears, uh, Cindy Lauper... Paul Butterfield Blues Band.

Me: Well... the Paul Butterfield isn't really 80s, but it is more along the lines of what we could use. If you wanted to drop them off, or bring in a list, I could go through and weed things out... but in any case I'd need to see what shape their in.

She: There's some classical collectons?

Me: We don't take classical... but, again, why don't you bring them in and we'll have a look.

She: There's some Eagles?

Me: I'd have to see the collection.

She: There's some...

Me: I have someone at the counter... I'm letting you go now.

(hanging up I faintly hear: There's some... hey, I...)



(3) See the above two and mix and match the conversation.


Then there were a few instore questions like:

He: Do you have any Cat Power?

Me: Yes, we have You Are Free and Dear Sir, her first one. Here I'll find them for you.

He: This one is more expensive than the other one. Why?

Me: Well... they are different albums? Different labels, different distributors... not everything is the same price.


I'm going to go home, put on shorts, drink a bottle of wine... blast some drone music and write some poetry.

And maybe I'll put a bunch of vinyl out in the sun and watch it melt... just for kicks.

Pre-Nikita, Nikita, Post-Nikita (Perabo)

Here are nine thousand words... in picture form:

I can't find my eggs... maybe I should've painted them?

Call me weird... but I kinda like little snowstorms late in the season, or after the official season change... feels like a bonus round.


Had another one of those strange little encounters on Saturday at the store. The last half hour is usually pretty quiet, so I try to make sure my paperwork is all in order so I don't have to start with it in disarray on Tuesday.

But around 4:50 pm a dude comes in just as I'm at the crux of the matter, so I look up and say, "Hey" and he says, "hey," and I look back down. No problem. After a couple of minutes of browsing he asks, "Do you have any recommendations for new releases that you think are great?" So I tell him how the two biggies are the new Modest Mouse and the new Arcade Fire... and that my pick between those two would be the Modest Mouse, that it gets better and better each time I listen. He nods and I nod and then I put my head back down into the paperwork. I wrap it up in another couple minutes or so and look back up to see how he's doing. So he picks up the Modest Mouse, looks at the back, looks at the front, looks at the back, looks at the front, puts it back. He picks up the Arcade Fire, looks at the back, looks at the front, looks at the back... etc. He does this half a dozen times all told. I'm figuring he's awaiting some divine sign to decide between the two, so I leave him alone and pack up my shoulder bag. He then says, "Thanks" and walks out.

So, yes, I should've probably talked to him a little more, and I should've probably played him a little from each... but still... why would you ask for options to choose from then ignore both?

He's probably one of those Fredericton drivers who doesn't use turn signals for fear of committing to a direction.

Another little spark of pleasure this past week came from not approving The Killers as new friends on MySpace. I don't need those kinds of friends, yo.

Take that Brandon Flowers.

Activity Overflow.

I took the above shot out of the bus window coming back from Campbellton weekend before last. It was the day after the "big storm" that hit all of Eastern North America. I was watching coverage of it on my folks' cable TV... fascinating invention by the way... and it made top story on all of the national news broadcasts. I honestly don't remember weather getting this kind of play back when I was 7 and we seemed to get meter deep snowfalls every other week. Maybe snow in the 70s wasn't as dangerous as post 9/11 snow.

Hey remember when we were terrified to go outside because of ACID RAIN?!!!

That was fun.

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Anyhow... in case some of you are wondering why The 2400 blog has been mostly silent for the last little while... busy week, yo. It all paid off, though. Getting organized and postered up for the SPRING FORWARD readings resulted in a great Friday where our modest attendance projections were met and eclipsed.

We started things off with three readers (Mark Jarman, Karen Solie, WhiteFeather) at Westminster Books at 6pm... and from that point we had in the neighbourhood of 20-25 people. Then at Read's (Matt Leslie, Jesse Ferguson, Biff Mitchell at 7pm) most people stuck with us and a few new faces showed up. Finally at the re-christened Taproom (now Wilser's Room, me, Katie Brown, John Heinstein, Matte Robinson and Andrew Titus, 8pm ish) the beer flowed and the poetry and the folk/jazz via a scaled down Vetch duo. Maybe it was the culmination of a long week's work and 4 large pints, but I was home, in bed, asleep... before midnight. Still.

The next morning I was strong and hangover-free... the sun was out... all was well... except when entering the graveyard off Carleton extension I was about 30 feet behind this older gentleman (perhaps 70ish) who was dressed in orange cords and a grey coat. He had what seemed to be a nice spring in his step... but then I noticed that every 5 seconds or so he'd square back his shoulders, bring his hands about a foot apart behind his back and shake them extremely vigorously up and down... looked like he was trying to break a pair of handcuffs. The only other explanation I could think of, given his springy tread, was that he was trying to break free and hurtle upwards over King's Place. But he didn't. I carefully slowed my pace so as not to catch up with him then veered off over to the Happy Baker to avoid standing next to him at the crosswalk. Later I saw a 6 foot gray bunny handing out Easter eggs. Fredericton is fucked up.

After work I was resigning myself to an evening of cleaning my bathroom and putting up new shower curtains and maybe laundry, but Andrew Titus, my literary cohort, invited me up to dinner (if he ever invites you for God's sake go... the man puts on a spread like none other) followed by the light entertainment of filming pre-teens kicking the snot out of each other. We broke no laws... at least not knowingly.

On Sunday M. came for a visit... early in the week we'd talked about going to The Constantines show that night, just short of actually committing to the plan. In the end we just enjoyed the nice day, going down to Isaac's Way for lunch then walking up to the Superstore and Jumbo to get snacks and movies for the evening. So instead of The Constantines it was Marie Antoinette, A Scanner Darkly, Mediterranean pastry snacks, blue corn nachos and hot salsa, french bread with pepper corn cream cheeze, guacamole, etc. I think we made the right decision.

This morning we went on an errand extravaganza... starting with coffee at Starbucks, some costume purchases, a visit to Home Depot... then out to Scott's Nursery to buy seeds and stare down the iguanas, coy and a large slow gray cat. On the way back a quick stop at a tiling store to get some ceramic cut then on to Chez Riz for lunch (my second curry meal in two days). After lunch the art store on Queen, coffee at Read's and then... eventually the weekend ended. And here I am at work. Sigh.

So... no 2400 updates today either... though there is a new Surgery show up to listen to.

I'll get back on track this week... promise.

Really.

3 Things that...

Here's 3 things that make me happy.

#1 Buffy the Vampire Slayer... Season 8!!!

I make no apologies for being a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan. I was slow to get into the series, mostly because I never had cable and would only see random episodes from time to time, but never in sequence or even from the same season. Season 5 was the first year I saw the whole run (more or less) start to finish. I began to understand how carefully plotted the show was, with a strong arc that also referred back (in both major plot points and tiny detail) to earlier seasons. One example of this... a recurring character named Amy Madison who was a witch (revealed in season 1) is turned into a rat during an episode of season 3 and taken in for safekeeping by Willow, one of the main characters. In the background of the main action during a season 4 episode she is accidentally returned to human form for all of 2.5 seconds, only to revert to rat without anyone noticing the change. She eventually is permanently returned to human form for a three episode arc... but not until season 6. That's narrative patience! I only know all this because over time I bought DVD boxes of all seven seasons... the show having wrapped up in 2003. The run ended well, with everything nicely wrapped up, no reason to complain... except of course that there would be no new episodes to look forward to.

In 2001... the creator of the series, Joss Whedon (who also was behind Angel and Firefly on television) had done a limited comics series for Dark Horse called Fray that followed another incarnation of the Slayer in a futuristic setting. In 2004 he started writing a highly successful new X-Men title for Marvel comics. And now... he has begun a comics version of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 8... picking up a few a little more than a year after the end of season 7 of the television show. The first issue is out and it is pretty swell.

#2 Raines

My television watching is pretty minimal these days... still no cable... so I'll catch the occasional Law&Order : SVU to make myself feel icky or to ogle Mariska Hargitay; been hot and lukewarm with Criminal Minds; against my better judgement I've been keeping up with Gray's Anatomy (geek note: Buffy alum Marti Noxon was brought on as a consulting producer this year); occasionally I'll watch about half an episode of CSI: Miami to play this drinking game I've devised: Whenever David Caruso arrives at a crime scene or an interview and takes off his sunglasses with both hands... take a drink. Whenever he delivers a line of dialog while looking at nothing but the dirt on the ground... take a drink. Whenever he finishes a line of dialog and moves out of frame before the camera cuts to another p.o.v. ... chug your drink. As I said... haven't gotten through a whole episode yet.

Anyhow... last Thursday I randomly caught the first episode of Raines... a new cop drama on NBC starring Jeff Goldblum. The show was probably a ridiculously cheesy pitch along the lines of, "Imagine The Profiler crossed with The Sixth Sense...." And the premise is pretty much that: Goldblum plays an L.A. homicide detective with an exceptionally developed sense of forensic profiling... one that eventually results in him hallucinating the dead victims of the crimes he investigates. He sees, hears and converses with these apparitions on the way to solving the crimes. It sounds hokey but it works... the "ghosts" are never (at least in the pilot) supernatural, and they subtly change appearance and behaviour the more Raines understands about the case. The rest of the cast is great, including Madeleine Stowe, Nicole Sullivan, Matt Craven. The script avoids predictable clichés (written by creator Graham Yost who is best known for Boomtown and From the Earth to the Moon), and the pilot was directed by Frank Darabont (The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption). There's a twist at the end of the pilot that you might figure out... I didn't, but I try not to use my brain much when I watch television.

#3 Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.

Check it out here: full album streaming.

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And here's one thing that makes me sad.

I started watching Hal Hartley films around the time Simple Men was released and was quickly hooked. I rented both The Unbelievable Truth and Trust from the much missed Video Plus that used to be on King Street downtown... and I was smitten by Adrienne Shelley who starred in both films. Her acting credits afterwards were scant and easily overlooked, but she'd also moved over to writing and directing... her last movie, Waitress, premiered at Sundance this January. Even though I hadn't really thought about those movies or her in quite some time, the news (that I randomly... once more... came across during an unrelated search) really hit me in a soft spot. It is sad, shocking and utterly utterly crappy.

Three vignettes

Three ways people can waste your time:

1) The short way:

Guy comes in, hands in pockets and starts a counterclockwise loop of the store.

Me: Are you looking for anything special?

Guy: No. I like looking at the covers, mostly.

Me: Some of the music inside them is pretty good too.

Guy: Oh... I think I'm a little old for new music. Ah, no. I shouldn't say that. I've been enjoying Jack White lately. And I like electronica in the background.

Guy finishes his counterclockwise loop, never having taken his hands out of his pockets, and walks out.

-----

2) The longer way:

Guy comes in and says, "I'm looking for something alternative."

Me: Ok, well... what are you into now?

Guy: Y'know... a lot of stuff. All different kinds. But I seem to be listening to a lot of 80s music lately.

Me: Ah. Well... if you like more dramatic stuff I guess something like The Arcade Fire would be somewhere to start. (note: this was a little while ago, so the new album wasn't out yet). I'll play a little of it for you.

Guy: (listening) I haven't heard of this band... they're pretty good.

Me: Yeah, a lot of people like them. This album made many top ten lists last year.

Guy: Yeah... I like the bass line, I'm a bass player myself... but I don't think it's what I'm after.
I kinda wanted something closer to what I've been listening to.

Me: What have you been listening to most lately?

Guy: I dunno, Guns and Roses, probably.

Me: Ah. Well, I'm not sure I can think of something new right off that would fit that bill.

Guy: Well, I''ll just browse and see what catches my eye. How about this Pearl Jam? They're alternative, aren't they?

Me: Well... to Guns and Roses, I guess they would be at that.

Guy: Cool.
------

3) The even longer way:

Guy walks in, starts browsing the vinyl and says, "Wow some of this stuff is great. I haven't bought any new music in quite a while."

Me: Were you looking for anything in particular?

Guy: Not really, I guess. I'm into stuff that has a bit of country mixed with rock... or rockabilly. (Pulls out a Jason and the Scorchers album) Like this... this is great.

Me: OK..., well... I've got a couple of things on vinyl by The Long Ryders... do you know them?

Guy: No. I've never heard of them. They're good?

Me: Yeah. They're one of the early American groups that played the style that Wilco or Jayhawks eventually took up.

Guy: Sounds good, but I don't have a working turntable at the moment.

Me: Ah. So... I guess you'd be looking for CDs then?

Guy: Yeah, do you have any suggestions there?

Me: OK, well there's this disc by Jay Farrar who was in Son Volt.

Guy: I don't know Son Volt.

Me: Son Volt was the other half of Uncle Tupelo when Jeff Tweedy broke off to for Wilco.

Guy: I know Wilco. This is good?

Me: It's a little bit stranger instrumentally, but the songs are good. I'll play you a little.

Guy: (Listening) Yeah it's interesting, but not quite what I was after today.

Me: OK, well do you know Cracker?

Guy: Can't say that I do.

Me: Dave Lowery used to be in a band called Camper Van Beethoven... you know them?

Guy: No.

Me: Well, Cracker is his more straight ahead twangy Rock band... I'll play you a little.

Guy: (Listening to a few tracks) Yeah. This is what I like listening to.

Me: (Taking out the CD and getting ready for a sale). OK then.

Guy: Yeah, I have a buddy who works down at Tony's... I'll ask him about these guys and see what he says.

Me: ....

Guy: OK, thanks. See you later.

I don't see him later. I guess that despite liking what he heard, outside confirmation was necessary. We all need a little help.

Oh the... the... the... ZZZZzzzz

When I started all this... this... Blogging, it was a simple matter: One blog for me, one for the store... aaaaannnnd one for the radio show. Yep. >slap, slap< (that's the sound my hands make when I'm doing the "that's that" gesture). But no. Now it's that plus a blog for the stupid "listen to my record collection" project... aaaaaannnnnd a MySpace site for the store... aaaannnnd eventually one for music/everything else.

That plus events to plan for. For example, did you know that the Maritime Writer's Workshop will be having the first of many launchy type events on Friday March 23rd? Well I did! Details will follow in the very soon future.

Aaaannd... did you know that there is a gala Farm Nikita event planned for Saturday April 7th (Easter weekend)? Well I did! Details will follow in the midrange... just unfocus your eyes.

Aaaannnnd... did you know that the third Surge! event is coming up in May? Well... it is! I just don't exactly know what it will consist of... but when I do, boy o boy will you too!!

But more presently and pressingly I would suggest to you all that going to the Most Serene Republic show this Friday (March 2nd) at the Capital would be a nice way to kick off the March break (y'know... if you actually get one). If you see me dropping my beer there, you know that all else is on some (hopefully turned off) back burner.

But for now... I'm going back to listen to more of my record collection... no entry over there tonight, but big catch up post tomorrow or Thursday.

Oh, can I do anything for you?

In case you think it just poofed...

I was thinking about the big ol' CD collection listening marathon... how it would more or less take over the content of this blog due to it's sheer size. So I did the only rational thing someone could do...

I started another blog just for the project.

It's called The 2400.

I'll include a link to it in the sidebar so you can jump over there at will... or you can bookmark it, or whatever.

I've already gotten a little behind both in listening and writing... so the current post features the albums gone through last Friday... tomorrow will feature Saturday... and since I was, lets say... corrupted by hangovers and DVD box sets yesterday and today, regular listening and writing will resume tomorrow... capeeesh?

I'm also adding an extra feature called the "STAR ALBUM>" So denoted by this symbol:
These star albums shine brighter and have become touchstones in my collection over the years. I will attempt to pick one hundred star albums out of The 2400. Why not make it harder, right?

OK, pop over and have a gander at star album #1. Yeah Yeah Yeah.

Julie Doiron and Moonsocket Underground Café

Clicking makes 'em bigger:

What happens while I'm asleep?

Bless you Lynda Carter

I was just minding my own business... whatever that is... and next thing I knew a Campus security guard came and got me then ushered me into a room full of other Campus security and Fredericton Police officers. Turns out they couldn't get their laptop PowerPoint presentation to project. Mostly because they had no projector. I find it tough to be a smartass when people are carrying weapons. Head Security dude retrieved a projector from downstairs and set it up but still no dice, so back into the heavily uniformed room I went. After some futzing with the laptop and projector it all popped to life.

As I left I did get the whole room to laugh... so I guess I don't have to worry about getting a billy club to the head walking home from work.

My other evening malaise came from having to buy dinner in the cafeteria downstairs. The cheapest thing I could buy was a wrapped and refrigerated Roast Beef sub (6 inch), a can of V8 and a bag of Munchos... total $7.53. My longstanding standard has been expensive equals either very tasty or very plentiful, and cheap is ok if your expectations are low and again quantity is abundant... i.e. Jubilee Super Buffet all you can eat for about $12 if you don't mind 100 items that all vaguely taste of propane. You develop a forgiving palate.

One recent item I've become addicted to (much in the manner of the Lays Salt and Pepper Chips of last year) is the 691 mL can of Arizona Honey Ginseng Iced Green Tea. Tasty, voluminous and 99 cents!!! I can be cheap and at least marginally healthy. Bizarre!!! I can't find a picture of the can right now... but take my word for it. Unless you have a spare lasso of truth hanging around.

Like I wasn't saying

Sometimes pictures get trapped in your camera.
You forget then find them. Kinda like Easter eggs, except without that sulfur smell when they've spent two and a half years behind the lay-z-boy that finally gets moved to vacuum or tipped forward to find change for laundry, or all the pens it swallowed.

I had a bag of T-shirts left from the first Surge! event in September, and since I didn't have anything like party hats or noise makers I figure what could be more group spirit instilling than being dressed alike for New Year's? It worked for the Nazis.

So what's new? What's happened?

Well X-mas break was about 5 days long this year... a high water mark holidaywise.
The home part of it was the usual low-grade mesmerism I've come to expect: food, sleep, flashing lights. The kind of palliative care terminal rave goers would probably thrive upon.
The Fredericton part of it was likewise pleasant: Seeing Marc L. and spending a bit more time with M. (both pictured above). Work weeks that were only 24-30 hours long vs. my current 56. I have to say though, after years of silently mocking folks who complained how prolonged stretches of junk food and drink put them on their heels after the holidays... now the mock is on me. My system seems to yearly throw out new curves for me to consider. Is that a muscle pull or a stroke? That sort of thing.

There seemed to be a more-than-average portion of illness, death and relation rupture over the holidays. Perhaps another age-derived side effect.

What else? There was cat care, best of list countdowns, birthdays, sleep in short bursts at odd hours, plenty of chaos-fueled ducks that needed whacking back into rows. There always seems to be a pivot-point (usually around day 14-16 of January) where the possibility of a year that flows smoothly along the rails gets ker-knocked askance... either through mishap or plain ol' laziness. This year it's a little of both.

One speed bump was trying to get to a slightly less hectic work schedule, temporarily inverted by the departure of Mike the Saturday Guy (one of his many aliases) who finished school at Xmas and, due to some personal turmoil, picked up stakes and headed North (near North, but still).

The other dip in the road is getting a handle on how my routine impacts mealtime... i.e. my eating while walking or during 3 minute breaks at work. Less McD more macrobiotic? I'm still on the see saw with that one... I'll get back to you.

The last little hill to conquer is consolidating/moving forward with many disparate projects: writing, the Surgery blog and it's expanded possibilities, and the Surge! festival's posibilities for May.

The Surgery Radio one is the most tangible and exciting one at the moment. I installed a site meter and Cluster Map a little while ago, so now I can track not only how many visitors I get, but where they're visiting from. For example:





So what challenges am I gearing up for next? Well Kyle of The Fussy Part has enlisted J. Arnold (Proffessor Undressor) and me to open for them at The Capitol on February 3rd. We are cobbling together a DJ set that will hopefully both entertain and enlighten the masses. At least those who decide to come out before midnight and come inside rather that shiver and smoke on the deck. So those five people.

Finally I will impart upon you my favourite retail moment of the last few weeks. This time I had to go to another store to experience it:

Getting set up for the Surge! show on January 12th it became apparent that my stage rigging would benefit from a nice extension chord. We had about an hour and a half before showtime so John B. and I went up to Wendy's to grab some nice drive through dining to eat in the Canadian Tire parking lot. Following our dining we entered C'Tire which was fairly devoid of traffic for a Friday night. I found a suitable 10 m extension that was on sale for $14.99 and brought it to the cash. It has been a regular (pleasant) occurance at C'Tire that an even further reduced price comes up on the register screen when it's rung in... not this time.

Girl at Cash: That'll be $29.99.

Me: errr... the price in the aisle said $14.99 on sale.

GaC: Really?

Me: Really.

GaC: Well it comes up this price here. I'll call someone for a price check. [picks up phone on speaker]: Hardware call 103, hardware 103.

(five minutes elapse... a few more people are rung through... John is reading the back of battery packages).

GaC: I don't know who's back there. [tries again]: Hardware call 103, hardware 103.

(five more minutes... people are buy marked down garbage bags, John is sampling engine coolant flavours).

GaC: [to the other cashier two aisles over]: Who's back there?

GaC2: Jason, I think.

GaC: Is he on dinner?

GaC2: Not anymore. [Picks up her phone/speaker]: Jason in hardware call 105, Jason 105.

(her phone rings almost immediately and she transfers the call over to 103... I guess Jason is a little more scared of GaC2)

GaC: I have a guy here with an extension he says is on sale for $14.99, but it comes up as $29.99. OK? OK. He'll be right up.

GaC2: I had the same thing earlier tonight.

GaC: I know, but I can't just ring it in without Jason's OK.

(five more minutes elapse, then Jason, a slightly haggard post-holiday 1000 yard stare teenager shambles out of the back holding loops of extensions... looking a little like he's auditioning to replace the Crocodile Hunter dude.)

Jason: Ah... this one is $14.99 (holding up a nearly identical chord), but it's a one outlet. That one's a three outlet. They were mixed up on the shelf. (Shambles back).

GaC: Which one do you want?

Me: The cheap one.

So the whole thing took about 15-20 minutes. In the end the Girl rings it through and then looks into the pile of plastic bags as I exit without a "sorry for the wait" or "have a good night" or "never fucking come in here again." The holidays affect us all differently I guess.

Ahead to the future

So this is the new advanced blogger.

It wiped out my fish and chips header so I replaced it with dancing Russian GI Joes... at least I think that's what those are.

Some of you might be saying: What is he hiding by not having written any posts this new year? Or virtually none. Truth is... nothing to hide.

The Xmas season skidded on through 'til around the 14th of January. The end of the season was marked by Howard's countdown party at which we learned it was Band of Horses that most tickled his fancy.

Since then the weather has shut down most human interactions I normally have.

For instance on Monday through Friday of last week the store made one third of the amount we sold for on Saturday... and this is not to say that Saturday was an exceptionally busy day... just good n busy.

I'll have some perhaps more pertinent insights tomorrow... but for now revel in the wonder that is the NEW BLOGGER.

SUUUUUUUUUUURGE

So we go from the festival of lit turkeys and diving headlong into the festival of surging minor chords:



I'm making my fingers bony in preparation so I don't have a lot of time to bring you all up to speed with everything else... but after Friday I will, and up to speed you will be.

Be wary, be informed. Tall men with bad haircuts and underqualified numbskulls abound... in hallways near you!! (Well near me.)