Why Run Lola Run is the Paradise Lost of our generation

All right already!!!

I love you guys too.

Sorry I've been so neglectful. It seems lately whenever I was in front of a computer it was to fight to keep it connected to the internet (a certain PC/Aliant/Eric disagreement) or to design for/write about the upcoming Surge! Events kickoff... coming to a Charlotte St. Auditorium near you on September 15th. I'll elaborate later.

What have I been doing lately you may ask? You may. Go ahead.

Well I kicked off August with the below mentioned event at the Underground Café that was a good time and drew a crowd of... well... Margaret came out. Thanks Margaret. Still it was fun hanging out with the Houlton Road Trio folks. It'd be fun to work with them again in the future.

I had a three week stint holding court at Howard and Linda's with nothing but fishes and televisions and blinky computers and Mandy and a rock band to keep me company. The latter bit... the rock band... was old timey friend Selina Martin who was on her way back through from playing the Evolve festival and spent an evening at The Capital and hanging out with yours truly and her band (AnneLise, Robin and Dan). They're good folks and funny and I wish more people would've come in to listen to them play rather than stand on the deck where it was 15 degrees cooler but 5 bucks cheaper. Sigh.

Anyway they went out one door and Mandy came in the other and we celebrated by BBQing hot dogs and sausages. Always a good time. We played Scrabble and drank beer and watched Iron Chef and some show about how models are really sexy (what? really?). The next morning we gathered things from stationary stores and art supply places then bugged out for Florenceville where we had garden fresh corn and potatoes and I ate a pork chop and drank Stella Artois... 'cos I'm fancy. Then the next morning we bugged out for Bangor to get clothes from Goodwill... me for Surge! silk screening and Mandy to dress scarecrows. We are not typical. We went to Borders and I bought the new Chuck Klosterman book and Wings of Desire on DVD. The we went to Bull Moose Music and I bought the new Centro-Matic from the used section. Later we stopped up the road and ate at a Governor's diner... I had a burger named after the current governor of Maine and a side of sweet potatoe fries. Then we drove through the night... me reading aloud by flashlight from the Klosterbook and Mandy doing the wheel turning. The next morning it was the early bus back to F'ton and straight to the store.

The rest of the month are a "rinse and repeat" kind of blur. I remember fighting with the computer; watching Big Brother 7 and Rock Star:Supernova; eating chicken; wrestling a raccoon for ownership of a garbage can; taking buses and cabs; doing laundry; playing PS2 hockey and golf; y'know... by the numbers.

Now I'm back in the saddle. Soon to return to the 11am-10pm grind... so y'all can expect to hear from me on a more reg'lar basis.

I'll explain why Franke Potente is a modern touchstone at a later date.

TTFN.

For the casual fan.

Here is an not-inappropriate/innacurate reaction to our music.



But still... you should try and come out to the Underground Cafe on Saturday Night and catch a earful. Good times will follow you.

Cartoon is from Jeffrey Brown's I Am Going to be Small
.

horizony things

Click to make it biggy big:

Synaesthesia

It's been a mean week. I don't think I've worked as hard to have so much fun in quite some time... All of it blends together in a sort've fever dream... y'know, the kind you wake up from and ask:

Is that my doorbell?

Did I kill those campers?

What's another word for genital agitation?

If I didn't drink why am I so hungover? Wait is this Thursday or Friday?

Is the reading at 7 or 8?

What's this wet?

I don't remember eating all that cheese, so where did it go?

etc.


I recommend sleep in chunks of no less than 7 but no more than 8 hours. Eat only when your body gives you the thumbs up. Always try to let people know you're glad they're around (unless you actually aren't... glad I mean). Don't feel like you have to watch the special features right away. Buy a calendar and a non-electric clock. If you have two umbrellas don't leave them in the same place.

etc.

Now I move on to lesser things.

How about you?

So busy.

I can only stop to cough. KOFF KOFF. That's me coughin'. There is no room to be clever in this post... I leave you to your own devices... KOFF KOFF. Feel for me.

Holidays for shut ins.

Sometimes you just want to hide from everyone and put blueberries in your breakfast side salad


Other time you just want to watch the rain fall... and bugs.
click for: downpour

...of the just.

Two weeks in a row... though not on the same night... have I decided around 8 or 9 pm to lie down for "a little nap" only to wake up around 3 or 4 am with that not-so-refreshed-but-more-confused feeling. Sleep should not turn to shit. Quote me.

The Never Ending Story...

...ends when the big shaggy flying mop crashes into the side of a Wal-Mart in Michigan.

Or elseways when, on Monday, I get a non-Sunday day off for the first time in three weeks. Not that I don't love my job... (or at least not that I don't Sometimes love my job)... but I'd get tired of doing anything 6 days a week... except maybe fly fishing with grizzled old timey outdoorsmen.

The humidity has brought out admirably loopy folks... like the guy who had inherited a box of "classic" vinyl and wanted to sell it to me so he could pay to have his teeth fixed. When asked a few pre-emptive questions about the "classic" nature of the vinyl he seemed above board until...

Me: And of course they have to be in good condition.

He: Well, no, they're actually not... scratches on most.

This is remarkable!! Usually it goes, "No they're in PERFECT condition, only played once, taped and stored in an airtight lead box," then they bring 'em in covered in mold, barnacles and with a small wild animal near starved at the bottom of the pile. So to admit up front that they're crap... what progress!!!

My favourite surrealist quote this week came from our "not-as-hip-as-he-would-hope" Nirvana fan... friend of the disgruntled Ponderosa worker... who, holding up a 7" of Fleetwood Mac Tusk asked this now timeless question:

"Does this single have any Stevie Nicks or is it just The Mac?"

I think we've all asked ourselves the same question at least once in our lives.

I'm not run down because...

...I had a Vitamin C tablet on Sunday... I'M SUPERFUCKIN'ENERGIZED!!!!

King of All Media

I usually do my best not to be noticed... but lately that's been kiboshed.

It started last Tuesday with my "appearence" on the Rogers TV program Crosby Live. Ben Conoley and I were brought in to discuss our thoughts on Rolling Stone magazine's 1000th issue. To save you ordering transcripts I'll boil it down for you:

Used to be good... now (i.e. for the last 30 years) not so much.

Then on Thursday I became the cover model for Here magazine's current issue.

First off... thanks. I mean to those of you who might not have an opportunity to come into the store, mention you saw the issue and congratulate me for being on the cover. There's a slight-to-not-so-slight embarassment that encroaches on ego when you are acknowledged a few times a day then start consciously wondering as you pass by people on the sidewalk, "Does she know I'm on the cover of a magazine? Does he? Does Gus Mazzuca? Does he respect me, now?"

But... just know that being on the cover was not my idea. I (unvainly) thought the article was going to be about the store, ergo a nice shot of the neon sign outside or a macro pic of a stack of vinyl.... Kyle Cunjak's picture of me makes me cringe... but only because it's me... otherwise it's quite a well-taken photo.

Finally, the article... overall it's good, but there are a couple of instances, unfortunately both within sentences attributed to me, where careful editing wasn't thoroughly applied:



I believe the quote was closer to "The other store will have them for sale much cheaper... and they are more mainstream successes, whereas Flaming Lips would still bring customers in" or "we would still bring in for our customers."



Here the point was, loosely, that stores shouldn't be overly afraid of the download-for-sale, as a combination of online and offline shopping is attractive to VORACIOUS music buyers.

This is the dictionary definition of voracious:

vo·ra·cious Pronunciation Key (vô-rshs, v-)
adj.

1. Consuming or eager to consume great amounts of food; ravenous.
2. Having or marked by an insatiable appetite for an activity or pursuit; greedy: a voracious reader.

There is a dictionary entry for veracious but it isn't something anybody could, er..., be one of.

OK. Nitpickiness time over. If I don't use my English degrees from time to time they erase another vowel from my diploma.

So anyhow, if anyone still would like to stalk me... that's my street at the top of the post. It's nice and quiet... full of pleasant foliage, no?

I've come this far.

Flurrious activity... with my one day weekend I must squeeze together some sound squiggles for the upcoming show (see below), meet with Andrew Miller and strategize the long term viability of a Fredericton-based avant garde festival, and do a little research on the history of Rolling Stone magazine so I can give some "expert" opinions on a Rogers Cable show on Tuesday night. I get the feeling the host wants mostly positive feedback about the generational and political importance of the publication... I hope I don't blow this with my thoughts on how it's sucked since 1975. We'll see.

Upcoming

Oh the curds... show me the whey!!

So... FIMAV was fun as always. It's a special place where people from many nations speaking many different languages come together and try to burst your eardrums.

Not in all cases, of course, some of it was quite sublime... but two back to back nights, Saturday and Sunday featured large scale performances by some of the most infernal racketeers you'd ever want to hear. Saturday was a double bill featuring Keiji Haino and Sunn O)))... then Sunday was a supergroup of sorts featuring old school American jazz/noise merchants Borbetomagus and Japanese noise rock pioneers Hijokaidan. It looked like this on stage:

This photo is courtesy of the event's official photographer.

If you want a show by show run down you can pop over to the Surgery blog where such a thing will soon exist.

Slept on and off much of Tuesday (which I pre-booked as a day of rest...) caught up on e-mails, not much else. Then back to work. One thing about taking any amount of time off is that the first day back is usually a painful thing. I was quickly reminded of my place in life when someone called with 78 rpm records and "regular" records to sell. I gave my usual pitch, they named a few albums... some of them promising, some of them Supertramp. I had poo pooed the 78s early on, given that we don't have the space for something so slow to turn over. He assured me the music on them was older... "even older than Supertramp," was how he described it. Is that even possible?

Here are a few more sights and sounds... well sights anyway... of the weekend, including the legendary Poutine Galvaude of the wonderous MAX POUTINE!!! (all caps for effect and for J.Mac's benefit.)

In the details

It's a couple of days (less than 48 hours) before I take of for the FIMAV in Victoriaville. Taking care of last minute details gives me a rash... what am I forgetting this time... census, curling iron, cats on fire (got to put 'em out). Do people stay on top of the little things like getting haircuts and putting out the recycling on time? I feel like I used to. But now... well it's more conscious, that's for sure.

Marc B., James and I are taking a route through Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire to get to our respective destinations... I've never done this drive before. Scenery is one of my favourite things to look at.

Things have been pretty laid back whilst house-sitting. My only bit of heart acceleration came mid-late last week, walking to work. My route is down Reid to Albert and across the top of the Middle School sports field over to York and down again. I was cutting the corner onto York, which has a fairly steep 5-6 foot dip down to the sidewalk. A black dog three or four houses down the street across York was barking frantically at me even before I got to the corner. Stupid dog, I grumbled, especially after seeing he was safely tied up. When I got to the very top of the decline I saw that not me, but a full-on bushy tailed skunk was what had the dog so excited. I sucked in air and backed up slowly but deliberately, crossed over Albert to the opposite corner and crossed there. I gave the, now obviously, smart dog a big thumbs up on the way by.

At work, other than the usual springtime cavalcade of phone calls by people who've discovered records in their basement and think they've solved their money woes for 2006... only slight irritations, annoyances, and opportunities to be amused have occured. To whit:

Two young men (15-17... who can tell?) browsing the store. The blonde one is a "regular," but the type of regular who comes in twice a month, never buys anything but always asks for "rare" Nirvana stuff (vinyl, singles, imports) or K. Cobain endorsed things like Vaselines, Daniel Johnston, Teenage Fanclub, etc. When confronted with any of the things he so desperately desires he either "has it" or will "pick it up later." Later of course means never, though a great show of disappointment is made when he comes in three weeks later to find the Nirvana single sold. But I digress.

His friend, a first time customer, I think, has a Slayer CD and a copy of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon on a Japanese label. Here's how this goes:

He: This says it's Japanese.

Me: Yes.

He: Does that mean it's translated in Japanese?

Me: No... it's on a Japanese label.

He: So they put it out in Japan?

Me: Yes. The Japanese love to rock.

He: [furrowed brow] But it's not in Japanese?

Me: No.

He: [putting CDs on the counter] Are you looking for any work here?

Me: [piecing it together] Ahhh... I don't have to look, I have work here.

He: You Do have work here?

Me: I have work here. Were YOU looking for work here?

He: Yeah... yeah.

Me: Sorry, we're not hiring.

He: Oh well, thought it would be better than working at Ponderosa.

and SCENE.

I fed the kitties some Limp Bizkits...

...and they started to mutate:



I'm giving them some Korn for dinner. Maybe that will make it better?

I did it for the Kittie, the Kittie...

I hope everyone's forgotten Limp Bizkit sufficiently to not get the title of this entry? Good.

I've begun a stint house sitting for my friends Dana and Chris...

It works out well just now as they have an office with a view of the back deck, Hi Speed internet and a nice Mac to work on... and I have reviews to write for an Exclaim! deadline. Noon tomorrow.

They also have three things which might (pre)occupy my attention:


Simon


Phoebe

...and my old nemesis... SATELLITE TELEVISION!!!!

I'll let you know how the battle goes later.

So why are we here?

The wonders of weeknights off!!!

After a pleasant ramble through points Maine-ish and Quebecois with Mandy over the weekend (see pictures below) I've been revelling in the new-found ability to go where I want when I want after 5 pm. Of course 3 of the last 6 nights that's been up here to the lab to get caught up on work, but still... it's only 'cause I could choose to do so.

On Wednesday the routine was broken up by wine bottling with Howard and Linda. Two new batches to add to the wine cellar/gymnasium/sewing room/darts emporium. Some of those things probably aren't meant to co-habit, no problem for the Renaissance couple, though. H & L take quality control quite seriously so much scrubbing, filtering, sterilization was involved. The process post-pre-clean is dynamically perfect for three people: 1) Howard on racking (or bottling) 2) Me on corking and 3) Linda on labelling. The final step is the application of the plastic seal... the shrink-wrappy thing that goes over the cork... I did that with a super-heating paint stripping gun... worked a treat.

Each momentary pause between steps of course calls for a sip of the wine from a newly decanted bottle. Only when the process is over (we did 2 batches of 28-30 bottles each) do you realize how wrecked you've gotten.

I capped the evening off with a walk home... which is about an hour from their place to mine... across the river... but it was a nice night and I had my CD player (you may remember portable CD players... they were early prototypes for mp3 players). The only little bit of unexpected fun came as I got to the South side of Westmorland Bridge. There was no traffic so I crossed over the road to the City Hall side of the bridge and walked down the on ramp to the riverside. I crossed the Westbound lanes to the central median when I noticed a set of headlights approach under the bridge... so I stopped to wait for the car to pass. However when I stopped the car stopped. So I thought a thought halfway between Hmmmm and Oh Fuck. As soon as I started walking again the car sped forward... propelling me further in the Oh Fuck direction. Soon enough I could see that it was a police car and they pulled across from me blocking my path.

Cop: How are we tonight?

Me: Doing OK, thanks.

Cop: Where are you off to?

Me: Just headed home.

Cop: We saw you just standing by the road... what were you doing?

Me: I was waiting for you to pass so you wouldn't run over me.

Cop: Oh. Alright then.

[speeds off]


The other little bits of synchronus silliness at the store this week consisted of not one or two but three different organizations calling or dropping in looking for junk vinyl to decorate for parties/functions they were planning. All of them essentially hoped we'd just hand over something no questions asked. My favourite of the three was the Marriott call centre chick. Now the Marriott is, I believe, a fortune 500 company... million/billion dollar revenue jokers, y'know? The lady's pitch was that they were having "Associate Appreciation Hootenanny..." or something to that effect... with a retro rock theme. She wondered if they could "borrow" some of our records with the promised they'd return them in the same shape at a later time. My response was propelled from the Oh Fuck (off) direction.

Not pictured here...

Clicking makes 'em bigger...

If you say so.

I've not been ignoring you, friends... my energy's been directed elsewhere, briefly.

Fr'instance... I completed two new hour long mixes for both the Backstreet and Surgery blogs.

The Backstreet mix is here.
The Surgery mix is here.

I also finished up work at the lab last Thursday... so I'm not automatically in front of a computer every night for five hours. A blessing for some, a curse for others... for me... a blurse, I guess.

My first weekend off was also blursed with a borrowed copy of the first season of the new Battlestar Galatica TV series. Proof you can be serious in Sci Fi without having to be pretentious too.

Right now I'm struggling through store stuff... Getting little orders/special orders out there... doing it for the kids, y'know.

By the way... the store'd been bereft of quotable exchanges until last week when a customer showed up to pick up a specially ordered CD. He'd not been in the store before and had been directed to us for special order purposes by one of the chain stores. After paying for his disc and poking around a bit he headed for the door, but just before leaving:

He: Oh, I know another disc you can get for me.

Me: Sure.

He: Dylan's Street Legal.

Me: Yeah, that doesn't show up second hand very much... no problem.

He: It's a good one. I was in a Mexican prison for two years a while back and it was one of two tapes I had.

Me: I would think you'd never want to hear it again!

He: No, it was one of my crowning moments.

and he was off.

Gotta split, too.

Now it can be told...

All this week I've either had my camera or my camera cable... but never both... at the lab so I couldn't put these up for consideration:

Thursday April 6th:
Blood Meridian, Meligrove Band, The Constantines at The Cellar:

Matt Camirand aka Blood Meridian (also member of Black Mountain).
Proved that the last day of classes is not the best time for an acoustic set.

Favourite between song patter:

• This next one is for these two drunk girls. Enjoy now, you'll be puking later


• Thanks for sort've listening

The Constantines standing on the newly erected stage barrier... how long has this been around??

Friday April 7:
Lost Boys BBQ:

It was nice when the idea occurred... of course it was raining while we charred... but we had the power of Daedelus and Deadbeat to see us through:

Saturday April 8th
Texas Hold 'Em @ Howard's

not pictured.
mentioned briefly in Sunday's post.