Exciting news: Reverie Sound Revue will be releasing a new album in June!! It’s too bad that they aren’t planning on playing shows together anymore..
I was driving home from running errands listening to CJSW, the college radio station here in Calgary, and on comes this tune. It starts off instrumental and builds slowly, guitars and piano getting louder and receding, back and forth. A few minutes in and I’m completely engulfed. I stop in a parking lot and just sit there listening for almost the full 9 minutes and 16 seconds.
After some research I find out the band is a local one from Calgary called The Neighbourhood Council, none of the members being over the age of 20. I searched at three different record stores before finally snatching the second last copy at Melodya Records. Well worth the five dollar investment… wow! Anyway I could yammer on but how about I just go post the song eh?
The Neighbourhood Council - Liver and Tan [alternate location]
My Google Reader has been noticeably quiet, so I thought I’d start get things started. Come on kids, those blogs aren’t gonna write themselves. A mixed-media update:
I went down to the Roasterie on Christmas eve to grab a quick coffee and ran into Lucy, who had just came in from Montreal hours earlier. We sat outside and drank our coffee and chatted. A lady offered us her last chocolate turtle and we thanked her kindly. This is a picture of Lucy, and here is another picture of the coffee roaster that spouts beautiful smells into the Kensington neighborhood.
Christmas day I went snowboarding with my cousins to Lake Louise. I’ve begun to despise crowds more and more, to the point where it’s a borderline phobia. In fact, I started to feel queasy at the Broken Social Scene concert last month for that very reason. Anyway, Christmas day is usually the only time during the holidays when the hills aren’t a complete nightmare and this year was no exception. What WAS unusual was the amount of snow. We were able to find a foot or two of powder on every run… The best day of riding I’ve had in a few years, for sure.
I caught Caro online a few days ago and she introduced me to a radio show called “This American Life”, each week featuring a different theme and a collection of stories. I particularily like the show on Kid Logic.
Another holiday discovery has been this song by David Vandervelde.
And lastly, this White Ninja Comic cracked me up.
Flying in to Calgary tonight around 8:00. Late night last night so I might end up crashing as soon as I get home. Otherwise I could go for a beer - just give me a shout.
End of term theatrics, you never disappoint! Let’s hope it plays out in my favour.
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Oh, I watched Douglas Coupland’s Everything Gone Green the other day. The movie itself wasn’t particularily amazing, but the scenes of Vancouver - the beaches, the mountains, the city - man I miss that place! It’s also got some great Canadian music on the soundtrack: Sloan, Black Mountain, Hawaii…
Ohbijou: Live at NxNE - Very good
They’re playing in Calgary at the Sled Island Music festival. There’s no excuse to not check it out.
Alberta Tories lose Klein’s old riding in byelection
It’s about time.
I’m really in love with the Nikon D80. I went camera shopping with my Aunt the other day and she bought one. The viewfinder is much bigger and brighter than the D70 and so I think that’ll be my next big purchase. Let’s hope the Canadian Government decides to send me a big, fat cheque soon. I’d like to stick with Nikon because I’ve already invested in three Nikon lenses, PLUS I really like the feel of them over the Canon. Developing film has become more of a nuisance and is starting to cost a fair penny as well. I find myself being conservative with my photo shooting so as to not waste film.
Here’s a picture of my dad that I think turned out quite well, taken over the Christmas holidays.
Are you allowed to quote yourself? I’m going to do it anyway - I find it interesting that I go through the sentiments over and over. I’m sure I could scan through Sean’s blog archives and conclude the same thing.
So I’m sitting here in an empty room with a laptop and cases of luggage, and it just occurred to me how fitting this situation is. If I had to pick something that characterized my life, it would be luggage; boxes and boxes of it. Friendships, clothing, loves, and utensils: they all get thrown into cases and put into storage. Obviously you can’t keep collecting stuff, so there are things you have to throw away and forget. And sometimes it’s hard to part with them and you wonder, “Maybe I could have gotten a bigger suit case?” But four months go by and you fly back anxiously to this place, and when you open up your boxes there is everything like you left it. It isn’t perfect but it’s the way it is, and at least you know that the things you’ve kept all these years have probably stuck around for a reason.
Sunday was gorgeous. I lazed around the grass with Erin outside the library in the morning, then we joined up with Sean, Tina, and Gee for a trip down to Elora (Sean & Tina: send me pictures?). I actually got sunburned!
Monday morning I headed down to the Huether for an obligatory Americano and a nervous farewell with one of the girls there. Will, Alex, Heather and I spent the day in Toronto shopping and eating before they dropped me off at the airport. The flight home was delayed by three hours due to lightning and that gave me time to fill up about 10 pages of my journal, sit down and discuss RIM’s business outlook with a couple of strangers over a few beers, then play SMS-20-questions with Wendy on my cell phone.
Despite only getting three hours of sleep before my flight on Monday, I managed to wake up at 9am. Made my way to the Roasterie and chatted with yet another stranger and the new barrista for two hours. And now I must go shopping because my brother has stocked the fridge with nothing but beer and chocolate.
Cedar plank salmon with dill, basmati rice and asparagus sounds good.
Somehow my break is already half over. I got in during the wee hours of Thursday morning; my dad found me passed out on a luggage cart in the airport. I slept, ran errands all day, and met up with Stewart and Kristy M for a hot tub that night. Friday was all-you-can-eat sushi with Stewart… then off to Ming for a little too much holiday spirits, if you know what I mean. I somehow managed to cram a Vietnamese sub and a bubble tea after the sushi (granted it was 3am).
Saturday I headed to Broken City by myself but ran into some old high school friends. The DJ was mixing JT with MSTRKRFT and other weird combos, making for a spectacular indie dance night. Matt Tanner showed up late with some people… after last call we went to this girl Jordan’s house and stayed up ’till 6am snuggling on the couch and watching Pulp Fiction.
A huge family dinner on Christmas eve. Twenty-one people filed their way into our kitchens, after which mountains of food proceeded to file its way into everyone’s stomachs. It’s always nice to catch up with the extended family because such gatherings come semi-annually at best. Christmas Day found me at Lake Louise in pure bliss. Despite having not snowed in a week, there were fresh powder to be had just off the Larch chair (a little hiking required). That first effortless turn into waist deep snow and I was truly back home. I met some guy from Nova Scotia and did a couple of runs with him before heading out on my own again. I got lost in the forest and decided to just sit on my snowboard and watch the snow fall around me and blanket the valley below.
I just got home from bingo night at The Castle and Dub At The Pub with Matt, Theron, Francois and his sister. There were no winners amongst us but a bingo dabber fight did break out. My arms are covered in ink that I mistakenly thought was washable. Shit. Dub at the Pub was crowded as all hell and quite fun. The music is just so easy to dance to! I wish there was a bar that did something like that in Waterloo. I ran into a whole host of old faces: Nate and Cam Dales, Tommy Morante, Christy Gonis, Markus Lake. I used to find it almost nauseating, seeing familiar faces out of the blue. Maybe coming out of high school I was so excited to be moving on from the Calgary scene that I resented being pulled back in, save for close friends and family. Now I find myself genuinely interested with how people are progressing with their lives.
My body is sore. My mind is jello. My mood is a melange of good-natured emoticons. I just listened to the new Do Make Say Think, “You, You’re A History In Rust”, and I’m thoroughly blown away.