well, i'm almost all better. sinus bug almost gone, head clearing up, feeling more energetic. finally!

again, the weekend was decent, though i wish i had been feeling physically better to enjoy it more and put more effort into it. nonetheless, fun was had.

on friday night, seamonkey_mags and i went for thai at somtum, then went to see the movie Up. it was uptastic! superb animation, and a funny and uplifting yet sobering and thought-provoking plot. lots of thematic undercurrents. nice character development. all the right motifs plot-forwarding developments. best movie i've seen since star trek. :)

on saturday we attempted to check out ottawa's doors open. st. patrick's didn't seem to know it's doors were open (probably because physically, they actually were closed, even though there was a big banner hung on the fence). there were praying people inside. we left fairly quickly. next up was the the supreme court of canada, where we actually went in, and got some good pics. then on to parliament, where it turned out that the main block wasn't even open! how wrong. not open the main building of the city on doors open day? shame! by then i was hot and de-energized, and angry at not being able to get inside parliament. so we went home, and i took an afternoon nap.

yesterday we took it easy.

now the part i know you all highly anticipated: the cool new music reviews! some really good stuff i'm liking this past week:

bike for three!, more heart than brains - back me up here, littlegirltoast, is this not an awesome album?! this album is the brainchild of buck 65 and joëlle phuong minh lê, and it's just as good (if not better) than if buck 65 had put out an official new release this year. long anticipated and awaited, this concoction between two artists who have never met shows how modern technology bridges the gap, completes the circle of musical invention. a beautiful realisation. some of buck's patterns seem a little generic, like he's re-using old cadences and rhythms, but his lyrical content is - if a constant theme - at least contextually fresh and new, as always. and this new style / direction of glitchcore that he is heading towards is a fascinating departure from his traditional alt country / blues / hip-hop mesh. it compliments his laconic style very nicely. i fully see this album being in my top 5 this year. more like this please!

yeah yeah yeahs, it's blitz - i won't pretend to be a lifelong adoring yeah yeah yeahs fan. i mean, i know maps. and i like the arcade fire version of it. beyond that, i always thought i could take it or leave it all the same. but this new album may change the score, as i find myself already returning to it after the first listen. it's pleasing, female-fronted poptronica, and every song is catchy and evocative in some way. i find myself likening it to ladytron. i mean, you really can't go wrong.

orienteers, orienteers - have i talked about this one yet? i forget. anyway, local ottawa boys ben wilson and tom thompson of that's the spirit (and ben formerly of paperjack) team up for their usual guitar / pedal steel hijinx. great instrumental mood pieces. these guys are seriously talented!

eels, hombre lobo - long-awaited, and sooooo worth the wait! this is mr. e at his blazing, overdriven, raunchy, electro-hoe-down best! dark and hot, with buzzing overtones remeniscent of souljacker, daisies of the galaxy, and beautiful freak all rolled into one, there is nothing about this album that is not frickin' scorchin'! check out the video for fresh blood on youtube. great stuff.

the mars volta, octahedron - the ever-prolific mars volta have a new offering, barely a year after bedlam in goliath, and hot on the heels of omar rodriguez-lopez's latest (instrumental) solo effort, old money. this album is supposedly an "acoustic" album. true, it is more mellow than some mars volta offerings. but it is slathering with electricity, and dripping with reverbrating effects, to all the right sweet degree. i could see this easily becoming my favourite mars volta offering to date. for those already fans, this is virtually a must-listen (the vocals are particularly honey sweet, the lyrics extra-specially bizarre, even by normal tmv standards); for those new to tmv, this may be a good entry point.

also been listening to some non-2009 releases by scottish bands the twilight sad, and frightened rabbit. both worth checking out, particularly if you like stuff like arab strap, mogwai, malcolm middleton, idlewild, the reindeer section, etc.

next time: new releases by placebo, grizzly bear, and wilco. just haven't had time to listen to 'em yet. cheers.

this is a great interview with malcolm middleton (and aidan moffat, jenny reeve, king creosote, etc.) about his new album, waxing gibbous, which i plan to get my grubby paws on asap... sounds like it will definitely be a contender in my top 5 this year.

Malcolm Middleton - 'Waxing Gibbous' from Mike Hemsley on Vimeo.

ugh. this must be the bazillionth time i've repeated this: i hate being sick. it sucks. it sucks all the energy out of me. i hate my sinuses being clogged. feeling weak. headaches. chills. hot flashes. sneezing, sniffles, coughing, and sore throat. NO MORE i say. well luckily it's starting to subside. such is life.

at least my weekend was decent. last friday night i went to see the rock plaza central album release at zaphod's (alone, because nobody wanted to come with me, boo hoo). got some great pics, sans flash. picked up the new album on vinyl (still haven't had a chance to give it a listen, but i'm sure it is awesome).

saturday evening i hung out with qeonos and dana and lily, three of my favourite people in the whole world. we ate pizza and watched a really bad movie with nicolas cage (i know, redundant, eh? all nicolas cage movies are bad!).

sunday evening, i went with shaun and yola to the mayfair to see anvil. what a great documentary! funny and poignant all at once! and full of music! all the right ingredients for a good documentary. i've never pretended to be a huge metal fan, but anvil are talented and underrated folks!

so monday evening i started feeling sick, blah blah, etc.

good new music i've been checking out this week:

iron & wine, around the well - a great 2 disc compilation of b-sides and rarities, beautifully packaged. includes favourites like his covers of flaming lips waitin' for a superman and the postal service's such great heights. unfortunately, does not qualify as a "new release" in my books, and thus will not make my best of... list this year.

cage, depart from me - officially getting released in july, but i "found" an advance copy (shhh, don't tell). disclaimer right off the bat; i find cage a bit angry, angsty, crass, violent, and misogynist, and this new release doesn't much change that opinion, so it's not for everybody. that said, he's writing what he knows, and he has honed his songwriting craft somewhat. cage, like his contemporaries aesop rock and el-p, continues to steer his sound away from traditional rap / hip-hop, but i don't hear a huge leap from hell's winter. subsequent listens may change my mind.

sparklehorse, dark soul of the night - i don't mind telling you to seek out this album online, because it might not get officially released at all, and it would be sad for such an awesome album to not get heard by all of you. linkous has outdone himself with his latest release, but his choice of danger mouse at the production helm may have stifled his chance to get this album released. EMI have an ongoing beef with danger mouse (likely because of the grey album), and they are being dickwads, as record companies often are. too bad, since this album has all the right elements; an accompanying photobook focused on david lynch, and an all-star cast of guest artists including wayne coyne, jason lytle, and vic chesnutt. seek it out, folks! you'll thank me.

and that is all i have to say for now.

i've been busy and also lazy, so it has been a couple of weeks since i last told y'all what's new...

last week, seamonkey_mags and i had an awesome, beautiful vacation in t-dot / rouge hill / rockton:

we stayed at the hyatt regency on king st. for a few nights, which was a little too '60's futurismo decor for our taste; not very practical, but a nice view of the cn tower.

on monday we did mucho shopping down queen st. on tuesday, more shopping in chinatown, and kensington market (hello cheese shop with awesome curds and homemade hummus!).

on tuesday we also met my sister for lunch. great italian restaurant called mercatto. i highly recommend.

wednesday, we spent an afternoon at the newly-frank-gehry-redesigned AGO (see photo); it's quite a sight.

wednesday evening we relocated to rouge hill for a visit with my mom & stepdad, and it was very relaxing.

thursday was so hot we could barely leave the house.

on friday we went to the zoo (pictures of the zoo to be uploaded soon)! my parents live a mere 5 minute drive from the zoo, so it was convenient and fun. the animals are hilarious. we even spent the extra dough to get into stingray bay, and pet the stingrays!

on saturday we drove to rockton (outside hamilton) for a grand wedding (friends of seamonkey_mags, who also quickly became friends of mine too, or at least i hope; they are grand people).

on sunday we returned home to ottawa on the train. whew.

the whole time, the weather was perfect! hot and sunny, and not a drop of rain. what a great vacation.

this week has been busy catching up on work, and trying to find time to see friends i don't get to see much of lately (thus far rather unsuccessfully). and of course the weather sucks again. i actually have my space heater on right now.

latest musical discoveries / purchases:

the national, a skin, a night dvd (film by vincent moon about the making of the boxer album) and virginia ep. great double disc package. the national has quickly become one of my fav bands this year. i am stoked to see them at bluesfest.

jean leloup, mille excuses milady. picked this disc up while in montreal seeing mogwai a few weeks back. what a great comeback from the dead wolf! i loved the jean leclerc album mexico, but with mille excuses..., leloup cranks the pop intensity level back up a notch by bringing back to life his old persona... featuring a talented backup cast including ep bergen of bran van 3000, this album is highly likely to sit in my top ten of 2009.

john vanderslice, romanian names on vinyl. what more can i say, people? this is undoubtedly going to be album of the year. if you don't already know the v-slice, why not?! go to his website; much of his stuff is downloadable for free; check it out! you will not be disappointed. vanderslice is the consummate artiste; performer, songwriter, composer, producer, storyteller... he does it all, and does it all so very well. i seriously wish i had 1/10 the talent this guy has got.

jason lytle, yours truly, the commuter. some of you may already know lytle as his previous moniker, grandaddy. lytle produced four albums and an ep as grandaddy, all well-received critically and with some moderate commercial success. i've been a grandaddy fan for years, and lytle's new solo album combines all the best synthy, grungy elements of grandaddy albums like the sophtware slump and sumday to create the perfect grandaddy album... that isn't a grandaddy album. but come on, it may as well be. a rose by any other name... anyway, this is another good candidate for top ten of 2009.

iron & wine, around the well. just picked up this double disc of rarities and b-sides, haven't had a chance to listen yet. but i always love sam beam's songs, so i 'm sure it will be a great teaser leading up to his appearance at bluesfest.

cheyenne mize and bonnie 'prince' billy, among the gold 10" vinyl. a special limited release of some sort that i just snagged yesterday while picking up the vanderslice vinyl and iron & wine rarities. again, haven't had a chance to listen yet, but it looks mighty enticing...

yeah. so that's what's new, music-wise. as for reading, i just picked up a new book by eric nylund called mortal coils. great reading so far; nylund is an articulate and intelligent writer, and i enjoy the way he develops characters and plot details.

also, we saw the new terminator movie last friday. it's ok. i mean, it's not horrible, it's decent. but it's no star trek.

time for bed. zzzzz...

just a few things to report...

people, go see the new star trek movie. it is fantabulous. nothing short of perfect. yippee. simon pegg as scotty is just brilliant. i am not a j. j. abrams fan, but he did a bang-up job on this reboot. congrats to him.

people, listen to the new john vanderslice album, romanian names. i kid you not, this is my only contender thus far for album of the year 2009. i promise you, his performances at ottawa bluesfest this july will be the highlight of ottawa live concerts this year. not to be missed! with his seventh solo studio lp, the v-slice has outdone himself. it is such a beautiful piece of songwriting and composition, from start to finish. there is not a song i don't swoon over, and marvel at the subtleties upon multiple listens. instant loves are the tracks too much time, D.I.A.L.O., summer stock, hard times, and of course the title track.

people, i am on vacation as of friday, for ten whole days! this is fantastic news (for me, anyway). seamonkey_mags and i will journey to toronto, and frolic through the metropolis, shopping, visiting the zoo, going to the rom, going to the ago, snapping photos to-and-fro, staying in a fancy-schmancy hotel, etc. it will be a very relaxing and much-deserved vacation.

people, new music from Your First Lover is coming soon. it has been a couple of months since i released the last of the first dozen tracks, and there are a few more almost ready to go...

whew! what an exhilerating and jam-packed long weekend (well, long for me anyway; i took yesterday as a vacation day).

saturday was free comic book day, so seamonkey_mags and i went to the silver snail and comic book shoppe, and got lots of free comics (i snagged a cool reprint of the original issue of TMNT)! then we went to a matinee of x-men origins: wolverine, which was a great movie. i personally thought that liev schreiber as victor creed (sabretooth) stole the show; what great casting, and he really got into the role. i think he outshone jackman. overall, a decent movie treatment of the weapon x story. and next week is star trek! can't wait...

oh yeah, we got some loudmouth girls kicked out of the theatre, because they were blabbing on their cellphone the whole time, not even paying attention to the movie. who the fuck does that?! the manager gave seamonkey_mags free movie passes! rewards for tattling, yippee!

on sunday, i went with shaun and yola to the mogwai concert in montréal! OMG sonic bliss! check out the pics on flickr. it was a great set (ear-blisteringly loud), with a great opening act, the twilight sad (including a singer who, as shaun pointed out, had near-perfect pitch; a great combo when coupled with his glasgow accent).

we also did some shopping before the concert, and i picked up new shorts at Simon's, and a new shirt at H&M. good times. and shaun took us to his favourite restaurant, cafe wok, which was cheap and yummy and quick and awesome. more good times!

but the good times don't end there! yesterday, seamonkey_mags and i biked down the canal to dow's lake and took tonnes of beautiful pics of the tulip festival (also, ducks)! it was a perfect day for a bike ride... way better than spending the day in the office. i will upload the tulip pics soon...

rock on.

because audrawilliams laughed so much at the concept of stephen harper the groundhog (eating tulip bulbs)... here he is, in all his glory. :)

what a snazzy hair do.

aaah what a beautiful weekend! yesterday, we woke up and went to eggspectations for breakfast (which is becoming an awesome regular weekend trend) - this week i had the spinach and swiss omelette - and then of course it was so beautiful that we had to go for a walk.

i grabbed my camera, and we walked up to parliament hill, all around the back (got some great pics of the library), and met up with stephen harper. well, ok, it was a groundhog, but i named him stephen harper, and he was eating tulip buds. i got some good pics of him, i'll post some of those later.

it was like summer out there! so we walked to the market, and got gelato at piccolo grande! gelato cones in april! fantastic! i got mint chocolate, om nom nom nom. i dripped it on my shirt on the way home.

then in the afternoon i went to a poker game / bbq. i lost the poker badly, but who cares?! filet mignon bbq!!! i think i died a little from sheer pleasure.

i spent today recovering. doing laundry. getting groceries. playing warcraft... that sorta thing. all around a most pleasing weekend.

somehow the organizers of bluesfest have read my mind, and concocted the most brilliant ottawa bluesfest lineup ever! of course there are big bands that i don't really care about, like kiss, but mostly it's the so-called "indie" acts that are making it fully worth getting an all-festival pass this year.

check it:

• okkervil river


• john vanderslice


• the national


• iron & wine


• the dodos


• cake


• m83


• neko case


• the stills


• blue rodeo


• ben harper


• girl talk


• holy fuck


• handsome furs


• stone temple pilots

okkervil river AND john vanderslice in ottawa!!! frig, that alone makes it worth it.

i had a yummy and relaxing weekend. on friday i had thai for lunch, and pho for dinner, and picked up the first two season of ALF on dvd. ALF is still funny! so timeless. :)

on saturday, went to eggspectations for brunch, and then seamonkey_mags and i spent the afternoon/evening having a 30 rock season 3 marathon.

on sunday we had pho again for lunch, in chinatown, but not before visiting the kowloon market and picking up a bunch of chinese candy, like these muscat gummies! the writing on the packaging is hilarious: Its translucent color so alluring and taste and aroma so gentle and mellow offer admiring feelings of a graceful lady. Enjoy soft and juicy Kasugai Muscat Gummy.

i also got some good biking in this weekend, since the weather was so nice.

and i have some exciting music/film news to report! my cousin - who has been filming videos for my exciting new music project, Your First Lover - just won best short fiction at the las vegas international film festival for his film, Sanguine. so folks, now i have an award-winning cinematographer/director working with me. hold on to your coats!

i've been a little under the weather the last couple of days, and i'm just now starting to feel a bit better (i think in part because it is such a beautiful spring day, and i got some fresh air today).

also, how can i not be cheered up with that beauty right there sitting beside me?! check it! a pentax 35mm F2.8 macro lens! yes, i blame you, fiercekitty: you planted the idea in my head at the war museum... and today i was at henry's exchanging some filters i bought (because stupid me, i originally bought 55mm when what i needed was 52mm), and my eyes fell upon this beauty.

at first i was just daydreaming about, the list price being $699 and all. but the sales guy (who was super nice before and gave me a massive discount on the filters) took it down for me to try out, and then said he could give it to me for $499! WHAT?!?! sold! so sold, i also purchased a circular polarizer filter for it (which he also heavily discounted).

in the near future i will post lots of pics taken with this awesome new lens. i've tried it out already, and it is SICK. the level of detail is amazing.

i think i'm good for now for lenses... three is enough to suit my basic needs. but eventually i will want a serious zoom lens.

anyway, enough of about photography, on with the music reviews!

firstly dananananaykroyd. hilarious band name, these guys are post-punk from glasgow. some of the better moments sound almost like mogwai... when the guy isn't singing; then it sounds something like alexisonfire or ...trail of dead with a scottish accent. funny, but not very endearing.

next up, the priddle concern. i'm sure i've brought up this album before, and i finally got my hands on it. this is a great album by bill priddle and a whole bunch of other awesome musicians and songwriters.

you may remember priddle from the now defunct noise-art-became-bad-pop-punk canadian band, treble charger. priddle was an integral part of treble charger's sound and songwriting, back when they were still good (circa maybe it's me). songs like red, and friend of mine, how she died, and christ is on the lawn were mindblowing soundscapes of canadian '90's goodness.

that all changed when priddle got disillusioned with the slick production choices associated with the rising popularity of treble charger, and left the band. since that time he worked with broken social scene, and eventually crafted this album with help from howie beck, brendan canning & justin peroff (bss), john critchley (ex frontman of 13 engines), andy magoffin (two minute miracles), and amy millan (stars), among others.

the overall effect is great: a superb album that channels that classic '90's canadian-indie sound as much as it does the sonic sensibility of the bss / arts and crafts clan. i highly recommend this album to everyone.

last but not least, the new album by the tragically hip, we are the same. what is there to say about the godfathers of canadian rock? this album is swell. remeniscent of the some of the finer moments of in violet light, day for night, and trouble at the henhouse. plenty of pretty crescendoes and catchy licks, and gord downie's ever-interesting lyrics. he even namedrops cat power. classy, gordie. very classy.

uhm. that is all for now. enjoy the beautiful weather!

see what i made? mini brownie muffins (or cupcakes, except without sprinkles and icing and fancy shit like that). i also made brownie cookies. that's my contribution to pagan day. mmm chocolate.

today i watched quite possibly the worst movie since the war of the worlds remake and superman returns: namely, the remake of the day the earth stood still, with keanu reeves as klaatu. in a way, this is almost a perfect role for reeves, since he has almost no ability to express believeable human emotion. he really is like an alien. and yet he still fails! he looks so sad as he ages, a moderate and typecast actor past his prime. and he's not helped at all by the most poorly-constructed and awkward dialogue in the history of cinematography. even kathy bates' moments look forced. and of course all of the clichéd innuendoes about the human condition are so ham-fisted that they are not even meaningful allusions. ugh, hollywood. that's all i have to say. ugh.

what's the worst movie you've seen lately?

folks, check this: fiercekitty wants to join the forces! her feet are not flat, and she is already suiting up for duty! :)

yes, it was sucky and sad that the trip to montreal had to be postponed, but i have been making the most of the long weekend so far. last night i went to the saw gallery for the digital henchmen studio party, with yummy food, and performances by littlegirltoast and amos the transparent (i'll upload pics of that soon)...

and then this afternoon, fiercekitty messages me, practically demanding that i accompany her to the war museum to take photos. well let me tell you, i didn't like her attitude or the tone she was taking with me, and i told her so! no srsly, i happily complied; it was a beautiful day, and a great opportunity to get out and enjoy the awesome spring weather. we had a grand time, and it was my first visit to the new location, and it's quite spiffy. i liked the exhibits a lot, and took tonnes of pics (check 'em out)!

then we went to bridgehead, and i had some awesome mint iced green tea. then i came home and made an awesome vegetable stirfry for dinner, and sat around tweaking pics in photoshop.

i'm having a great weekend so far, but at the same time, my heart is with my gf and the stuff she's dealing with, and i'll be glad when she's safe and sound back here on sunday night.

more great music! i've been listening to blonde redhead's 23. it's not exactly new (came out in 2007), but my exposure to it before was limited. i like it though. good stuff, remeniscent of dreampop like cocteau twins.

in the same vein (sorta) of dreampop/shoegaze is the brand new doves album kingdom of rust; great britpop of the calibre and sound of '90's acts like stone roses, mansun, kent, etc.

cross the pond, back in missouri, is pop band someone still loves you boris yeltsin. i'm listening to both their albums, their first release, broom, and their 2008 offering, pershing. great stuff, nice lush sound, sweet vocals, good atmospheric sound. there are some really pretty, almost sonic youth moments.

also, i've mentioned before, bishop allen. i gave a listen to their first album, the broken string. i think i like it even better than their brand new album, grrr. some of piano and vocal arrangements remind me of harvey danger, circa 2005. i imagine they'd be cool to see live.

one more worth mentioning: caspian, an american instrumental band. lush, layered sounds calling to mind mogwai, lanterna, and this will destroy you. great mood music.

that is all for now. i'm all warred out.

well, due to matters out of my control, no awesome montreal getaway this weekend. it is ok. given the circumstances, i am not the least bit upset about it, and am confident that we will reschedule for another weekend of montreal fun.

all hail the shortened week and the long weekend.

this coming easter weekend will be grand... off to montreal for shopping, site-seeing, photo-taking, staying at the hilton, and other such general leisure.

i've been seeing a very awesome young lady for a few weeks now, so we decided to plan this mini-getaway for a couple of nights in montreal, and just relax and enjoy ourselves away from the usual hum-drum. i know i don't usually talk about such "romantic" stuff here; it doesn't usually enter much into the public realm of my life... but anyway... who knows? maybe more on that later, because it makes me happy...

in music news, so much new good music that i have been listening to and/or has been growing on me... great bands like the war on drugs, vetiver, bishop allen, the dodos. and i'm liking the new handsome furs album, and the new ep by rock plaza central, 'neath the lion's paw. also highly anticipating getting my hands on throw me the statue's new ep, purpleface. what i've heard of it thus far fills my heart with music goodness. and folks, have you heard the flaming lips' cover of madonna's borderline?! OMG!

in terms of my music, there are two new Incarnations almost done, one which features guest MC duties by the nefariously righteous owel five, and one which features the heart-squeezing lyrics of my mysteriously poetic sister. and Your First Lover now has a myspace. check it out, you know, if you still use myspace.

folks, is the weather not beautiful today?! 15ºC and sunny! awesome.

so yesterday i finished reading a son of the circus (which was ok, but by far not irving's best work), and panicked when i realized i didn't have anything new to read. so i picked up a spot of bother by mark haddon. i previewed a chapter of it when i read the curious incident of the dog in the night time, and it seemed interesting and provoking. and hey, supposedly it's a bestseller.

music-wise, i've been checking out a few new things...

junior boys' new album, begone dull care is righteous. i cannot believe i haven't listened much to junior boys before. perhaps i will even go see them, it is just THAT much up my alley. aside from merriweather post pavillon, this is the first album of 2009 that has seriously impressed me.

i've also been listening to cut copy's in ghost colours and bright like neon love. some sweet electro-synth (similar to junior boys) remeniscent at times of daft punk and old jamiroquai.

also N.A.S.A the spirit of apollo - this album is almost like a complete album of mashups or remixes. and it is really well done. the coloured vinyl is a nice touch.

the album i'm really looking forward to this year is the just-announced 7th studio album by john vanderslice, romanian names (out 2009-05-19). i am so stoked for new vanderslice material. i love his production style, and conceptual storytelling. and the first preview track i've heard off this new album, fetal horses is a great tune, calling to mind tracks from vanderslice's 2003 release, cellar door, like promising actress, they won't let me run, and june july. really, this is classic vanderslice, complete with regretful and biting nostalgia, stark piano rolls, and beautifully-lulling vocal harmonies. great stuff. watch for it! check it out! to be released on dead oceans (sister label of jagjaguwar and secretly canadian, and home to phosphorescent, bowerbirds, and bishop allen, among others...)

alright, which one of you bazooka heads introduced me to the war on drugs?!

this is some awesome music.

i also picked up the national alligator on vinyl. sweet.

this is my birthday weekend. 33. who the frig cares?! it's a beautiful weekend, i had a great evening with friends last night, and a great day today, staying in bed 'til noon, going for brunch, going bike-riding and photo-taking...

...and now i'm going to cook some meatsauce from scratch, and boil some pasta, and have a very nice and relaxing birthday eve. spring is finally here! yes.

springtime is here! i bought myself a new bicycle! i figured, my birthday is in 8 days; what would go perfectly with my new camera? a new cruiser to take me quickly to optimum scenic areas, of course!

it's a sweet 7-speed with a very retro look & feel. don't worry, i also got a helmet and bell and lock. gotta be safe!

i bought it at foster's on bank. they were very helpful and friendly in helping me select a bike, then they tuned it up, attached the bell and lock, fitted me with a helmet, and did all sorts of comforting things like adjusting the seat, taking down the serial number, explaining the 2 year warranty, etc.

i used to love biking, but i haven't done it in years. now it is time once again! i think it will provide excellent cross-training to get me back running regularly again.

so i'm going to go riding soon down to the glebe and back.

what else is new? i went to bloc party and holy fuck at the bronson centre on tuesday. it was awesome. so many underage kids trying to get in with alcohol, 'cause it was st. patty's day. that was hilarious. my buddy simon and i got crappy seats near the back, and everyone stood up the whole time, but we still managed to take over 850 righteous pictures. i posted the best of the pics to flickr; check 'em out!

what else? i went to dinner at Som Tum last night; a great thai place on the corner of kent and nepean. i had the pad khing (ginger chicken and mushrooms with carrots and other such yummy healthy things. i love food in a ginger sauce). i will go back there for sure; great thai food close to home at a modest price. heck, i'll probably go back there more than once.

what else? so i think i've decided i can't do australia this year. i'm very sad about that. :( i want to go so bad. i want to see kissingamemory and fun_to_be_me so much. i want to see australia so much. but logistics are operating against me this year, and i think i have the patience to put it off 'til next year, i can turn it into a really long and memorable experience.

i'm thinking that a more realistic and plausible trip this year would be my original plan, to go to BC for a week. i could get some quality productive time with my cousin, working on the filming aspect of Your First Lover.

and of course, concerts in montreal in may! mogwai! bonnie 'prince' billy! the national! i love the spring.

time to go out. i've gotta go feed my buddy's cat; good excuse to get out on the new bike! later...

omg today after work i randomly decided to check the funds in my bank account to see how much i had to budget 'til payday, and tada! my tax return was deposited into my account already! woohoo! megabucks!

i couldn't resist celebrating by going out to compact music and buying entirely too much music!

ok, yeah i know, there's no such thing as too much music. but still:

on vinyl;

nasa - the spirit of apollo feat. m.i.a., tom waits, santogold, david byrne...

bonnie 'prince' billy - beware - brand new album! i'm so excited to listen to this...

the postal service - give up - including a bonus disc with rarities and b-sides

throw me the statue - moonbeams - i cannot wait to listen to this entire album on vinyl, it's gonna rock so hard!

on cd;

of montreal jon brion remix ep - jon brion interpreting songs from skeletal lamping!

on dvd;

calexico live from austin, tx

so i'm on music overload, people!

also, TODAY IS MY SISTER'S BIRTHDAY! happy birthday to the best only sister i have. she is a trooper. she is smart and sassy and strong and independent, and also thoughtful, courageous, creative, and she's got yer back. also, she is an awesome mother. three cheers for my sister today!

tonight i am going to go see the watchmen movie! good evening.

it has been a busy and eventful week and it ain't over yet, baby!

quick recap:

last saturday i visited my old roommates for much picture-taking goodness, eating of homemade turkey soup, playing with cats, and general party-ness, only escaping back to my place at 3a.m. sunday morning (ok, 2a.m., but it magically became 3a.m. because of stupid DST stealing an hour of sleep from me).

sunday was a beautiful sunny day, and i walked up to wellington and snapped some great pics of st. andrews, the west block of parliament, and the supreme court building. then i made some homemade veal soup. it was a weekend of homemade soups and photo-taking!

monday night was ruby jean and the thoughtful bees (from halifax) at zaphod's. check out the pics. awesome show. great electro-pop fronted by the ever-enigmatic rebekah higgs. needless to say, i was tired at work on tuesday.

last night was doc night at audrawilliams & littlegirltoast's place. entertaining as always. we watched young at heart, about old people singing contemporary pop/rock songs by the likes of the clash, sonic youth, and coldplay. it was hilarious and poignant. also, we ate much chocolate, and i spilled pepsi on the living room floor! it was another late night, and i was tired again at work today.

nonetheless, i went to the movies tonight! i just got back from seeing an advance screening of bruce mcdonald's new flick, pontypool. all i can say is BLOODY FUCKING BRILLIANT. i was expecting a cliché twist on the zombie theme, but thinking it would be good anyway, 'cause mcdonald is gold. but it was even better than that! it was subversive satire in the best possible way. i cannot even describe how subtley finger-pointing it was; it was great. it reminded me of the best moments of existenz, but somehow much more cohesive than cronenberg's fragmented storytelling. this does not surprise me, since mcdonald really knows how to adapt a book really well (he did a superb job with the tracey fragments). in any case, do yourself a favour; see pontypool when it gets major distribution. this is one canadian flick that is worth seeing for yourself.

other important news of the week: i have received official word from the west coast production unit of Your First Lover that principle shooting of the video for Incarnation 1.04: The Ice Age will begin tomorrow and continue into the weekend! this is exciting, folks! more videos will follow too; watch for them to be posted to the blog and the facebook page soon!

and the week isn't even over yet. whew! have a good evening, everyone...

whooooo oooo ooooooo. memes mostly annoy me. but this was an interesting one i saw that made me ponder. because what defines "life-changing"? there are plenty of artists / albums i really like - prominent artists / albums - that were not monumentally life-altering for me. the beatles, neil young, pink floyd, radiohead... others that come nominally closer to life-altering; the cure, flaming lips, michael penn, primal scream, blue rodeo, belle & sebastian, iron & wine... still other artists have greatly impacted and influenced my songwriting, and i deeply respect what they do, but have not experienced life-altering moments with their albums (yet); calexico, mark kozelek, four tet, eels, danger mouse, jean leloup, kings of leon...

and of course just pinning it down to only 25 albums. i could rattle off at least 100 i'm sure. so this won't be an all-inclusive list by any means. but here goes... in no particular order, 25 albums that have changed my life (meaning, in this case, usually for the better):

1. okkervil river – the stage names
2. el-p – I’ll sleep when you’re dead
3. the mountain goats – heretic pride
4. james – laid
5. james – whiplash
6. bonnie ‘prince’ billy & matt sweeney - superwolf
7. art of fighting - wires
8. odds – neopolitan
9. soul asylum – candy from a stranger
10. matthew good band – last of the ghetto astronauts
11. throw me the statue – moonbeams
12. hood – cold house
13. sunny day real estate – how it feels to be something on
14. better than ezra - friction, baby
15. karate – unsolved
16. longpigs – mobile home
17. buck 65 – secret house against the world
18. snow patrol – when it's all over we still have to clear up
19. malcolm middleton – a brighter beat
20. broken social scene – s/t
21. new pornographers – twin cinema
22. aesop rock – none shall pass
23. arab strap – monday at the hug and pint
24. the black crowes – three snakes and one charm
25. bon iver – for emma, forever ago

'kay, i know my birthday is still three and a half weeks away, but SO? i wanted my new SLR camera now!

yay! i finally have an SLR! and an awesome one! the Pentax K-m. super light-weight body, two sweet lenses, and so many features i haven't even figured out yet. it feels so good to have a manual camera resting in my hands again. it's like an old friend that i haven't held in years. all the instincts come back.

and the Pentax takes beautiful images! and it shoots RAW. so sweet. i'm so glad i got a Pentax. the sensor quality is awesome. the auto-focus and auto-contrast functions are very handy. i love that it has a dust sensor and dust removal system. and the in-camera cropping/compressing/etc. is so useful and nifty. the funniest feature is when you put your eye up to the viewfinder, a sensor triggers the lcd to turn off to conserve batteries. whoa! speaking of which, it runs on AA batteries instead of a proprietary lithium-ion thingy, which i like.

'kay, so i know you all think i'm a camera junkie now, but now i'm good. i have three awesome cameras, for all purposes. i'm good for now. seriously.

so today i picked up a son of the circus by john irving. so far, so good. irving almost always pleases me.

music-wise, i acquired boxer by the national on vinyl, and the new album by neko case, middle cyclone, which i'm listening to now. very nice.

did i mention that bonnie 'prince' billy is coming to montreal, may 15th? i think i did! it bears mentioning again! i'm so there it's like i went through time. also looking forward to bloc party in a week and a half, and trying out my new camera at the show.

my lj really makes me seem like an unapologetic shallow consumerist. hmmm.

i am so happy that february is over. blah. it was a crazy and hectic month.

this past week was busy and productive. i finished a painting for my best bud, dana, for his birthday. see? i think he liked it.

i finished two new tracks, Incarnations 11 & 12. track 12, Tribes, features lyrics by my wonderful and talented sister, Amber. check it out, she's a poet and then some. i have also received word that filming was mayhaps getting underway this weekend, so be on the lookout for Incarnations videos soon!

in other music-creating news, i have almost completed my owel five remix, and there will be future collaborations with this fine and frantic dame-lovin' hip-hopper: watch for it!

in terms of listening to music, i have been obsessing lately over the dodos and the national.

bonnie 'prince' billy is playing montreal on may 15th! zomg, it will be so awesome. i am definitely going.

reading the lineup for sasquatch festival makes me weep. i thought coachella and bonnaroo looked good, but sasquatch reads like a who's who of bands i want to see; bon iver, animal collective, jane's addiction, nin, john vanderslice, shearwater, tv on the radio, kings of leon, the wrens, sun kil moon, the dodos, of montreal, ben harper...

i finished reading the mysteries of pittsburgh. really good book. now i have nothing to read. suggestions?

...and there is part II, my friends. once again... ow.

i am pleased as can be with the final result on both arms.

i even managed to get my laundry done today. it has been a busy and exhausting weekend. i think i'm gonna go to bed at, like, 8p.m.

whattup peeps?!

look at the pain! ouchie. actually, it's doing ok in the nice tenser bandage it's wrapped in... not too much pain (although the razor burn is annoying, and i'm sure it will be super-itchy as my arm hair grows back in).

so that's one arm down. doing the other one tomorrow afternoon, because we started a bit late today, and it took quite some time.

but look at that! look at it! seriously, it's coming out really nice, so it's worth the time and pain.

for those who don't know, this piece is basically an homage to my aunt and uncle who both passed in the last few years, taken by cancer. for those quick-witted who do know my works, you can probably figure out what the other arm is going to say. see if you can guess before i post pics of it.

ok, time for bed. goodnight.

whew.

tiring week, and already a busy weekend. tomorrow will be downtime day. i promise myself.

i picked up a new book this week: michael chabon's the mysteries of pittsburgh. it's actually not new, it was published over 20 years ago, but this book is gold. the characterization is intense. and even though it's a dated story about a particular time and place, it comes across as very timeless. i'm engrossed already. it's very catcher in the rye-esque.

last night (or i should say, this morning) i attended the midnight showing of my bloody valentine at the mayfair. it's been years since i've been there, and it's nice. a lot still the same, but spruced up for sure. the movie was hilarious horror cheese. good times. of course, pho followed, so i didn't hit the pillow 'til around 4:15. yeow i'm gonna be tired tonight.

in approx. 3 hours my arms are getting inked! i am excited. but of course not really looking forward to the pain. WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF?! oh yeah, that's right; i'm a masochist. :P

cheerio.

i have been feeling a mite under the weather this week, as if sickness is nipping at my heels, and i'm barely and narrowly avoiding a full onslaught. i went to work yesterday and today, but i felt tired and lethargic, my brain in a fog.

nonetheless, i have been relatively productive at work, as well as on my music. Incarnations 9 and 10 are now available at had we met in another life, last.fm, and crackbook. they feature plenty of vinyl sampling and scratching, and busy mixes; a bit more daring than some of the previous Incarnations, with mixed results. i am hard at work on Incarnation 11, which is somewhat more subdued, like Incarnations 1 and 4.

listen: one day you will all care about all this shit, even if you don't right now! ok, maybe not. but whatever.

i finished reading de niro's game, which was better than awesome; it was actually poignant. it was a very real, very visceral look inside the mind of an acutely ptsd refuge, so caught up in his losses that his mind has obliterated them and replaced them with bravado and stoicism... and beautiful poetry. every minute of reading it was like watching a train wreck in slow-motion. i knew how it would all fall apart, but i was still cheering for the delusion. i highly recommend this book, and i am going to read rawi hage's new novel, cockroach.

i have decided that next month i will get myself a pentax k200, as a birthday present to me! vistek has a good deal on a body + 18-55mm lens. sweet. once i possess such an awesome dSLR, i will surely rule the world.

i had a very productive and action-packed weekend.

on friday night, i went to winterlude with shaun, and we watched the jim cuddy band put on a free show. i'll upload some pics of that soon. it was awesome. the lights and ice sculptures and stage setup all looked great at night, and despite the cold we had a good time. and jim cuddy and his band (which included colin cripps and bazil donovan) even played five days in may, which was friggin' stellar with a crazy violin solo, emulating almost every nuance of greg keelor's guitar solo to a tee. after watching the free concert, we had dinner at the brig, then i went home and worked on some music.

saturday, i worked more on new tunes, and also picked up some great vinyl at vertigo, including el-p collecting the kid, immortal technique the third world, and 13 & god. not to mention a bunch of great 7"s, including Disneyland storybooks; perfect for sampling (you can see that DJ Relic whole-heartedly agrees).

i also booked an appointment for next saturday to get some tattoo text work done on my arms.

today i did the usual sunday dishes, laundry, groceries. but i also worked hard on incarnations 1.09 and 1.10, both of which will be done and uploaded soon! be on the lookout; they are pure gold (after all, Relic was helping)!

rock on, all.

february gives me the blahs. the winter blues. blah. curses.

i finished reading the curious incident of the dog in the night-time. it was a good story. light-hearted at times, but introspective too, and very thoughtfully contextualized. the narration is real and believeable, and that's part of what makes a story really good.

speaking of good stories, i started reading de niro's game by rawi hage. i already love it! the contrast between the meticulously described, beautiful details, and the detachment with which the narrator describes said details, is rivetting. it gives the reader a visceral view of the characters' lives in a country where real war - getting bombed continuously - is part of everyday life. the characters are so ultimately fatalist, they are caught in a whirlwind of carpe diem gone awry. it's fascinating, like a wreck that you can't peel your eyes away from. i can tell i am going to finish this book quickly, and will probably want to read hage's new novel, cockroach.

music-wise, i have been listening a lot lately to the new animal collective album (i love it!), throw me the statue, and the mountain goats. also, i just got into vetiver. they are a cross between new folk and alt-country. a pleasant blend.

also, tracks 7 and 8 of my Incarnations are now available for download. check 'em out! check 'em all out if you haven't already! this is really different stuff for me, including such pleasant pleasures as synthy beats and rhythms, midi melodies, vinyl spinning / scratching / samples, and mostly instrumental tracks, all packed neatly into two-minute packages. and you know, they're free, so if you go check out a track, at worst you've wasted two minutes of your life; maybe three if you bother to comment to tell me "that sucks". :)