I applied and have been accepted into the School of Fine Arts at the University of Manitoba.
I gave them pictures, papers and money, and now I must wait until they let me sign up for classes.
Come autumn, I will be a student again.
Oh, does anyone have any suggestions about what to wear to your first day of university?
I mentioned earlier that I had a bane to my existence. It was called Everyday Music. It is located on Capitol Hill in Seattle, across from the Dick’s Burgers, and next to the Jack In the Box. It has everything you’d every desire, musically; and it even offers a staggeringly wide range of vinyl, cassette tapes and DVDs.
In the Front Row, from left to right are:
Iron & Wine - The Creek Drank the Cradle
Sufjan Stevens - Greetings from Michigan
Travis - The Invisible Band
Calexico - Garden Ruin
The Flaming Lips - At War with the Mystics
The Middle Row, are:
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, widescreen edition
This is Spinal Tap, collector’s edition
Confessions of a Reformission rev. by Mark Driscoll
The Radical Reformission by Mark Driscoll
And finally, in the Back row are:
Ben Folds - Songs for Silverman
The Restaurant at the end of the Universe by Douglas Adams
Not pictured - two Coca-Cola Blaks; the carbonated fusion beverages. (basically coffee and coke)
All but the three books and Spinal Tap were purchased at EM.
Tap was bought at a Fred Meyer, when my pal Grant went to buy a frisbee. His frisbee came with an instructional DVD.The Douglas Adams book was purchased at a quaint little used bookshop in Pike’s Place Market, and the two Mark Driscoll books were purchased at Mars Hill Church in located in the Ballard neighbourhood of Seattle. But the most important thing of all that I ended up with was priceless - my time with old friends.
(I realize the cheesy-ness of the closing line, but I wanted to end on a more positive note. Sue me.)
The Canoe Trip.
What started as a good idea, that blossomed into a rugged outdoors, aquatic camping adventure; has come and gone.
It has become annual now.
This year’s mighty adventure in the great Canadian Shield was four days of paddling and eating and exploring and burning.
Allow me to elaborate.
The group departed the city at 8:00am to drive out to the Whiteshell to get our trip started.
With a sunny weekend ahead of us, I decided to do the un-thinkable: go shirtless.
Now, as a pasty young man, of European descent; I have a rather hairy body. Even though my beard is gone and my head is covered in short hair (another tale shall recount my latest haircut), the rest of my body is covered liberally with hair. So, as skin that is normally untouched by razor or sun, and is covered by clothing tends to be, mine was, white.
But no-not any longer. Now it is a faint, tanned and peeling colour. In the middle of it all, it was a bright red/medium-rare/salmon coloured hue.
The first day was fine, I had canoed and portaged with little hindrance, at one point, Matty and I even jogged our canoe for 300 yards. That made us feel quite powerful and outdoors-ish. Plus, after we started to paddle again, my thighs were recovering and all the sore feeling from the arms was being out-done by the workout done on my legs.
We made camp up on a slopping bank of rock, and started cooking our meal. As it happened, I was the cook (although the “chef”ing was shared by most, not only I) and we made the first of two back to back meals. This time, due to incredible sun, we spent a lot of time in the water. I ended up spending even more of it in the water, because of my pink condition.
We had rain a couple evenings, and some Narnia told around the fire.
We attempted re-fried beans, which took far too long and tasty sub-par in the end. We paddled 24 km one day for a day trip, and I had to cower from the sun, in the mid-ship, with a towel draped on my legs and my arms in the sleeves of my hoodie. I felt like a sun-damaged albino, who had no defence from the UV rays. In some ways I was, but I’d forgotten the feeling of skin too small, and an ever-present heat.
By the time we had started home, Derek’s sunburn had healed a lot more than mine, and he had begun his tutelage of the Rubik’s Cube, a la me. I had discovered that night I had Poison Ivy. All in all, I would say this was the most adventurous trip we’ve had to date, mostly due to the sun. And even though it tried to kill me, the sun did not. I do hope, however, that I smarten up with the sunscreen. Even if I always burn in the sun, it’s no excuse to be so careless.
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-all photos by the illustrious Derek Penner
When I last wrote about these guys, they operated under the moniker “Inservice“.
It was a temp name, and it was followed soon by “Suite“.
And now, after the tumult of finding something that was workable, and suitable, this band is now know as “elyon“.
For those who may not be able to spot out who is whom, from the left:
Adam Klassen, the drummer.
Jeremey Dell, guitarist and vocalist.
Marc Willerton, guitarist and vocalist.
Jeremey Sturby, the bassist.
Saturday night, these guys played as openers to Monty Yanks, at the Osborne Zoo. And even though the usual patronage was not all in attendance, I believe that those there enjoyed the show. As these guys relatively new on the circuit, they do play with strength. They have already eight songs composed, and have a safety net of covers, in case the bar demands a more appeasing sound. With things picking up momentum, they should be making bigger and louder waves in the local scene.
Monday evening was a great time.
Sam Roberts came through town, playing a sold-out show at the Venue. I was able to enjoy the event with Adam, Andy [Willerton], Marc and Tim [Penner].
The old movie-theatre-turned-music-venue was buzzing with excitement, as the the minutes dwindled before the show got under way. Australian sensation Ben Lee was the opening act, an enthusiastic and talented performer. He played acoustic guitar and was accompanied on piano, percussion, and vocals by his talented band-mate [for the love of decency, I can’t remember or find her name]. Ben encouraged much participation from the audience, who, by most respects, had never heard of him. He played some great songs, such as “We’re in this Together” and “Catch my Disease“. He also played “Bruised“, a song on which he collaborated with Ben Folds and Ben Kweller. By the end of his set, Ben had the audience hushed as he played acoustically, un-miced and un-plugged.
As the change-over took place, and the audience mingled, I found my way down to the floor. When the lights went out, and the band took their spots on stage, I was standing next to Rob and Renee from the Attics. As the lights came on, the band started with “The Gate“, off their new album. Spot/Strobe lights had been aimed in centre of the room, and I happened to catch the first few blinks quite unaware. In fact, I thought I might end up having a seizure. I didn’t, though.
They managed to mix much of the first album with the second, playing “Rarified“, “Brother Down“, and “Hard Road” early on. The band seemed to be hitting the right notes, and grooves and the crowd was singing along quite a bit. There was a lot of energy in the room, most definitely. New songs “American Draft dodger in Thunder bay“, “The Resistance” and “With a Bullet” were catchy and easy enough for the crowd to sing to. They ended what was their set with “Mind Flood“, a jam somewhat reminiscent of Pink Floyd-gone-by psychedelia.
The band came back after a long (and un-ended) applause to play an encore. They had “Where have all the Good People gone” up their sleeves and “Uprising Down Under” from the new album. As they left again, we had applauded until our hands hurt and the lights went up. And as a few people left, the band returned to play one last jam. By twenty to twelve, the audience left and made their ways home.
The few of us left in a group went over to Marc’s for beer and pizza, and I continued my quest in learning the Rubiks Cube. After a few Scottish beers, a lot of rock music and a six-sided puzzle, I ended the night by sleeping on his fold-out couch.
Solving the Rubik’s Cube will solve all my problems.
While I do not adhere to the above statement, it does make a good response when asked why I am trying to solve it. It began with a passing curiosity at Marc’s house, where I picked up one of his cubes and asked him to show me the steps to solve it. He was taught a year before, and he taught me in the same manner: He would show me a move, give it to me to try, and then scramble it up once I completed the move. I had to continue the process until it remained in my memory.
Tonight, I decided to complete some unfinished business.
I watched Kill Bill Vol.2.
All the way back in 2003, I had seen Kill Bill Vol.1 in the theatres, and intended to see the second half of the film. I was out of the country for a few months. Then I decided to wait for the movie to go to the cheap theatres. Years went by. It was nagging me for the last few weeks, and tonight, with other plans falling through, I finally rented the movie.
As I played the DVD, I had to recall in my dusty memory, who the characters were, (the ones that the Bride hadn’t killed) and to construct the story from the depths of my mind. I was quite impressed with the whole film in general. I must say, it delivered. The music was suspenseful, ironic, catchy and moving all at the proper times. The blending of cinematic styles - recollection in black and white, kung-fu sequences, western themes, good old fashioned mystery - all held with the appropriate amounts of suspense and drive. David Carradine and Uma Thurman had a good on-screen dynamic. Their scenes were very well done.
And as I sat on the couch, closing the door to this episode, I wondered how many other doors have I to shut?
Sure, the easy ones will get done - they always do. Yet watching this movie was not only very simple, it was enjoyable. How come I didn’t do this years ago? This leads me to ask, Why am I not doing more of this? What is holding me back?
I suppose what delays me so much in doing what I ought to, is that I get side-tracked once the initial excitement is gone. Or before that excitement wanes, I find something else that is new and exciting to do. As what happened with the movie, my life got the better of me. I’m not normally one to stop a story half way through (unless I can’t stand it, such as Wuthering Heights or perhaps Pride and Prejudice). Yet in my room I have three, no four half read books. That I started this year, even.
And as my focusing problems illuminate themselves, I can only dread how sidetracked I may become when things really matter. Neglecting stories and films is one thing, shirking responsibility for writing old friends, or slacking while learning a new job is another matter.
I say that once I finish those books, I can really focus.
I say that once I complete the Rubik’s Cube, I can leave it be.
What I’m really saying, I suppose, is that if I solve the Cube, I’ll have to put it down. I’ll have to take up real responsibilities. And perhaps that is the real reason why solving the Rubik’s Cube will solve all my problems.