Adventures in Literature

listening to K-os: I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman

   I finished up volume nine of the Sandman comics by Neil Gaiman, one of the few comic book writers (along with Alan Moore) that elevate the art form to literature. If you have a chance Sandman (again along with Alan Moore's Swamp Thing) is one of those few series, rather than stand-alone graphic novels, that consistently provide quality writing throughout. While the last volume was about a Canterbury Tales style meeting where inn patrons tell stories and stories within stories, this volume "The Kindly Ones" is a classic tragedy, right from the beginning Gaiman brings in an overbearing sense of foreboding. You know how the story will end right from the start, but it's a testament to his skill that he maintains a sense of mystery and wonder all the way through the tale.

   Tomorrow I'm heading off to the Timothy Encounter and I'm looking forward to being challenged on a lot of levels. There's one thing that really stuck with me from last year's Timothy Encounter and that is to come into these things with a sense of expectation. Expectation that God is going to meet you and that God is going to impact you, break you, and speak to you. And He will. 

   Another adventure in literature that I had recently was finishing a short story by Isaac Asimov, The Dead Past, which I heard presented as a radio play years ago. And then, as I was thinking about it today, I realized that there are almost never any original sci-fi or fantasy movies, almost all are adapted from some other medium. The only one I can think of right now that hasn't been adapted is Pan's Labyrinth (which happens to be somewhere on my top five movies of all time). Anyways it seems like that's something that should be broken out of (who am I kidding, people don't have original ideas anymore anyways (either that or original ideas just aren't commercially viable (and these days art seems to bow before the almighty dollar (this multi-bracket is full of cynicism)))). 

   As a closing statement it would be worthwhile to note that the song I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman has being playing for the better part of half an hour on repeat and it's still good. It's one of those few songs that actually sounds good on repeat. It's also a pretty good song in general. Keep it... Wait, who am I kidding, that saying is getting pretty stale.

Soundmime

Coming Back

Listening to The Pixies: Doolittle

Doolittle is a truly beautiful album, it's much more polished than Surfer Rosa, but it's got the same edgy sound. It's also just as addictive as Surfer Rosa, When I first got it I listened to it at least twice a day for the first week and since then it's still pretty much all I've listened to. It happens every once in a while, where I listen to an album that I like so much, that I compulsively have to listen to it every chance I get. It happened with albums like De Stijl, Highway 61 Revisited, and I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning (along with Surfer Rosa itself). I'll dissect the album and hold it up to a million lenses, read the lyrics a dozen times over and find out what they mean. Of course, the first time I listened to Doolittle was around four or five years ago when Luc L'Heuroux loaned it to me for a few days after school. I gave it the worst listening ever, skipping over songs because it was all so repetitive in my mind. I distinctly remember telling Luc that it just all sounded the same and although it had some nice melodies sometimes (I thought I was being very open minded on this point) it was just a lot of repetitive static. Well the second time I listened to it, a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't believe how deaf I was to it the first time. I guess the first listen I just wasn't ready for the sounds, but more importantly I didn't understand where they were coming from. It's always a pleasure to find an artist and realize that this is where a lot of your favorite modern artists take their influence. I tend to do that a lot. I remember discovering blues to be a wealth of sound only after discovering the neo-blues of the White Stripes. They were like a gateway drug to a whole new soundscape. Now I don't know what the gateway drug to stuff like the Pixies was, but I do know that coming back to them I can hardly believe my ears. Anyways, the standout tracks would be Debaser, Monkey Gone To Heaven, Hey, and Gouge Away (that list is completely non-comprehensive because all the songs belong on it, but you've got to draw the line somewhere) so if you get the chance listen to one of those, but be forewarned, the Pixies aren't for everybody and they deal with some pretty heavy issues. I've got to go to Lordco today because I need to get a wheel bearing for Mindy's rear, right wheel so I'm gonna have to wrap this up. Keep it pregnant people.

Soundmime

Midnight Jumper

Listening to The Besnard Lakes: Volume 1

   The week of Canadian music is drawing to somewhat of a close. As a compromise in these last couple of days, Alpha will get to listen to the new Jars of Clay album that she just bought and I'll get to listen to the Pixies Doolittle that I just bought. I think I'm getting the better end of this compromise because I love Jars of Clay as well and I also have a Canadian album that I bought this week; Volume 1 by the Besnard Lakes. I'm only on my second listen through right now because it's a hefty album, only 7 songs and clocking in at just under 44 minutes, but it's quite dense and a couple of the songs are close to 10 minutes long. 

   Right now the morning tears are starting. Morning tears are caused by having little sleep and getting up early to bright sunshine. While I'm indoors right now, it's pretty light in here and there's a hefty amount of sunshine coming in, but still the main morning tears won't start until I start driving to work in another 20 minutes and hit the glaring sunshine. Adventures were had last night. The Besnard Lakes, good Canadian music, take a listen. Don't be afraid to shed morning tears. Give away a book. Become a midnight jumper. Keep it pregnant.

Park Ranger

Journey vol. 2

Listening to Plants and Animals

I was trying to explain indie music to my Dad and I played a couple of indie songs for him, rationalizing that it was simply to explain something. Of course then I realized that Canada should have a burgeoning indie scene of it's own. And apparently it does, so I've started exploring the Canadian indie music scene. After going through a few artists I've stumbled upon Plants and Animals, a band that I can appreciate and, hopefully, so can my dad (at least something he hopefully won't actively dislike). It's an odd criteria to meet, but the world of indie is one of reviving lost art forms so it's not entirely out of place. [at this point the author gets told that he's polluting the computer].

Listening to The Michael Parks (formerly Detective Kalita)

After some long searching I managed to assemble a few indie artists that looked quite promising. Most awesome is Detective Kalita (now The Michael Parks). they're surprisingly under the radar for being such a good indie band. Last night, along with a couple of classic Star Trek episodes, we watched Igor with John Cusack. The movie was surprisingly good with a solid blend of offbeat humor and a really original plot. Steve Buscemi played an indestructible rabbit and along with a talking brain in a jar named Brian provided most of the laugh out loud comedy. John Cusack is a lot more subtle though, while not actively funny himself, he works well in a comedy environment, if you've ever seen Hi-Fidelity or some of his earlier fare you'll know what I mean. Igor is a mostly overlooked gem and it's well worth a watch. Anyways, the day is wasting away and I'm going to go adventuring. Keep it pregnant people.

pipe smoking professor

Sanctuary Road

This is something that I wrote back in December, but never really edited. Most of the editing I've done now is punctuation, but a little bit of phrasing near the beginning too. Its form is reminiscent of freewriting, but content-wise I spent a lot more time on it and the coherency shows (if limitedly). Without further ado, here it is.

Pipe smoking professor

Sanctuary Road

I'm riding on a train going somewhere I don't know. 

Conductor looks at me says, Canada you want something? you know where to go? 

but I'm just as lonely, just as scared of tomorrow as the next soul 

I hold maybe fewer grudges, but I'm every bit as cold. 

When I try too hard there's a pain that hits me in the heart 

and I know there's something there, 

diabetes or some strange disease, 

brings the thought of being home 

to be so clear to me. 

Wake up fevered on the coach the railroad is in a dream, 

here I'm buried in a sea of apathy and snow, 

but the thought is just as strong, my eyes see nothing but the road they call it home, but to me it's just another cardboard box a mess of Russian dolls and in the middle me what rail to jump, what car to drive I'm holding up my sign and looking at the coins on main street, dropped like diamonds in the snow. I'm not made for the weather you know, it holds me down and brings me close to the smell of something I can't pretend to like. This bitter city holds no part of my soul. For love and peace, and a host of other things I must leave to Arizona, never mind she's buried in snow. A plane to a place I've yet to see, still a sense that I can find a sanctuary settled somewhere on a road, with a conductor that calls me Canada and a feeling like I'm going home.

Journey vol. 1

listening to Banned from Atlantis

So me and Alpha made a deal to listen to only Canadian music that we haven't listened to this week. I mean let's be serious people, there's a wealth of musical talent in Canada. The only reason some of these artists haven't ever made it big is because they're in Canada. Most Canadian artists that do make it big are the ones that move to the U.S.. It certainly requires a little bit more work to find the good Canadian musicians, mostly because a lack of publicity, but the results can be quite rewarding. Right now I'm listening to a great punk band from Winnipeg called Banned from Atlantis that existed briefly in the mid-nineties. The drumming is pretty hectic and often way off, but that just serves to capture something of the essence of punk, something that it lost some time ago due to excessive spit and polish. 

listening to The Besnard Lakes: Volume 1

Next up on todays fantastic journey through awesome Canadian music is the strange yet beautiful The Besnard Lakes. With this band, much more so than Banned from Atlantis, you can really feel the Canadianess. It has hints of other ethnicities, but there is a very distinct sound that's unique to Canadian music that they've captured. There's something that reflects the vastness and the wildness of this country that shouts out "THIS IS A CANADIAN BAND". It has echoes of Matthew Good and some of the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour, but from the later it still maintains a vast chasm. In the end it's both starkly unique and profoundly Canadian. A good mix if you ask me. Today is a sunny day, one of those days that's perfect for basking in the heat still present under the newly verdant foliage. I'm going to go find somewhere to climb trees and then make my way out to Langley for the evening. Happy Victoria day tomorrow. Celebrate by finding a new Canadian band. Keep it pregnant.

Will

Sound from the Garages

listening to Stranger of the Night by Absie

So here I am, out in Burnaby, getting up early. I got up just past 7:30 this morning. If you know me, that's early. I was doing some band searching last night (quite an enjoyable pastime) and I stumbled upon a few good ones. First I found this band called The Litter, they're a great late 60's psychedelic garage rock band. I found them initially because they did a cover of Buffy Sainte Marie's Codeine, a song that I was trying to find the original of online (the only copy I could find was a live version of about half the song). Anyways, it turns out that the Litter rock out pretty hard in their own right, and they had some great songs (like Action Woman) that weren't covers and some great songs (like I'm a Man by Bo Diddley) that were covers. Good listening if you like garage rock or psychedelic  music, and a good mixing of the two.

listening to Codine by The Litter

After that it got pretty crazy. I was eating some trail mix and there were some dehydrated blueberries in it. So I had the thought, I'll bet there's a band called The Blueberries. Sure enough there's a band called the Blueberries. And oddly enough they're actually pretty decent. They're an indie French band from Brest, but they take their influence from a lot of British punk like the Clash, which is a good thing. They're still a starting out indie band, but they're rocking the Clash vibe so I'm sure they're going to be pretty awesome once they polish their sound. 

From The Blueberries I linked to a British artist called Absie. Again, she's an indie artist, but with a lot more stuff than the Blueberries and actually playing shows in Britain. Good music, worth a listen. I've got to go to work now or else I would have said a little more. Keep it pregnant.

Will