Montréal

The drive from Ottawa was uneventful.

The real action began at CJLO, a campus radio station in the west-ish end of the city. Both bands performed live on air, with an interview in between. The studio was quite a bit bigger than the one back home, but it got just as hot once we began to play. There were some concerns about who was able to hear who. Personally, I don't need to hear anyone. I watch the drummer for all my cues. Both bands' sets sounded good from where I stood. I'll know for sure sometime down the road, because both were recorded by the station's tech. Multi-track. The interview was kind of a debacle.

That night we played a neat little cave-shaped venue in the north-central part of town. The crowd was fairly big, receptive to both bands, and contained some familiar faces. The noise band that opened was awesome, despite having had a very trying day. The headliner played rocking electronic music with a lot of energy and personality. This was a great show.

...a great show that ended very late. We had to get up before 9am to make it to the next one - in Fredericton, NB. Ube and I are pretty beat. I don't know how morale is in the van right now, but they might have had even less sleep than we did. I suspect we'll have a little burst of energy left to help us win the marathon. BB could be improvising with Philip tonight. We really enjoyed this last time, and it may be just the change of gears we need to carry us the rest of the way.

Harper Didn't Show

...in case anyone was wondering.

It was a fairly typical pre-gig situation. We're sitting around in the bar watching strange techno music videos on the big screen, when around 9:30 Ube asks:

"What am I singing through tonight?"

The horrible truth became clear: there was no PA at the venue.

Hoping to at least score a 1/4" mic, WE and I ran to the mall down the street hoping we could sneak in before the stores closed. We were unsuccessful, despite my (rather cute if I do say so myself) attempts to persude the girl at the store to open the curtain. Thankfully, we have friends in the city, and one of them hooked us up with a full PA at the last minute.

The bad news was, we forgot to ask for a mic stand at the same time. With BB all set up to play first, it was a must, so a second trip was made. In the end, the show started pretty late and we had to switch up in a hurry. As in Toronto, no other bands played. BB got five songs in, GS six. There were maybe ten people there, but every one of them came up front.

Each band played a tight, workmanlike set. There seemed to be a bit of magic missing, but I felt good about the event overall. We did sell a disproportionate amount of merch. Both dates were pretty lucrative, despite small turnouts. I don't know this for a fact, but I've heard bands of our ilk don't move quite as much stuff in the USA.

We have two dates left, and then we're coming home. Tonight we're in Montreal opening for Dandi Wind!! Then we get to share a stage with Spinoza for the first time since February 2005 (this time in F'ton NB).

I'm looking forward to taking a shower that actually makes me feel clean. I feel like dirt is tattooed to my body.

An Ottawa Aside

Today I wondered what I would not have missed in H_x had I been home these three weeks. Then I decided I'd better stop thinking that way. I'm in a weird frame of mind right now... not positive or negative... just really focused on survival. Stay posi at all costs. The little posi-engine in my brain is working overtime and its fuel guage is at about 1/4 tank. That should be enough to last until Saturday.

When I get home, I'm going to do a lot of relaxing. Some of it will be social, some not. One thing I've decided to do when I get home is take up kite-flying. It's just what I need right now.

***********************************************************************************

On the way from TO to Ottawa this guy cut off the van on the 401. The van (which I wasn't in) then returned the favour, at which point the car guy went bonkers. What I saw in my rear-view mirror was the guy pulling up beside the van (doing at least 120), shaking his fist out the window and otherwise gesturing wildly. He stayed with them for at least a minute. It was comical to watch. I found out later that he was demanding the van pull over so he could fight them on the side of the highway.

This kind of puts things into perspective. People who get really mad just look funny. So if you're thinking about getting mad and doing irrational things, try and think of that first. It's better to look cool and detatched, no matter how beside yourself you are. It's kind of like people who walk too fast all the time. People look cooler when they walk slowly.

Testosterone... it can be such a source of embarrassment.

Kings And Queen Of Kensington

When I left the cafe, we still did not have a definite place to play in Toronto. I found my bandmates in varying states of stress, myself included. We needed something to go right, in a hurry.

Through a series of expensive long distance phone calls and various interneting, it was determined that we would play Planet Kensington. I'd heard this bar was small - really small. This was accurate. It's a tiny punk rock bar in the Kensington Market area.

The bands on the bill at the other venue could not do this show (though some of them came out to support us, which was most excellent), so we were on our own. A few more phone calls were made, and a decent crowd (20ish - a lot in this place) turned up.

GS played first, and it was one of our best sets of the tour. All three of us were happy and felt good. We customarily do a twelve song set back home, but we've been keeping it to ten over the past few shows, with good results. Ube was hopping around like crazy and playing with the audience. The bar was fucking hot, so all he wore was sneakers and underwear.

A crazy accident happened during our set. Our cymbal hit the deck and sliced the cord for our effects pedal in half. We will now play with chorus effect FOREVER.

BB played next and fought through technical troubles the render a solid set. We had one improv part due to a broken string. I'd left my (new) mask back at the house in North York, so I just wrapped a shirt around my head. I was going for a "plaid dreadlocks" effect.

I got to see a couple old Halifax friends I hadn't run into in years. They seemed to have fun. Afterward, Poison, Ube and Tobe went to another show while WE, Eb and I came back to the house to play video games, write blogs, and sleep.

Tomorrow we're off to Ottawa. Russian bar!

A Toronto Aside

"...there's a conflict in every human heart between the rational and the irrational, between good and evil. And good does not always triumph. Sometimes the Dark Side overcomes what Lincoln called 'the better angels of our nature.' Therein, man has got a breaking point. You and I have. Walter Kurtz has reached his. And very obviously, he has gone insane."

- General Corman, Apocalypse Now

Compromise is something critical to any healthy relationship. It is the ability to put aside one's own needs in the name of affection for one's partner, and for the greater good of the relationship. A couple with little in common but a dynamic ability to compromise stands a good chance of staying together. Likewise, a couple that shares many of the same needs and goals will find themselves less in need of compromise in order attain happiness together (my parents are much like this, at least outwardly. They've been together for 41 years). "Love" certainly helps with this.

From my experience, I believe the best relationship is one where compromise is about 50-50 between the two partners. Sometimes, one partner is better at it than the other, and that's ok; 55-45, or even more can work. It depends on the individuals.

Group endeavours are not like relationships. When a group of people is working toward a common goal, this goal has to supersede most personal concerns. For example: a touring band's goal is to make it to each city, play a successful show, get some rest, and move on to the next one. This should be everyone's top priority (and I have no reason to suspect otherwise in the current situation).

Tours are not like relationships. Compromises are many; they are nowhere near 50-50. I think they're closer to 95-5, but anyone who goes on tour is surely expecting this.

To get from one place to another, all parties have to be in the vehicle - there's no other place they can be. Once the group arrives in a strange city and the venue is located, the party has to be careful about what they do next. It's human nature to want to go off and explore, and people in any group are going to have divergent interests. But what are the chances of getting lost in this new place? If even one member of the team does, it's game over, and the entire purpose of the tour is lost. In my experience, people tend to play it safe and not stray too far, even if their outside interests have a strong pull. It's a compromise we choose to make.

There's no debate that the show itself should unite a band. If it doesn't, the event is a failure. But let's say the show kicked ass... then what?

Now it's time to sleep... or maybe party? Most times people seem to choose to sleep, and those who do not are respectful of this. More often than not, kindly billets will house a band for the night. But what if there aren't any? Touring (DIY) bands are typically on a shoestring budget. No one wants to be broke when they arrive home and the rent is due. This calls for the ultimate in cheap accomodations - the parked vehicle. But wait... last night's payout wasn't bad. Maybe we could spring for a cheap motel? Either way, someone is compromising. That motel could be money in your pocket for later. But no one likes sleeping in a small vehicle, do they? With a poor payout, it may be the only option for some of the group. And even if you've saved a lot in advance for the trip, it could be divisive to break away and fend for oneself. That could potentially hurt the performance by creating interpersonal tensions.

Touring bands have to eat, and the more convenient the food, the more you pay. This can really fuck you over in the long run, when you nickel-and-dime yourself to death with convenience food. The solution is to cook your own food whenever possible, and do it as a group. This is cheaper, but requires consensus on what, when and where to eat. Achieving this is not as easy as it sounds. Whether you cook or buy, someone is compromising.

What all of this adds up to is a lot of compromise. Whether we're talking about traveling, eating, sleeping, exploring on foot or what have you, every decision on the road affects more than just the person making it. The more people you bring in, the more pronounced the effect.

My past experiences with relationships have taught me that I am not an uncompromising person. But as my last one proved, when personal differences raise the balance way past 50-50, it will wear you down - and I'm sure she'd say the same. It wore both of us out trying to be ourselves and still be partners, and that's because our personalities were not an optimal match to begin with.

There were signs of it before, but today (in full sobriety) I confirmed that a few hours of uncompromising me-time were now mandatory. I based this conclusion on the impossibility of having the time/equipment to communicate with people outside the group, and the fact that just before coming here I sat in a room by myself for half an hour staring at the wall, and actually enjoyed it - a lot. I needed to get in a place where no one needs me to go to the car, hang up the phone, get off the computer, go eat, go sleep, go anywhere or do anything. No offence to y'all. I bet everyone else is thinking the same thing.

Thus, here I am in a little public internet facility in North York. I'm not a loner, and I can play nice with the other kids... but not all day, every day, for weeks.

Our Toronto show got cancelled, and attempts are being made to rustle up a new one. Then it's Ottawa, Montreal, Fredericton, and home again.

Cleveland (Didn't Rock)

Errands needed to be done before we could leave Chi-town... but didn't we get ensnarled in a streetfull of pre-Pride Parade happenings. I felt bad, because our car was totally in the way. The Parade hadn't actually started, it was just getting set up. What a huge, lively event it was going to be. Good for Chicago!

We drove a long way to get to Cleveland, and were going to check out our final show in the USA. We got to the venue, and it was nice. Some cool people there took us into their homes so we could check our e-mail. We got a chance to rest in a nice, air-conditioned room. Sounds great!

Until we found out at the last minute we would be seeing a local band with a completely ridiculous, offensive name. Think of a very infamous racist term starting with a mid-alphabet letter. Now make it plural and add a "The".

We had no idea about this until quite a while after we arrived at the venue. What was up with this? Were these white guys? (yes; a white guy) Is he racist? (no; he's just trying to "deconstruct" and "reclaim" the word).

I have limited computer time, so I won't get into a big rant about this; we discussed it at great length. You can't reclaim what can't be used against you. I'm all for open discourse about this word, but naming a "50s rockability" band after it is just absurd. We arrived at the consensus that we would not stay for this show. We apologized to the (very nice) bar staff, who knew as little about this as we did, then we got the fuck out of Dodge.

Now we're back in Canada.

Chicago, IL

Drove there from B'ton with just Ube in the car with me. Quarantine in effect. I hadn't gone to breakfast with the group either. This was for the best. I didn't really feel like talking much, and I didn't want to darken the general mood further.

We entered Chicago and found the venue with little trouble. Chicago is big. The approaches weren't as fast'n'scary as I'd thought. Like many cool venues, this one was in a poor part of town. If there's one thing this trip has done it's raise the bar for what I've seen and where I feel comfortable going.

The venue was a small art gallery. It was the coolest place I've seen a show so far on this trip. We ran a few errands before things got started and I listened to a baseball game on the radio. It was hot out.

The show was awesome, rivaling Providence. There were fewer people there, maybe 25. It was a colourful group, to say the very least... and that's nothing but good. A noise band opened up... they weren't unlike Torso, except there were something like four of them. An out-of-town band went on next. They played on a smaller stage (actually, the floor), since they didn't have a lot of equipment. This band played well. I was actually pretty inspired watching them, it made me feel a bit better.

Third up was a post-punk-jazz group who completely threw down. I got a shirt. Then another touring band went on. All manners of (edit: a diverse group of eclectic individuals who you might meet in urban America) began to dance with abandon. A drag queen licked the drummer. I think the band fed off the chaos... it was a small but very wild party.

When I saw the two members of the last band, I knew I was in for something interesting. They looked... I want to say something affectionate about their trashy appearance but everything I think of looks insulting in print. Think John Waters' crew. They had kind of a drug-addled take LCELP's style. Very dirty, raunchy lyrics. They didn't even have a keyboard, just taped stuff in the background. Lyrics were read from papers on a music stand. The non-singing band member played hand-held percussive instruments out-of-time. They looked and sounded really out of it. I loved every second. The sheer horribleness of it was so endearing. Music that just crawled out of a garbage heap. Pure gold... why didn't I buy their fucking tape???

That night we crashed above the venue where the promoters lived. A swell couple to join the ranks of the many who've been so good to us during this journey.

It was a long haul to Cleveland the next day, so we had to get up early. If only we knew how much would happen in that one day...

Bloomington Pt II

There was a party at the place we stayed last night. It was pretty fun, but I drank too much. Let's just say I didn't do much to elevate trip morale. I anticipate a whole lot of people not talking to me today. I had a temper tantrum during one of the bands and actually stormed out during their set. Pretty childish behaviour, not typical of me even when I'm drunk.

Drinking on its own is neither good nor bad. You bring to it what you already have inside. I can tell you truthfully, everything that made me freak out last night is directly related to this vacation. I've suppressed more shit than I realized. It's a losing battle, because all of the complaints I have are things that are part and parcel of the journey, things that can't be changed. I'm constantly grumbling to myself about how people around me should suck it up and just absorb all little adversities that come our way, but I'm really no better. I'm just able to keep it inside - but only if I stay sober.

Therefore, I will not drink any more alcohol until I get home.

Let's see if Chicago is more fun.

Bloomington Pt I

Shit can get out of control in a hurry.

Hey Suburbia

Chi-town was a little intimidating, so we did not dive in there right away. Instead, we pulled up in the suburb of Mokena. Our research had told us of a show there, so we went to check it out.

The venue was in a strip mall in an industrial park, next to a limo garage. It reminded me an awful lot of the Pav. I wasn't all that comfortable there... it seemed more like a spot for suburban kids to watch each other's bands than a full-on meeting place for punk rock ideas. That's not a bad thing; venues like this need to exist too, but there was quite a cultural gap for me. I only stayed for the opening bands (who split a 30 minute set) and the second band, so I don't have a lot to report. It seemed like almost everyone there knew each other except the bands from out of town.

We didn't want the evening to be a total waste, so we hit up a fast food joint I've never seen back home. It's the one with the rep for being a stoner hangout... you know, frome the title of that movie. Big mistake. The horribleness of this restaurant cannot be understated. The slogans on display inside contained subtle double-entendres relating to the place's *ahem* "munchie" reputation, which kind of made for an entertaining evening. The sheer badness of it all.

Without a local contact, we headed for nearby Bloomington, where we actually know some folks. We got there too late to meet up with them, so we slept in the car... only for the second time, though. Let's hope it's the last. Poison made us an awesome breakfast this morning, which made up for a crappy night's sleep. After that we met up with our B'ton friends, who are generously entertaining us right now.

Cincy

On Wednesday we emerged from Pennsylvania and entered Ohio. The eastern part of the state is pretty hilly like Penn, but quickly turned to farmland. A gigantic billboard at the side of the road informed us that "HELL IS REAL". We were listening to either Venom or Slayer at the time. Perfect.

When we got to Cincy, we decided to take in another show at a downtown venue. The city reminded me of a less bright-and-shiny Ottawa. The venue itself reminded me of a certain defuct club in H_x on G_n Street that used to have big shows, but just a bit smaller. It seemed to be a place that big-name punk bands often played. There were couches and big screen TVs - playing the movie Scarface!

It had been a tense day as we had had some concerns about cooking versus buying food. Although the venue was not the sort of place any of us would typically hang out, it put us at ease somehow.

The opening act was a local punk band playing their third show. They had a sax player and no bass... cool! Pretty good vicious teen punk was played. The second band played sort of weird hardcore. One guy had a mask, which was ridiculous because it got pretty hot in there. They sounded good. I think they wanted to turn up more, but the sound guy disagreed. Next up was a pretty ok ska band. Finally, the last band played a rockin' set of garage punk despite seeming physically small on the enormous stage. A lot of people had left though. Just one of those nights, I guess. I went up and talked to them, and they didn't seem bummed.

We made friends with the kids from the opening band and they offered to billet us at their home in northern KY. Another state met and greeted... and in the South, no less! OK, the northernmost South.

Had to get to Chi-town the next day, so we got up early.

The State Of Pennsylvania

Upon leaving Philly, we hit the road for Cincinnati. We haven't made it there yet; we're indulging ourselves in the first motel stay of our trip (now on its tenth day). We're in western Penn, near the Ohio border.

Based on the crowd in Philly (who were nice, for the most part), I got the first hints that we may be headed for what I will call Redneck USA. I won't elaborate, just trust me. We've left the eastern seaboard and are penetrating the Midwest.

Footnote: yes, we spent two days in rural Maine. Although that state seems to have a lot of Santa Claus-looking mountain men, I never felt like there were many mean rednecks around. Now, something tells me we've crossed a threshold into redneckdom. Too bad we're not visiting the South.

All that said, rural Penn looks spectacular, even from the turnpike. We tunneled under no less than FOUR mountains! It's great. We listened to an album by W Virginia (next state south) native Hasil Adkins. It's never sounded sweeter or more appropriate.

(Wes) Philly

We arrived mid-afternoon at our billet's house in Philadelphia. From the moment we entered the city, we knew we were entering a much more blue collar environment than what we've seen on tour so far (no mean feat).

The place we stayed was in West Philadelphia. Although I eventually felt comfortable there, it didn't start off that way. My middle class naivete had met its match. I didn't feel too comfortable walking around, but by the end of our stay I probably wouldn't have minded. Ube and I had a very interesting discussion about socio-economics.

We stayed at a party house that regularly holds punk rock shows in their carpeted basement. As people began to show up, the whole scene got more and more surreal. I think seven or so bands played, for some 20 to 30-odd people. A Christian Rock band opened. I only found out afterwards that they were of a religious persuasion, but I remember watching them and thinking "Flanders kids". I guess I was right.

A 3-piece touring band went on next. They were pretty good, but started with a little more energy than they finished with. I don't know if people knew what to make of them. The guitarist inadvertently whacked the singer in the face with his guitar. There were all sorts of other body checks and physical shenanigans. A decent set. An excellent hardcore band from California went next. I volunteered to watch a band's merch (upstairs) during the last part of their set, but I kept the door open so I could listen. Meanwhile, I watched the merch, and Edmonton losing game seven. Bah.

Another touring band went on next, and seemed to make some people happy. I thought they played pretty well. A bunch of other bands played afterward, and all sounded great.

A side note: at one point I went out to the balcony to look for one of my friends, and I was met with quite a shock. A hippie jug band had infiltrated the back deck. They began rocking out a hillbilly country tune on their homemade instruments the second I opened the door. That freaked me out. They later did another set in the kitchen. Unfortunately, they turned out to be less socially graceful than they were musically gifted. It made for a tense evening, actually. It harshed my mellow a lot, and I voted for a quick exit in the morning, which is exactly what happened.

New York: The Reckoning

After a sweltering day in Brooklyn, we headed off to Manhattan to take in one last show before moving on. It was in a small club on the Lower East Side. The bill consisted of a local band (that awesome one that played Providence), a RI-based band and two other touring bands.

The turnout was not great; maybe 10-15 people besides the bands. The entire evening was fraught with technical difficulties... mics cutting out, patchcords not working, things like that. I got the sense that the bands were not entirely pleased with the show. It must be tough to feed off an audience when there isn't one. One band in particular tried so hard... but in this huge city with so much going on, it must be hard to get a crowd, period, let alone get them riled up. If I were in one of those bands, I think I'd just be happy I played in New York and move on.

We crashed with a different friend this time... I felt bad because we showed up at his house at 3am, when he had to work the next morning. Our heartfelt thanks go out to this kind samaritan.

The next morning we had to hit the road early.

New York

Leaving Providence, we travelled south to New York. There were numerous stoppages on the interstate and we took a wrong turn. Turns out, the wrong turn is just what we needed, and we arrived at our hosts' home with relative ease. This is, after all, an enormous city. I had to lead the second vehicle through some tenuous traffic situations, and W performed admirably behind the wheel in some really touch-and-go spots. We couldn't afford to get separated here.

I have to take my hat off to our most generous hosts here in Williamsburg. They have no less than 8 house guests right now, and the apartment is by no means huge. I want to thank everyone here for putting us up/putting up with us.

Last night we had a few drinks and went off in search of a party which proved elusive at first, and no fun in the end. A group of at least 15 of us went on this mission at, like, 2am. Not late for here at all. Our walk took us through areas with a lot of closed up businesses with heavily-tagged garage doors over their storefronts. I would not have felt especially comfortable had it not been for the size of the group. But having now become a little more familiar with the area we're staying, I don't think it's as sketchy as it looks. The buildings and streets themselves scare me more than the people, for some reason.

This morning we explored W'burg on foot (a small part of it at least). I bought a nice shirt and a cool pair of sneakers. $27 isn't a lot for a pair of sneakers, but it is if they're used. They're pretty nice though. Got some records too.

Tonight Tobe, Ube and I went to see some noise bands on the Lower East Side. It was friggin' awesome. What a vibrant place, and less scary than I'd imagined (at least the part we were in). We took the wrong subway home, thanks to me. This was at 1:30am... which you'd think would be a bad scene but it wasn't. If you'd told me a year ago I'd be standing in the wrong subway station in Brooklyn at 1:30am I would have shit my pants. But it was a pretty run-of-the-mill event. New York's alright. Period.

Tomorrow I'm going to another show on the Lower East Side. I hear there are a couple of out of town bands on the bill. I bet they're excited to play in Manhattan.

Rhode Island

Our stay at the campground was fun. The inactivity and lack of general sensory input shortened my fuse a little at times, but no harm done. We were there for two full days. We paid for it by splitting wood (not by hand), sanding and painting metal fenceposts, and redecorating the lobby. No money changed hands... all barter system!

On to Providence. We arrived and found the venue. It was in a neighbourhood filled with abandoned factories from the early 20th century. It was very bleak and run down. The adjacent residential areas corresponded to some degree. We ate at a Guatemalan restaurant, then headed to the venue (a large jam space on the third floor of a former factory). Every band that played did a great job. The out of town bands threw everything they had into their sets, and were rewarded with good crowd responses. There were as many as maybe 50-60 people at times. The headliners were from New York. Due to some technical problems they could not start until late and quite a few people had to go. But those who stayed bore witness to a spectacle of epic proportions. There was crowd interaction. All manners of wild dancing occurred. Underwear exited third storey windows. It may have been the best set of punk rock I have ever seen, and I've been going to punk shows since the 80s. It was a show in the most over-the-top sense of the word. I mean, friggin' wow.

At the last minute we found a place to stay, as a very noble Rhode Islander stepped forward to put us up. No paid stays yet. Thank you, America!

To sum up the events of the Rhode Island/New York swing would require epic detail I cannot provide at this time. I think once I get home I'd have to spend a whole day doing so. But I won't.

I'm enjoying a house party in NYC. That's New York City.

Maine II: The Downtime

Heading south, we required a place to sleep on the next leg of the trip. We used the tried-and-true Ash tactic of taking the first campground we could find - and it was just what we needed. Private, oceanfront, rec room facilities, running water, showers, laundry - and to top it all off, we've been given the opportunity to work for our lodging! The travelling pals and I agreed to work for 3 hours each shoveling wood chips onto walking trails in exchange for two nights' accomodation.

Poison cooked us a healthy meal last night using a Coleman stove. There was reverie and shooting of basketballs. I had a hard time sleeping in the car though, but some Gravol helped. I'm in the opening stages of a cold now. I got about 4 decent hours.

It was too rainy in the morning to start our half of the bargain, so I went into town to log this update. It's stopped now, so the jig is up. We're in Searsport. Tomorrow we continue south.

Maine

Took in a show in rural Maine last night; I caught no less than four locals bands and two touring bands. The venue was at an "alternative school"; a tiny high school where, apparently, the students teach themselves. O, America! This is kind of an interesting concept, actually.

The building was located in the woods in a very small town. You'd think the location and oblong day of the week (Monday) would be the kiss of death, but there were actually a good 40-50 kids there at the peak. I was very impressed with 3/4 local bands, and now have recordings of all three. The fourth was a ska-punk band, so the genre alone placed them out of my sphere. The gig reminded me of H_x punk shows of old. Diverse crowd, everyone getting along. People like to dance in circles here. The "circle mosh" can be quite a personally expressive way of dancing.

The touring bands did well; the louder band might have commanded a little more attention than the smaller band (which must have seemed like a bit of an oddity), but both performed well and received compliments at the end.

After the show, my travelling companions and I took in supper at the only place open - a quintessentially American family (chain) restaurant. We ate, we bickered, we laughed.

We pressed on.

Ash's American Vacation

We had a good start to the proceedings. Made it about halfway into the first state, and will continue the journey tomorrow morning. We're going to take a poll to assess the feasibility of visiting GG's grave on the way to Bos/NY. It's out of the way, but there's no better punk rock tourism destination that I can think of. Maybe CBGBs. I guess we could do that too.

All is well, spirits are high. No problems to report, and the weather is very warm.

A Communiqué

I haven't been very good at communicating with a lot of my friends lately. I've had a lot on my mind, but I think as the summer gets rolling things will go back to normal.

You know, sometimes I get the impression that no one has any idea what is going on. It's kind of scary, actually.

Other Old Bands (Most Quotation Marks Ever)

I often refer to "Old Band", but in fact I've been in quite a few "old bands". I started off in a "non-adjective punk" band when I was 18. Next up was Old Band, then a plethora of others (including a "surf" band, three "pop punk" bands and even a "youth crew hardcore" band) - plus numerous others of which I didn't consider myself a full-time member.

Only the one from this group ever comes up in conversation, and probably with good reason. But I'm going to bring up Pop Band Three right now.

Pop Band Three's mandate was to write songs that the three of us found funny and catchy. We wrote songs about being dumb, taking obscure drugs (ludes, bennies, etc... none of which I've ever done. How's that for street cred?), having crushes on punk girls and where to eat in H_____x. I was fascinated by the mental image of a dopey guy in a Ramones shirt eating lots of junk food and having innocent, sexless, unfulfilled crushes. This person I guess was a pretend me circa that time (late 90s). Actually, except for the drugs, that was pretty much reality.

Musically we wanted something tuneful yet very punishing, with no filler whatsoever. Hook, hook, done. I think some people took exception to us, but I can't see why, since we were a joke band. Maybe it's because our songs had all this imagery of people doing very self-destructive things, delivered in a carefree, cheery way. We kind of glorified stuff like sniffing glue, even though none of us did. Of course, sniffing glue can really fuck up a person's brain. Looking back, it might have been irresponsible of me to find that funny, not to mention artistically weak to glamourize self destruction from a safe distance. Or maybe our music just sucked. We sounded like the Ramones or the first Donnas album.

Anyway, I thought about this band today because some lyrics were getting stuck in my head. Here they are:

See Her Tonight
(written by me, 1997. recorded by "Pop Band Three" 1998.)

I'm gonna see her tonight (X3)
I'm gonna see her alright

She was walkin' down Spring Garden Road
And then she made my brain explode
I know it's gonna be alright
I'm gonna see her tonight

Tonight, tonight*

The next day, I saw her at my school
And all the boys thought she was cool
But after school she's not around
She's beating kids up downtown

Leather jacket, freaky hair
She's a weirdo, I don't care
I asked her out, she said 'alright'
I'm gonna see her tonight

Tonight, tonight*

Hangin' outside at the high school dance
Kissin' in front of her locker
She makes me feel like 'DYN-O-MITE'
Just like JJ Walker, baby**

I'm gonna see her...
Tonight ***

* The first 'tonight' is pronounced with 3 syllables, the second with 6.

** A butchered reference to the 70's sitcom "Good Times", in which Jimmie Walker starred as "JJ Evans". His 'dyn-o-mite' was Bart Simpson's 'aye caramba'.

*** The song's final 'tonight' is pronounced with ten (10) syllables, mimicking a 4-part harmony.

Just for clarity's sake: "Pop Band Three" is not the name of the band. I just don't like making my bands searchable.

Your Band's Gig Poster

It's too big and filled with unimportant space. My band's gig poster needs space too.

I'll tell you what. I'll partially cover your poster with mine. I'll leave your most important details uncovered: who's playing, where, when, how much, etc. But that cute little picture of a sailboat gets covered.

Please don't be angry.

It's Better To Be Easily Recognizable Than Good

Bands: refer to title.

Maybe this is not a popular opinion to have, but that's how I feel. To me there's little point in being good at something artistic if a million others are good at the same thing. Better to be bad at something in ways that no one has experienced before. I'm almost as impressed by a shitty, unique-sounding band as I am by a very-talented-but-not-that-original kind of band.

Let's get philosophical for a moment and look at the concepts of "good" and "recognizable". Whether a band is good or not is very subjective, obviously. But what about a band's recognize-ability (is that even a word)?

Say you have a band with a really unique musical approach. Some people love them, some hate them, but they have a fucked-up sound that's easy to pick out. Anyone who's heard them remembers, and clues in quickly to who it is.

Now, what if you hear a band and think "this is pretty good, who is this? Oh, it's them". You like the band, but you need help picking them out from the rock and roll milieu. I might hear that same band, not like them, and also not be able to easily identify them based on what I've heard.

What I like about recognizability over "goodness" is the fact that it has the potential to unite people who both like and dislike the band. I think that sort of thing is part of what makes a band stick out in the annals of time. I've gone on about audience polarization before; that will happen with a band that takes a lot of artistic chances.

I don't know much about art, but to me this is how things move forward.

Social Events For The Anti-Social

Today I attended a conference for work. It reminded me a lot of a family reunion; you know everybody there even though you have little to nothing in common besides one obvious thing. Most people took the opportunity to socialize a lot. I took the opportunity to try and avoid people without seeming rude. It's hard enough exchanging social pleasantries at work (sometimes) for five days out of seven. A sixth, a day when I'd normally be sleeping in until noon, is close to my breaking point.

This is not a criticism of my co-workers (or extended family, if you're into metaphors). It's just that being pleasant and "not too weird" around these groups is least harmful for my career/relationship with my parents, and this requires turning on a special little engine in my brain that uses up a lot of power.

The engine worked well today though, for having been left on 6 days straight. I had a very nice intermission around lunchtime.

Two Sentence Openers That Really Make Me Roll My Eyes

"If you really want your band to go somewhere..."

"I'm not racist, but..."

Do You Even Know What The Word Means?

If so, please tell me what you think it means. I predict your answer will be highly entertaining for me.

Non-Starter

The other day I went to drop off my references to the landlord of the new apartment I'd been considering. I looked around the corner at the doorstep. It's about 12 feet into an alley, and rather concealed from sight, which had never occurred to me before. It's occurred to me now, though, because there on the stoop were two empty malt liquor bottles. No one lives in that apartment right now, so obviously random people go there to drink malt liquor. It's tucked away out of sight, so why not?

Here's the thing: If I move in there, every time I get ready to leave or come home I'm going to anticipate a confrontation with random malt liquor-drinking individuals. I don't need that kind of stress. The apartment is too small anyway.

At first I considered ignoring this discovery and opting for convenience. After all, every apartment I've ever lived in has been the first one I've looked at... actually, there was one exception, but I had help with that one. A dream I had changed my mind. I'm a believer in prophetic dreams as means for making difficult decisions.

In the dream, I am living in the "new" apartment and dog-sitting for Eb while he's out of town. Jav is living at my place, but I don't really know how to take care of her, and she ends up soiling some important papers I had on the floor. I don't get mad though. I figure it serves me right for trying to look after a dog, when I have no idea how.

Now we're back in reality: I wake up and get a coffee on my way to work, with the dream still fresh in my mind. I've picked up a newspaper to read, but carrying those things along with my bike helmet and a bunch of other stuff is not easy. I spill the coffee and soil the newspaper.

Whoooooooaaaaaaaa.

After that happened the doubt lifted from my mind. I'll look for another place.