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Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category

Dave Bidini–Home and Away: One Writer’s Inspiring Experience at the Homeless World Cup (2011)

Posted in Aerosmith, Africa, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Charity, Cheap Trick, Culture Shock, Dave Bidini, Dave Bidini music, Drugs, Homeless World Cup, Rheostatics, Russia, Travel, tagged on November 11, 2015| Leave a Comment »

homeawaySOUNDTRACK: DAVE BIDINI—The Paramount Moncton, NB [audience & soundboard recordings] (July 29, 2007).

monct This final show has two different recordings at the Rheostaticslive site, an audience recording and a soundboard. The soundboard recording is cleaner and I suppose better, but the audience recording is a little more fun because you can hear the audience responding to Bidini’s comments and jokes.

For the reading he asks if people want London or Finland, and so he reads Finland.  He reads the funny story about trying to get a cheap 30 pound flight to anywhere only to get hit with a huge fine for having too much stuff.  The section ends with a funny moment when a Finnish audience member compliments him:  Your voice is excellent!  Dave is excited since that’s not something he hears to often.  The man follows up with: “You pronounce English very well.”

He plays seven songs all on acoustic guitar.  Three of the songs are Rheostatics classics: “Fat,” “Me and Stupid” and “My First Rock Show.” I feel like hearing “Me and Stupid” in this setting really let me get the lyrics better–I never really understood the middle section. All three songs sound good in this format.

The “solo” songs are the same four: “Song Ain’t Good,” “The List” “The Land is Wild” and “The Ballad of Zeke Roberts.”

While talking to the crowd he mentions seeing signs on the road: “Free PEI Spuds for Cheap Trick” and “Red Sox nation welcomes Aerosmith.”  He mentioned them in the previous days’ show as well, but in this show it sounds like someone claims to have written them (or at least seen them) but we never learn what they are all about.

He sounds great and the audience is responsive.  Of the three, I like this show the best.

[READ: November 10, 2015] Home and Away

My triumvirate of Bidini books ended with this one.

I had never heard of the Homeless World Cup (which is kind of the point of the book, that no one has).  But as you can imagine, knowing that that’s what this book is about you can be prepared for a pretty sad book.

Bidini follows a small group (4 players, including one woman) of Canadian homeless soccer players as they travel to Australia to play in the 2008 Homeless World Cup.

We meet the four players on the Canadian team and learn all about how they became homeless (a variety of reasons, but drugs feature prominently).  These people were able to get above their bad situation, most of them through the joy of playing soccer–a cheap game even for the homeless.

The Homeless World Cup gathers homeless players from around the world to play in small venues on a small pitch. (more…)

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Dave Bidini–The Best Game You Can Name (2005)

Posted in Africa, Alun Piggins, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Culture Shock, Dave Bidini, Dave Bidini music, Drinking, History, Hockey, Hockey Night in Canada, Rheostatics, Russia, Sonic Unyon, Teeth, The Wombats, Toronto Maple Leafs, Travel, Violence, Yuck! on November 10, 2015| Leave a Comment »

 ganeSOUNDTRACK: DAVE BIDINI-The President of Mount Allison’s House, Sackville (July 28, 2007).

allisonUntil I looked it up, I didn’t know what Mount Allison was, nor why he would be playing at the President’s house.  I’m still not sure why he was playing there, but as part of his solo mini tour, Dave graced the beautiful house.

For this show he read for 17 minutes and played 5 songs.  He plays “My First Rock Show” as the only Rheos song.  And then plays the same four “new” songs as in yesterday’s post: “Song Ain’t Good,” “The List” “The Land is Wild” and “The Ballad of Zeke Roberts.”

He explains the Zeke Roberts song a bit more.   He spent a few days in Ghana and went to a Liberian refugee camp (all documented in the book Around the World in 57 1/2 Gigs) which is how he learned about Zeke Roberts.

He talks about staying locally in the Marshland Inn and the scary doll in his room (and also how he hopes to have his picture among the famous people who have stayed there).

For the reading portion he talks about the guys he played with in China: Alun Piggins, drummer Jay Santiago and guitarist Dwayne Gale.  He talks about the scene where they get massages (very funny).  There’s another excerpt in which they meet some people on the street where a baby is playing with a lighter.  The band starts taking pictures and then—eventually one of the adults puts an unlit cigarette in the baby’s mouth, and much hilarity ensues.

Overall though, this reading gets pretty dark as he gets into fight with Jay about Rush, and he feels bad that the Rheos had broken up especially when he sees the up and coming band The Wombats loving their set.

As for the music in this set, it is too loud and peaks a lot in the recording.  There also seems to be a hornet pestering him.  It’s probably the least interesting of the three shows.

[READ: November 7, 2015] The Best Game You Can Name.

This book is about hockey.  Specifically it is about Bidini’s rec team the Morningstars and their quest for another championship (and how after winning two years in a row, they were the main target for all the other teams).  Much like how his book On a Cold Road included quotes and stories from musicians, this book includes quotes and stories from former NHL players (I didn’t really recognize any of their names, but then I wasn’t a hockey fan in the 70s and 80s).

So each chapter talks a bit about his team and then has several stories about a specific topic from the hockey guys.

He begins by talking about his athletic renaissance in his 40s (after having given up on professional hockey).  I enjoyed the stories from the hockey players who loved playing so much as kids that they would spend hours and hours and hours on the ice.  I also liked them saying that you could still become a pro if you only started playing at 15 unlike today when kids are starting at age 5. (more…)

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Dave Bidini–Around the World in 57 1/2 Gigs (2013)

Posted in Airbag, Ben Folds Five, Bob Log III, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Celtic Blue, Chris Brown, Cleaning Women, Culture Shock, Dave Bidini, Dirt Star, Everclear, Forever, History, Hockey, Hockey Night in Canada, Ice Fire and Rain, Jane Siberry, Jordan Cook, Kate Fenner, Kingston Wall, Morganfields, Radiohead, Regrets, Rheostatics, Rush, Russia, Shuffle Demons, Sirkus Kosmonautti, Sons of Maxwell, Sophie B. Hawkins, Stompin' Tom Connors, Stradio, Super Girls, The Diodes, The Quitters, Tim Horton's, Travel, Wendel Clark, tagged on November 9, 2015| Leave a Comment »

S57OUNDTRACK: DAVE BIDINI-The Upstairs, Sydney, Nova Scotia (July 26, 2007).

sydneyAfter the Rheostatics broke up, Dave Bidini did a solo tour and then wrote a book about it.  This is that book.  And this show is from the mini-tour he did as promotion for the book.  I don’t know too many details about this tour.

I wrote notes about these shows before I read the book (which I recently found and tread).  But I’m going to leave in some of the notes I took about the audio portion for posterity.

I gather he was in town to promote his book and was invited to do a few shows as well.  So these three shows from the Rheostaticslive site include a short reading from the book and then many songs.  This show has two readings and 8 songs (and runs over an hour).

He opens with a description of the book and the tour of china with a band they called the Rheos Not Rheos.  They were asked over and over to play The Beatles.  They played at the Sculpting in Time café.  Dave hung out with the Chinese singers Dirt Star and Airbag (who were also in a cover band that played Radiohead).

For the music, it is just Dave an his acoustic guitar (and a tuner). He plays three Rheos songs “My First Rock Show,” “Me and Stupid” and “Horses” (to much applause).

He plays four new, solo songs “Song Ain’t Good,” “The List” “The Land is Wild” and “The Ballad of Zeke Roberts.”  All of these would appear on the debut Bidiniband album which would come out in 2009.

“The List” is a diatribe against Canada: Tim Horton’s, Stephen Harper,  Zack Werner, and Chad Kroeger.  He says that it was inspired by taking a close look Tim Horton’s bacon and wondering just what it was.  And the mention of Chad Krueger gets a big reaction from the crowd.  The Zeke Roberts song is about a Liberian singer who was killed.  “The Land is Wild” is about Bryan Fogarty, a hockey played who died (it’s not the most upbeat concert I’ve heard).

There’s an extra song “Moncton Hellraisers” (you can watch a video of this one).

He ends the show with second reading and there’s a drunk guy who keeps shouting and interrupting.  I feel bad for Dave, but he handles it well—different than a rock show obviously.  This section involves meeting a TV show producer (of a show called Super Girls) and the Chinese version of the Spice Girls (who sing for them).  He also mentions going to an all night record shop and finding a copy of the Toronto band The Diodes.  He plays their song “Tired of Waking up Tired” for the employees.

If nothing else, this book will introduce you to a lot of little-known bands.

It’s interesting to hear him in such a casual setting.  He sounds good and the audience is really responsive.

[READ: November 5, 2015] Around the World in 57 1/2 Gigs

This book chronicles Dave Bidini’s solo tour after the Rheostatics broke up.  He explains that it was Tim Vesely who wanted to break up the band (no doubt inspired somewhat by Dave and Martin’s harsh critiquing of the songs Tim wanted to submit to their final album 2067).  Nevertheless, Dave was devastated and angry and unsure what to do, especially since they were planning to gig China for the first time.  So he decided to do it himself.  A world tour unlike any other.

disc_baladesqueHe scheduled a few gigs in Finland.  And he decided to invite his friend Alun Piggins along.  Piggins has been in a number of bands and has released several solo albums.  He seems notable for being a little crazy (with wild hair).  And I automatically respect him for making this album cover.  When Dave asked Alun what to do about being a solo artist (Dave hadn’t really played solo before).  Alun gave him some comforting advice and then said that with his band The Quitters, they would play “our loudest song then tell the crowd, “‘Thank you and fuck off.'”

The two would play separate shows on a double bill and occasionally duet on Rheos songs. They decided to tour Finland.  They flew into London and were only staying for 24 hours.  He wanted to try to get a gig before they left for Finland.  They scored one at the last minute in the Maple Leaf Tavern (which had never staged a live show before) and was themed in Canadian kitsch.  He talks about one man bands like Bob Log III “probably the superstar of all one man bands” (his song “Boob Scotch” is surprisingly straightforward).  He says he spent most of his 35 minute set worrying an doesn’t recall too much about it.

Then they set out for Finland.  First stop Hämeenlinna ( enjoyed typing out all these Finnish towns). (more…)

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Sandi Toksvig–Peas & Queues: The Minefield of Modern Manners (2013)

Posted in Etiquette, Food, Funny (ha ha), Kissing, Sandi Toksvig, Tiny Desk Concert, Travel, Villagers on September 5, 2015| Leave a Comment »

peasSOUNDTRACK: VILLAGERS-Tiny Desk Concert #69 (July 19, 2010).

villagersVillagers is the work of Conor O’Brien. On their debut album he played all the instruments and created the cover art.  Live, he has a full band, but in this Tiny Desk show it’s just him and his guitar.

He looks incredibly young (that haircut), but when he sings, he sounds sophisticated and mature.  And his guitar playing is equally sophisticated (with some really interesting chords on the high notes of his strings).

His playing is crisp and clean and his voice is really lovely.  He doesn’t do anything fancy, he just sings and plays, but he has a lot of power and honesty in what he does.

And lyrically, he is quite clever.  He surpasses many singer-songwriters.

His three songs “Ship of Promises,” “Becoming a Jackal” and “Twenty Seven Strangers” are all on his debut album Becoming a Jackal.  He hits an amazing series of high notes in “Ship of Promises,” and the way the song takes some unexpected (albeit brief) pauses is quite dramatic.

I like the way he slowly and confidently states the title “Becoming a Jackal.”  This song is a bt faster and more dramatic, especially the quiet ending.

“Twenty Seven Strangers” is a story song about taking the bus.  It is an unexpected perspective and quite an interesting look at a mundane event.

[READ: August 2, 2015] Peas & Queues

I was disappointed with the previous etiquette book, which was supposed to be funny and I think wasn’t all that serious.  But this one, which is indeed serious, was also really funny, and was a real delight to read.

According to her bio on the book, Sandi Toksvig is “a well-known broadcaster for both television and radio.”  But I’d never heard of her.  It seems that she is big in Britain, but I believe is unknown here.  Nevertheless she has written over twenty books, including fiction, non-fiction and children’s.  So maybe I’m just out of touch.

Anyhow, I grabbed this book because it sounded interesting (and I liked the jokey spelling of the title).

Toksvig explains in her introduction that in 1520 when Erasmus wrote his book on manners it was dedicated to an 11 year old boy (a son of a prince).  This book is dedicated to “a delightful child in my life” called Mary who is currently 8.  But it is not a book for children, it is meant for Mary as she grows up.  And you can tell right from the start that Sandi is pretty funny as she says “I hope it will prove useful to anyone not planning to live as a hermit.  [Unlike Erasmus] I have made it easier for her (and you) by not using Latin (very much).”

And then Toksvig explores good manners from birth through death.  She even starts with “Why do we need good manners” (a question my kids currently ask).  The first thing to say is that basic manners apply no matter where you are or what you are doing.  They are even a good idea when no one is watching.  Having a code of behaviour will help you know how to react to the unexpected.

But it’s also important to know that rules about manners are not laws or rules, they are suggestions–propositions for behaviour to help grease the wheel of the great social machine. (more…)

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Justin Taylor–“So You’re Just What, Gone?” (New Yorker, May 18, 2015)

Posted in Art Gallery of Ontario, Canadian Music, John Cage, Justin Taylor, New Yorker, Rheostatics, Rush, Sex, Sexting, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, Short Story, The Headpins, Travel, Yuck!, tagged on August 12, 2015| Leave a Comment »

ny15SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Halifax, NS (August 27, 2004).

haliRheostatics are reuniting for 3 shows at the Art Gallery of Ontario in a few weeks.  And I am going to see them!

So it’s time to listen to a few shows from eleven years ago.  This show doesn’t even mention a club, but that’s ok.  It’s a fun gig in Nova Scotia.  The quality of the recording is not great–it was recorded in the audience and you can hear a lot of audience chatter (and consequently the band is not as clear as could be).

Their final album 2067 is out in just a few months from this show, and they play a few songs from it: “Marginalized” and “The Tarleks.”  Later, Martin describes “Aliens” as “The Tarleks Part 1.” They also play “I Dig Music” a fun jazzy number.  There’s a drum break in the middle and drummer MPW says that he was trying to play the intro from Rush’s “Lakeside Park.”

There’s a wild middle section in “Satan is the Whistler.”

This show has lots of banter, and there’s a discussion about an audience member mocking The Headpins.  And later when a fan says his friend was kicked out, Dave gets mad at the bouncers and seems genuinely concerned for the friend and offers to go get him.

After they play “My First Rock Show” they ask MPW about his first rock show.  The discussion devolves into a discussion of John Cage’s smell (Old man vegan smell).

For “Take Me in Your hand” a fellow named Reid does guest vocals.

During the encore they play a version of happy birthday to someone whose birthday it is which is followed by a scorching version of “Rock Death America.”

As the encore winds down Dave says “dim the lights, chill the ham,” which I assume is a nod to fellow Canadians Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet and their 1991 album. Martin (I assume) also starts playing around with a voice modulator as the song ends.

If the audio was better this would be an amazing show.

[READ: July 20, 2015] “So You’re Just What, Gone?”

I’ve enjoyed most of Taylor’s stories, even though his protagonists tend to be unpleasant.  But this story felt entirely too insubstantial for me to get beyond the grossness of it.

Charity is a high school student.  She is flying with her mother to visit her grandmother.  She doesn’t want to go and doesn’t want to be with her mom.  She’s pleased when she and her mom are separated on the plane (five plus hours of freedom!).

She winds up sitting next to a guy who tries to be chatty with her.  She wants none of it, but when she wakes up mid-flight to find that she has been sleeping on the guy’s shoulder, she feels a little bad and actually talks to him.  When Mark asks her if she gets bored and then says she is pretty, you know things are creepy.

When Mark he grabs her inner thigh and squeezes it and then gives her his business card, well, you just know the guy is a shit. (more…)

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Lucy Knisley–French Milk (2007)

Posted in Anna & Elizabeth, Culture Shock, Food, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Lucy Knisley, Memoirs, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Tiny Desk Concert, Travel on July 23, 2015| Leave a Comment »

milkSOUNDTRACK: ANNA & ELIZABETH–Tiny Desk Concert #447 (June 8, 2015). 

annaelizAnna Roberts-Gevalt and Elizabeth LaPrelle are from different parts of the country but share a love of old stories and songs.  This Tiny Desk features three songs and one story (with visuals), and it’s quite different from pretty much anything I’ve ever seen.

“Long Time Traveling” is an a capella song that has a very olde sound of what I can only call “mountain music.”  The women have lovely harmonies reminiscent of O Brother, Where Art Thou?

And just when you think you’ve got these two figured out, they do “Lella Todd Crankie.”  This is a spoken word piece.  Anna (the taller one) explains that they would go into archives and listen to blank CDs of people telling stories from the old days.  And this is one that they memorized.  But just telling the story isn’t enough.  They have resurrected the “crankie” which is like a mural on a spool.  Each one is drawn and crafted to be hand-cranked and unfurled at the pace of a song.  This visual accompaniment (hand cranked by Elizabeth) follows the story as it is told, with visuals that relate perfectly to the story (I’m not sure who created those either).  Part of this story tells of how Miss Lella played fiddle, and as they get to that part, Anna starts playing the fiddle, and it is magical.

“Goin Cross The Mountain” is a war-based song on banjo and guitar with, again, great harmonies.  “Little Black Train” is a judgment day dark song sung with great harmonies and Anna’s twangy guitar.

I don’t think I could do a whole concert with them, but this little fifteen minute show is mesmerizing.

[READ: May 25, 2015] French Milk

I had gotten this book out at the same time of Age of License.  But since that one couldn’t be renewed (someone else wanted it) I read that first.  So, out of sequence, I now read this, her first book.  I’m kind of glad I did read it out of sequence, because the events of Age of License shed some light on this book, which is pretty neat.

This book looks at the trip that Knisley and her mom took to France back in 2007.  They lived in a rental apartment for New Years and much of January.  The book sets the standard for her other books–lots of (really good but simple drawings–the sample faces on page 78 are really amazing–and belie the simplicity of her other “simpler” drawings ), many photos–rather blurry frankly, which is weird (see page 8 for an example), although the non blurry one of her mom in front of a nudie magazine is very funny.

We see some of her life before the trip.  We meet John, the awesome boyfriend (spoiler: she has broken up with him by Age of License).  She describes the airport, airplane (complete with kicking child) and arrival.  (The descriptions in License are more enjoyable–she had become a better writer by then).

Knisley is a foodie.  She talks a lot about the food they eat, including a bunch of foie gras and baguettes, sausages and the delicious French Milk (which she says is the best milk she’s ever had).

I enjoyed her descriptions of her apartment (and the creepy half-cat head on the door).  The strange standing screen which blocks nothing and has hunting fabric.

There’s also talk of them not paying attention to the world around them (like the execution of Saddam Hussein–although honestly if you’re on vacation for a month in France I think its okay to be oblivious although by 2015, it would be virtually impossible to be so oblivious).

They spend a lot of time in art museums, and she says by the end that she is basically sick on naked women, even if her favorite painting is “L’Origine du Monde.”  And I loved her disappointment to find out that famous Moulin Rouge is “a papier-mache windmill on the roof of a strip joint”

But as the book hits its final third, Knisley gets really bummed out.  She starts thinking about failure and that fact that she is turning (gasp) twenty-two.  And that’s when I wanted to throw the book against the wall.  A 22 year-old being whisked around Paris has no right to complain about financial responsibility–nor even does her mother have a right to talk to her about it on the trip.  The quote on page 125: “Even though I’m in my 20s, because I’m an only child, sometimes I feel a little like a spoiled brat…”  Well, it has nothing to do with being an only child if you can spend a month in France.  And when she says that her pie chart of her time management is spent 50% worrying 30% eating and 20% thinking about sex?  No, I will not accept that.  Go out and enjoy Paris for Christ’s sake.

I think its’ nice that her divorced parents are still friends and that he came to visit in France (how can a former English professor afford that?).

And then after a few more meals they are wending their way back home.  The flight back is hilarious and I love that they punished the person who complained about their DVD player by talking really loudly instead.

I can’t help but feel that each book has gotten progressively better.  And while I didn’t enjoy this one as much, I feel like each book has gotten better.  But how much more can she travel?

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Lucy Knisley–Displacement: A Travelogue (2015)

Posted in Adventure, Cruise, Culture Shock, Food, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Lucy Knisley, Memoirs, The Prettiots, Tiny Desk Concert, Travel, War on July 20, 2015| Leave a Comment »

dispSOUNDTRACK: THE PRETTIOTS–Tiny Desk Concert #448 (June 15, 2015).

prettiotI hadn’t heard of the Prettiots before this set, but I loved them right from the bat.  The band plays super catchy, simple (funny) pop songs.  Kay Kasparhauser plays ukulele and lead vocals and bassist Lulu Prat sings great harmonies.  Kasparhauser is quite mobile, singing and bouncing around.  While Prat almost stares down the camera.  Meanwhile,  drummer Rachel Trachtenburg from the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players sits mostly stone faced as she thumps along on the drum.

Their songs are rather funny (even when they aren’t).  The first song “Boys (I Dated In High School)” names the boys she dated, whether they were good at sex and why she dumped them.  All with a call and response in the verses that’s fantastic.

“Stabler” is an ode to the guy From Law and Order, which I don’t watch, but I can still appreciate it.  It ups the musicianship a bit from the much simpler first song.

“Suicide Hotline” is a humorous look at a dark subject: The lyrics name check lots of famous suicides and starts with the lyric “On a scale of 1 to Plath I’m like a 4.”  Prat switches to guitar for this last song and it boosts the sound a bit.

I actually don’t know what the band really sounds like–I sort of picture them being bigger and more punk, and yet their lyrics work perfectly in this more acoustic style.  (They have two songs on Spotify and they are still quite acoustic in their sound).  I’m looking forward to hearing more from them.

[READ: July 15, 2015] Displacement

I enjoyed An Age of License, even if I didn’t always love Knisley’s attitude.  This book, which is sort of a companion to License (although not really, it’s more like another travelogue released around the same time as the first one), was something I wanted to read.

In a nutshell this book is another travelogue, but it is not anything like the previous one.  In this one, Lucy volunteers to go on a cruise with her 90 year old grandparents.  The grands wanted to go on the trip, but no one in the family felt that they should go alone.  Lucy thought it would be a good way to spend time with her grands and also to get a chance to enjoy a cruise (which she would never be able to afford).

Knisley ends each “chapter/day” of the cruise with a quote (and her own illustration) from a book that her grandfather wrote about being in the war.  A decade or so ago he decided to put down all of his memories about his time in the service.  He had them bound and gave a copy to each of his children.  And his stories are exciting and scary and thoughtful.  (I wouldn’t be surprised if Knisley had the whole book published with her illustrations–I’d certainly read it).  So, after a trying day with the grands, we get a perspective of the man she was looking after as a young man in a really serious situation. (more…)

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Lucy Knisley–An Age of License: A Travelogue (2014)

Posted in Adventure, Bjork, Canadian Music, Culture Shock, Ethan Nicolle, Food, Funny (ha ha), Genevieve, Graphic Novel, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Lucy Knisley, Memoirs, Tiny Desk Concert, Tori Amos, Travel on July 19, 2015| Leave a Comment »

ageSOUNDTRACK: GENEVIEVE-Tiny Desk Concert #446 (June 1, 2015).

genevieveI enjoy that the opening of this Tiny Desk Concert shows Genevieve “creating” her backup singers.  So that when she gets to the chorus and taps that loop pedal her harmonies really shine.

Genevieve is a poppy singer with a sometimes raspy but often really clean singing style.  She has a great voice and vibrant personality (and hair color).  Even though she is from Chicago, I hear some tinges of Bjõrk and maybe even Tori Amos in her voice.

Evidently she normally plays with a full band, but for this concert, she is accompanied only by Chris Faller who “plays all of the instruments.”

The first song “Colors” is played only with keyboards (and feels like it could use a little but more music–although her voice is powerful enough and that chorus is super catchy as is).  “The Enemy” is accompanied by an acoustic guitar and is a suitably mellower–a kind of sad ballad–which shows how powerful her voice is even in this more quiet setting (she has a lovely range).

The final song “Authority” feels like it might be a big raver (she adds hand claps that seem like the kind that might get the crowd going, but the claps are quiet and subtle here).  The chorus is big with lots of long-held notes and is super catchy.

Genevieve would probably be too pop for me in general, but the Tiny Desk Concerts tend to remove a lot of gloss and leave the heart of the musician.

[READ: May 15, 2015] An Age of License

I enjoyed Knisley’s Relish, so when I saw this in the library I decided to check it out.

Unlike Relish, which was about food, this book is about her travels outside of the country.  But like Relish, this book is another memoir/journal/autobiography.

Since I have been having a major Norway kick (thanks to Karl Ove Knausgaard and some great sites on Instagram) I was pretty excited to see that her travels began in Norway.  Her itinerary is short but very busy.  Fly into Iceland than immediately to Norway (for the Raptus Comics Fest in Bergen).  Then it’s off to Sweden (to visit a guy she knows in Stockholm).  Then to Berlin to join her friends on their honeymoon (which is not as tacky as it sounds). Then it’s off to France to visit her friend in Beaune, and then to hang out with her mom and her friends on Royan.  Finally a day in Paris before flying back home.  I’m exhausted just writing it all.

Knisley also has the headache of dealing with a breakup (to the nice guy who has been in her previous books) although he is kind enough  to babysit her cat while she is gone.

Every few pages has colored (watercolor I assume) drawings which add a nice touch to the otherwise black and white story.

Starting Sept 8th, she arrives in Norway.  We see the flight and other people on the flight.  We see a nice meal that she eats (Pinnekjott–someday I hope to get to the Scandinavian countries and eat food that I cannot pronounce).  Norway is fun–she goes to the Fest (where she gets to draw with Ethan Nicolle of “Axe Cop” (presumably his five-year old brother stayed home).  She shows students how to draw (her friend is a teacher), although she declines to eat Lutefisk (which she illustrates as Fish + Lye.  Lye??).  She also mentions that she was not only stalked, but that the boys who stalked her then made and published (and had it available at the following year’s Raptus Fest) a comic about stalking her–creepy! (more…)

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V.S. Naipaul–“Argentina: The Brothels Behind the Graveyard” (The New York Review of Books, September 19, 1974)

Posted in Alec Ounsworth, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Dr. Dog, Essays, Flashy Python, Man Man, Roberto Bolaño, Sex, The New York Review of Books, The Walkmen, Tiny Desk Concert, Travel, V.S. Naipaul on May 24, 2015| Leave a Comment »

nyrbSOUNDTRACK: ALEC OUNSWORTH-Tiny Desk Concert #48 (February 22, 2010).

alecI didn’t recognize the name Alec Ounsworth.  But I see that he is the singer from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, a band I don’t know at all.  He has created some other music outside of Clap Your Hands, like the band Flashy Python, which features members of Dr. Dog, The Walkmen and Man Man.  And in the fall of 2009, he released a solo record called Mo’ Beauty.

In this Tiny Desk it is just him and guitarist Matt Sutton.  They play three songs from Mo’ Beauty (on guitar and harmonica): “Modern Girl (…With Scissors),” “Holy, Holy, Holy Moses (Song for New Orleans)” and “When You’ve No Eyes.”

Since I don’t really know CYHSY, I can’t compare this to that band.  The songs are pleasant and a little catchy.  I feel like perhaps the wordplay is what draws you in (he refrains “all this useless beauty” in the first song).  His voice is distinctive and takes a little getting used to, but I warmed up to it by the end of the set.

After the set he says that the other three guys from the touring band were waiting in the van.  As the show fades you hear Bob Boilen mutter, “it was okay to invite them up.”

[READ: May 11, 2015] “Argentina: The Brothels Behind the Graveyard” 

Roberto Bolaño talked about this article in The Secret of Evil.  I was curious to read it and was happy to find it quite easily and for free online from The New York Review of Books.

I don’t really know Naipaul at all, although Bolaño spoke very highly of him.

This article looks at Argentina.  I don’t know how much time he spent there, but it sounds like NYRoB sent him there to write and essay or two..

He begins by talking about the death of Perón (in July of 1974).  Perón was in the ninth month of his third presidency and his legend had lasted for thirty years.  He was overthrown in 1955 and was exiled for seventeen years.  He had a triumphant return the previous year and a resounding failure shortly after. (more…)

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William T. Vollmann–“Invisible and Insidious: Living at the edge of Fukushima’s nuclear disaster” (Harper’s, March 2015) and “Into the Forbidden Zone” (Harper’s, May 2011)

Posted in Canadian Music, Essays, Harper's, Japan, Law, Radiation, Reverend Ken and the Lost Followers, Rheostatics, Threats, Travel, William T. Vollmann, tagged on March 9, 2015| Leave a Comment »

harp marchSOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Vertigo, Victoria British Columbia, (January 22, 2000).

vertigoOne of the things that I like about listening to Rheostatics live shows is that when they play a couple nights in a row, they play such different sets both nights.  In the two nights at Vertigo, they played 44 songs and only 5 of them were duplicated (all from the newest album and a song that was on the live album).  That is a fan pleasing band.

It’s hard to even say which night is better.  Night 2 had more deep cuts and yet, they’re not exactly rare tracks for them to play either.

Lucky’s notes for this one say that the band were given cell phone type gadgets and that Martin played with his throughout the show.  You can hear that as the set opens and Martin is goofing off with his.

Overall for these shows I found that the band was playing a lot of songs in a bit more mellow vibe.  It’s not the way I like to hear them, but I wonder what it was like live.  However, “King of the Past” one of my favorite songs was played too slow on this night, as was “Christopher.” And “Northern Wish” sounded quite different–it had an almost meandering quality to it. Even “Stolen Car” has a slow moody quality (which Martin agrees with).

But the band is clearly having fun.  On “Four Little Songs there’s a crazy drum solo.  And as it ends and “The Royal Albert” starts, there’s some odd guitar sounds which Martin describes as change falling in an elevator.

The stage banter is certainly fun tonight, especially the talk about Sean Brodie and ordering a pizza (which was terrible).

The final song is a great version of “Aliens.”   But before that they play a cover of Reverend Ken and the Lost Followers’ “The Midnight Ride of Red Dog Ray ” which is all about a guy who drove to Quebec when there was a beer strike in Toronto.

Here’s the original

Although I love the song choices in this set, I feel like its slowness makes me prefer the previous night’s set a little more.

[READ: March 2, 2015] “Invisible and Insidious”

Vollmann is one of the more prolific writers I know (or at least his one collection of works is over 3,000 pages).  I sort of have designs on reading his output but there’s so many other authors I like and Vollmann has so much out there that I think my best bet is to keep up with his writing when I see it and just let it go at that.

So he occasionally writes non-fiction for Harper’s.  And they are usually pretty dark and unhappy pieces about the state of the world–Vollmann is not afraid to go to dark places.  In this article he talks about living in Japan and he reminds us that not that long ago (March 2011) there was a tsunami and a huge nuclear meltdown in that country.  And how most likely we all assume it must have been fixed, since we don’t hear about it anymore.

I don’t wish to overwhelm with details–that’s Vollmann’s job.  But he does a few interesting things in Japan.  He explores locations that are off-limits (or at least in the evacuation zone) and he talks to people who live and work in these areas.  He also (of course) has a dosimeter (which I assume must be pretty common in a radiated site).

The nuclear utility that monitors the plant, TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) has issued various information over the years, although none of it seems verifiable.  In August 2013, The Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority said the leak was re-categorized from level 1(anomaly) to level 3 (a serious accident).  And the Japan Times says a the radioactivity was about 100 times more than what TEPCO had been allowing to enter the sea each year before the crisis. (more…)

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