Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Anyways...

well it seems kids are leaving me alone now.
i haven't heard anything else about a lawsuit or anything, but i apparently won an award

in any case, i think i am going to head to charleston or myrtle beach in South Carolina.

it'd be nice to see the ocean in warmer weather than when i was in New York.

this might be my final stop, i am not sure.
i got a little bit of money from my parents, mainly for the window of my car. i dunno, i am going to see if i can try to play a show or something to try and get some cash. the only thing is that like, outside of playing shows, i don't know if i'd need to get some kind of visa or permit if i picked up some actual job somewhere. i don't even know if i would want to go through all that hassle as it is.

i talked to Samantha last night. she heard about the whole fracas and called to see how i was doing. then we just kinda bullshitted a bit. made her laugh a couple times, which was good to hear.

i'd also like to thank Jeff from ap.net for being real cool to me throughout this whole thing. haha i think it's rather ironic that this whole thing started with some Kerouac inspiration, and the dude who's been coolest to me throughout the thing goes by Neo Cassady.

i'll have to buy him a beer if i cross his path on this trip.

time for food.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Fuck "If life gives you lemons..."

So I have been away from my computer over the weekend, and now I am apparently I am going to be SUED.

Are you fucking kidding me? Because I posted a song? For helping a band out?

First off, let me clear shit up.
we know for sure it was him.. he did it in a real shitty way.. we were allhanign out on the buss and we let him hear it cause he was being cool at the time… he snuck behind our back to steal the only copy of the record that exists..
BULLSHIT.
We were all drunk on Maker's Mark, and they fucking gave it to me. They didn't say anything about an exclusive copy or no other copy existing. And if it was, they should have been more careful with it.

I have enough goddamn drama going on right now, that I do not need to worry some band with lots of money on a record label complaining because a song inevitably leaked onto the internet and their hypocrite friends harassing me even though I bet they all downloaded the goddamn song anyway.

Friday, January 25, 2008

if life gives you lemons...

well i am going to hang around here for a while, on the advice of a cool guy from absolutepunk.net

i think i am going to try to gig around a bit for some extra scratch. or something, i dunno. play on the street or something. i hope i don't need to get a permit.

haha and as for my car, i have quite a few layers of saran wrap duct taped over the window (back passenger's side, thank god for small favors).

it's a sight to see.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

You've got to be kidding me

i was robbed last night.

specifically, my car was broken into.

this is fucking crazy. i have to get a new window, which is going to cost waaay more than what i have. which i suppose is fine right now, but going back, i am going to fucking freeze.

goddamnit goddamnit goddamnit

i don't know what to do. they took my GPS thing. yeah, it's my own goddamn fault for leaving it in there, but i don't even care about that, i can use a map but i am freaking out about this window. i don't even know how much it will cost.

god i am rambling now.

this fucking sucks.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Homeboy Hotel






sorry for the small pictures.

i'm in asheville, north carolina right now (as of Sunday, i got there faster than i anticipated).
haven't done too much crazy stuff. i went to a place called Stella Blue to catch a show, ended up making friends and all that. i find it surprisingly easy to meet people once i mention my trip. i usually start with Kerouac, which is met half the time with enthusiasm, and the other half with "who?". saying "I'm from Canada, eh?" usually does the trick.

i don't understand the American fascination with "eh". i don't even say "eh" outside of those situations. though i suppose i also don't understand things about the States either. none come to mind, though.

anyway, i ended following some people to some place called Homeboy Hotel. oooh man. what a place. here's a bit of a rundown, what i learned about it in my drunken stand there:

Christmas tree has been up for 7 months
drunken debauchery, a sin bin. hell on earth, but sooo, sooo fun.
4 bedroom 2 bathrooms
lorded over by Justin and Gay Chase.
Gay Chase is their in house gay guy
Will no longer in existence at the end of this month.

try to imagine that. as i don't think i am going to post too much more here, for reasons wrapped in *'s later.

i called Samantha when i got here Sunday. she answered this time. it's so...awkward isn't even the right word...i don't know. Cold. we talked for a little while, just about small talk bullshit as if we had just met each other. *she's read my blog*, it seems, which made things ultra-tense, but nothing came of it. the long silences between words argued and spoke enough for us

there was just a lingering disappointment in her voice, which made me uneasy.

sigh.

----

in lighter news, here's today's music bits. some video, some audio.

first some videos. sorry they're broken up. they're from back when i saw Across Five Aprils. kinda crap quality too. oh well.

***i removed these***

/////////////////

Check this shit out. Andreas Kapsalis Trio. the guy plays the guitar like a piano, 8 finger tapping or whatever, with two drummers. and i think he plays "drums" on the body of his guitar too. intense stuff.

/////////////////

New Mars Volta video, Ilyena


/////////////////

No songs to post, but check out Portugal. The Man anyway

/////////////////

i'm thinking of starting to post full albums even. unless links are just fine with you guys.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Jesus

so i had to deal with a firestorm of threats and insults all weekend because of music i've been posting.

this has been way ridiculous. my bad for trying to help out bands i like.

whatever. people act like i killed a member of a band. this will probably piss more people off but whatever, it will probably increase tickets sold also. if you guys are pissed off i am sharing music, either stop reading the blog or go help the artists if you like them. i've got to fill time between more interesting stories on this trip anyway.

don't have much music for today. just a Dead to Fall video i found online of a new song, which i ripped and put on youtube

***i removed this***

anyway.
i'm off to North Carolina.

blog later.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Still here...

So i'm still here in tennessee.

So far, the trip has been like one of those scenes in a movie, where it's a montage of nonstop excitement, and then reality or some other kind of evil sets in

As such, I had been on a roll on this trip without a destination, and I suppose the "without a destination" part is setting in finally. While that is no great evil, the amount of money I spent, and have yet to spend is a looming one.

Not unexpected, but enough to give me pause. At least in the sense of I want to have a little more of a plan, especially should something drastic or desperate happen.

In any case, sitting around has given me time to reflect, which for this blog usually means longer than necessary posts, haha.

First and foremost, I haven't thought about Samantha at all. I don't know how I feel about that. I mean, yeah, now that i take the time to think of her, I miss her. Perhaps that is my reality check, the whole reason I am even on this trip is because of her. I don't even know what she's doing, how she feels about my being gone, etc.

I'm sure I can imagine, or I could just check her myspace or facebook or whatever. But I don't feel compelled to at all. And that's what is making me uneasy about it.

If you've read this at all, you've seen my post about cougars. Not once, did it cross my mind as to what she would think if she ever read it, nor did she enter my mind at all when it was actually happening. Any spiritual, practical, or useful enlightenment or growth I wanted out of this seems to be supplanting everything I held as "mine" or "myself" before.

Of course, I may also just be hungover. And, I've just been away from everything for so long, I imagine teh sentiment may change when I get back.

Damn, I haven't even talked to my family, nor anyone from home, now that I think about it.

I'm also wondering about money. I'd like to still keep out here, maybe head to Florida or chill out till Mardi Gras, but I will definitely need to make some money if I do. I can probably stay out till sometime in February, but if I try to work it ou (which I did), something cool or big will have to happen by the 19th. In whatever drunken mathemagical haze I was in, budgeting my remaining funds led to that date as doomsday.

I do have my guitar though, I could probably do some open mics or something. Gigs.

Anyways, and speaking of which, I've been spending time crawling through the racks of record stores and I've seen a couple shows, all that.

This is basically just a dump of stuff I've come across or already had:
Some band called Secret lives. shitty quality, but it gets the point across.

***i removed these***

Here's a band called Inchworm, a Sparklehorse/Wilco style band.
Lost Days

Tom Schraeder and His Ego, Ryan Admas/Paul Westerberg style. poppy, but he's got hooks for days, man.
Easy Way To Cry

hey whatever, this whole ramblin' man trip makes me feel like listening to singer-songwriter shit.

backstage somewhere in Lexington:


mmmm. maker's mark.

Friday, January 11, 2008

If you told me a year ago...

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Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Making My Mark..so to speak

Thanks to the Bonneville, I have missed my shot at D.C. I was looking forward to seeing the White House and other historical landmarks. This roadtrip is turning out alright so far other than that, I've got stories for a lifetime. I am halfway to my next destination, which is Loretto, Kentucky to celebrate my love of whiskey. I will be visiting the Maker's Mark distillery. I hear they give free dips to those of age. I hope they know what they're in for...shit, I hope I know what I'M in for.

I may swing back up to Lexington to catch some local music and enjoy my Maker's. Anyway, thanks for reading. Feel free to say hello if you are out there.

Monday, January 7, 2008

also...

i'm on the way to D.C.

Hectic

Sorry for the lack of updates.

Shit has been hectic recently, with weather and money.
I'll update this soon. No bad stories.

For example, one of the stories involves cougars.


you know what i mean...

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Atlantic City, Music Thoughts, Samantha, and Food

So I am at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City.
I'm gonna head to the buffet soon, but I figured I'd give an update.

Darren just took off back to New York, so I'm back on my own again.I'm here for two more days, and I'm thinking I'm gonna try to explore the city some. Last night I hit the card tables, and roulette. Darren freaked a little bit that I like roulette, mainly because it's probably the only game where the odds are completely random, and there's no skill involved. Pure luck.

His thing is craps, and i just don't understand that mess at all. Anyway, I came out $73 ahead, so I'm good.

I may even hit a music store. I'm always split on downloading vs. buying music. No political or personal convictions on it. Usually a matter of laziness. I've been digging the new Radiohead album for a little while, and I figure I may as well buy it. "Reckoner" is probably the best song on it. Probably that and the new Machine Head, and Between the Buried and Me's last one. That song I got from that Farewell To Freeway band I met before leaving Oakville is still in my head, surprisingly. I should probably see if I can find any of their shit as well.

I don't think it would kill The Human Abstract to release a new album either.

Maybe I'll try to hit up a local show or something as well.

I called Samantha last night, also. No answer. I'm sure she isn't happy that I took off. Our conversations have been mainly through text messaging, and usually only one way. I don't really know what to say to her, much less what to say about it here. I would like to say I wish she was here, and while I do mean that, I think it is more my emotional attachment speaking about it, than what I actually want. I will probably try again tonight.

In less depressing news, I saw this Mars Volta video on her MySpace. Their last album disappointed me. Quite a but actually. I'm all for experimental and progressive music, but I felt they dropped a lot of the music for progressive masturbation. I mean, you have to remember to put a song in there between all the intellectualism and indecipherable lyrics.

In any case, this song gives me hope. More precisely, their new drummer gives me hope.


All right, I'm hungry. Wonder if I can make some friends for the next couple days. If not, I can always hang out with Whiskey.

Peace.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

holy shit...

god damn...

fucking hell...

i wanted to just make a post consisting of exclamations of disbelief, but i can't think of any more.

but seriously, god damn.

so i finally broke out of Canada.



i visited a friend of mine who now lives in New York City. i got there the morning of the 29th, and was greeted by fucking cold temperatures, shots of Jack, and tickets to see Talib Kweli on the 30th.

i don't have a lot of background in hip hop, but i am into a fair amount, usually lyrical hip hop like Kweli and Common. Mos Def, all that scene. well, i also like some older, seemingly expected stuff like The Chronic and Ice Cube also. "Quality" is actually one of my favorite albums. in any case, i've never been to a hip hop show before, so i didn't know what to expect. i know the Roots are a band, but I don't know that Talib had ever performed with a band.

and he didn't, it was him and his DJ, in front of a New Year's 08 backdrop, done in the style of a lot of modern design (as in "happy new year's" written all over the wall in a big mess and in different languages). since it as just him and a DJ, i didn't expect the energy of the room to get as intense as it did. there's a lot of respect for anyone who can get an entire room simply at the sound of their voice.

i was impressed to say the least. and drunk. goddamn. the only thing is the no smoking in bars thing New York has. i just don't get it.

on the way out, Darren and I saw this:

classic.

we went to a "New Year's Eve Eve" party with friends of his afterwards, and proceeded to black out.

and then of course, there was New Year's Eve proper. like a million other people we made it to Times Square at about 8PM, flasks filled with whiskey to keep us warm. and a little baked.

i mean, i dunno what to really say. it was amazing. all the confetti like colored snow, the noise everywhere around me and coming from me....everything. so intense. for a moment, i almost forgot everything with Samantha, and I just let myself become enveloped by the moment.

The high of celebrating New Year's and all the mythology or gravity or whatever-you-want-to-call-it behind celebrating new beginnings completely convinced me that this trip was the best thing I've ever done, and gave me the final resolve to just go for it. why the fuck not, i was already miles away.

we didn't get back to a place with a bed till 6am. and i collapsed. Darren and I had been discussing the whole trip idea, (which incidentally, a lot of people seem to be into), and we kind of planned out a little journey for me.

well, really, just the next stop, and a potential goal or final destination.


so today, since I may as well support all of my vices while on this, I am headed for Atlantic City. to quote Ice Cube, "shake em up, shake em up, shake em up, shake em".




i'll write more when i get there.