Raining,

It has been raining all day. Just one of those days where it doesn't stop; I biked to school in the rain, but I refuse to bike home in it too, so I'm waiting it out, using the free wifi at school. Anyway...

All is pretty much the same. I'm busy, as per usual, but the same. I found a site online where people post pictures of Cats that look like Hitler, which has been a lovely time waster, in addition to catching up on some writing work. Check out the angry "We Hate Kittlers" section on their site; too funny :) But I digress, because my organization of my life has to be flawless, or I'll never get everything done.

Another funny website I stumbled upon is the sport of Wife Carrying.

Ah the Internet.. so much useful information.

Howdy,

I am in London, even though I do not have enough time to update this, I am. I've been on the road a lot lately, as is my life, and it won't stop. I'm all over Europe in the next month, but delving into specifics is time consuming, so I'll leave it mysterious. I was in Bristol on Wednesday. I drove up to Stone Hendge, which was fucking fantastic. I'm so glad I saw it; as when I lived in the UK, I never made it down. It has also been snowing, and snow seems to shut down the United Kingdom. Trains are late, people are more insane.. all good..

I've been working a ton. Catching up on some Uni reading, working on the band, label, magazines and all that jazz and trying to find some time for a meagre social life. I am excited to go home on Sunday and sleep in my own bed, still coatless, but my own bed. Not that I sleep with a coat on, but the coat thing still perturbs me. I hope the thief is warm and stylish.

Big night on FEBRUARY 25TH. The label I work with, Last Press Label, is being launched in London and a bunch of our bands are playing. It's at the Social in Soho, so if you're in town, please come and support independent music and music management. It should be one heck of a party. Other than that, same shit, different day, different city. My bag smells like Risotto, as a bag of it ripped in transport. It's somewhat soothing.

My comment ratio has shrunk considerably. I haven't gotten one in 2007 yet. Ah well. I guess interest in my blog and therefore my life is waning.. just kidding.

I had my coat stolen on Saturday, or at least that is the conclusion I've come to. I put it somewhere in a club (first mistake: going to a club) and after returning an hour later to the space, it was gone. I looked all over and couldn't find it. I had to bike home in the freezing cold, minus bike lights (in the coat), gloves and scarf and gum. Thankfully nothing of value minus the aforementioned was in the coat, and I bought it for €20 in London anywho. No biggie. The principle bothers me more. I hope to see someone walking down the street in Amsterdam wearing my coat, so I can harangue their unbridled stupidity and lack of humanity. People are messed up sometimes. I'm off to replace what I lost today (bike lights, gloves, scarf, jacket) as well as go to my first class. yee-hoo!

What a lovely day!

It has been sunny and gorgeous all day, which is an anomaly in Amsterdam. The sun comes out sporadically, usually between clouds and only for a few minutes; today it has been glorious. Welcome global warming. As long as Amsterdam doesn't sink, I can get used to this in February. I'm no idiot; I know this is erratic and horrible, but nice weather is nice weather.

I took advantage of the brightening up today. I had to vacate my house between 11AM and 1PM today, as my new landlord has meditation and yoga classes, so I took my Museumcaart (year pass to every museum in Holland) and went to both the Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum. I've never been to the latter, well the part that is open, and both were fantastic. I felt like a tourist.

I then found a quaint cafe for lunch and coffee, and have returned home to work, which so far has been relatively productive. I'm going to the Albert Cuyp Markt with Jared in about 45 minutes as well. It's the largest outdoor market in the Benelux and in this weather, will be fantastic. These are days I know Alli is with me.

My 125th Post...

Back home in Amsterdam, and the entire city has erupted with construction. I don't know if erupted is the right word, but Pierce Brosnan's horrible 'Dante's Peak' is on my mind for some reason, so I shall use it. Anywho, there was a hurricane-like storm here two weeks ago, fucking up the entire city's water system, essentially. That means in addition to building a subway, they are tearing up streets to fix the levees and protect the city from the inevitable. That means both of my major routes to school are cut off completely, and it now takes me much longer because I have to weave through side streets and down back alleys to get into the centre, instead of going straight through a park, because half the park is closed. What a welcoming surprise.

I have a whole whack of work to do. It never stops. At least now I'm home and I don't have to leave my flat all day. Pajama day it is, starting now.

Home...

I missed Amsterdam. I missed its innate clostraphobia, the bevy of grocery options that enable me to avoid any hint of the megastore lifestyle, the sheer insanity and ignorance expelled from every tourist dangling along Dam Square, the hot food in vending machines, the jittery trams, the rain, the canals and the fact that you have to bring your own bags to stores to save money.

I was away for a long time. Six weeks to be exact. I enjoyed my time away, especially with my family and my band, but it is time for home, and home means school. I have a paper exploring the craziness of duty free shops from a discursive analysis point of view due shortly, and throughout I have a shitload of work coming from all angles. Anywho, I'm going to enjoy home while I'm here. I do leave again next week.

x

In the studio,

We have been the studio for eight hours now and miraculously laid down the bare bones for four tracks, which is fantastic. Three of the songs are old and are found on "Soliloquy" but have been completely re-orchestrated and performed while one is brand new, a song called "Shivaree" which actually comes from a play that our friends What The Thunder Said scored. There have been some moments of jubilance, as everything seems to be coming together perfectly. I cannot wait for people to hear the record, and we're in good shape for having it done and ready to roll on May 1st. Right now we're sorting out the nooks and crannies for our single, "Stay Up," which un-mixed and un-mastered sounds fantastic, so I have good vibes on how it'll sound when completed.

In other news, I go home on Saturday. It has been a whirlwind week. I met some amazing people on tour, and got to spend some time with a few which was great, and I hung out with the band and K quite a bit. Things are on the up and up with this... I expect good things.

School begins on Monday, and I have a huge term paper due a week after. Welcome back to real world, Mr. Shapiro. I am excited to see my friends back at home and get to settle into my new place after I quickly moved out before going on tour. We also have a round of shows planned for May, so stay tuned for dates and stuff like that.

I am also working on some interesting articles, so stay tuned.

peace-

nero reunion...

http://www.jambase.com/headsup.asp?storyID=9765

enjoy-


big update coming soon...

New Kae Sun Article...

It's pretty good.

http://www.echoweekly.com/viewstory.php?storyid=6064

It's been a very lazy day, conducive for thinking. I hate those days.

Update...

I have a few minutes and I'm procrastinating as per usual, thereby refuting my New Years Resolution, but ah well. So, whilst procrastinating, I thought I'd update the blog. Let's start with Peterborough.

The show was great. The venue decided to make the show free, which is quite impressive for bands of our stature (Jimmy Swift Band and What The Thunder Said) so the bar was packed to capacity. Also, there was a ton of students, which just added to the party. Kids were dancing during our soundcheck, which was nice. I'm guessing they just need something to do in town, and we were it that night. We had a heck of a time getting there and back, as a misunderstanding between the band made us 2 hours late and a freak rainstorm made driving home tricky, but the response was worth it. We played for about 65 minutes, and I won't tell you the set as we have to play similar-ish sets each night because the collaboration was difficult enough to set up. It sounds fantastic, and it has been a treat playing with WTTS and K. They are all stand-up, professional cats and great guys, and what we are doing is truly unique. Combining hip-hop and progressive rock, with folk, jazz and electro. It's worth seeing.

I went to Ottawa this weekend for nero and to see Zach. Ottawa was the same as it always was, and hanging out with Zach was great. His house is filled with kind folks, and I seem to fit in as everyone is a sarcastic bastard, so we had fun. nero was also great. nero sounded like nero, spirited, loud and danceable, and seeing everyone from my past was great too. It was a big family reunion, more than anything.

Had a big show tomorrow in my hometown. The Toronto show. Shows till Saturday. Love Ya.

Long weekend,

I feel like half of my time in Canada is spent on the highway. The show is Peterborough went extremely well on Thursday. The bar was packed because Peterborough is a town that parties if and when there are things to do, and the band we were playing with, Jimmy Swift Band, are quite well known.

Spent the weekend in Ottawa and saw nero twice as well as Zach and his house. I'll explain more later when I have time, but it was a blast. Back to work :)

Tour...

I haven't been on the road playing music since April, and I am definitely nervous to get back on stage in front of people tonite, as I play with Kae Sun in Peterborough. I am excited too, but nervous as well. The guys I'm playing with, What The Thunder Said and K himself are terrific, so it should one hell of a throwdown...

Otherwise, I have been so busy I can barely think about anything else. It's been work, work and more work the past 10 days, as 2007 has started off busy, but well. Anything to beat 2006. I am looking forward to coming home to Amsterdam and resume some sort of normalcy, but I am on the road so often normalcy is becoming a malleable connotation. I'm in the UK Feb 7-12 and Germany Feb 27 - Mar 2. I'll probably be in Belgium as well in between then, hitting up Antwerp to see a friend.

Also, today I interviewed a living legend, Jimmy Carter from the Blind Boys of Alabama. These guys are the kings of traditional gospel, and it was an honour. I'll have a piece written about them this weekend. See you on tour!

Quiet,

Life is so busy here, but in a different way, that I rarely have time to update this. I am super excited to play these upcoming shows, as the band sounds terrific. I promise all who support us a blisteringly fantastic show. Other than that, home is home and life is well, unentertaining. I hate driving, something being back home has reminded me of, but I have enjoyed seeing many of my friends. Lots to do this week. Up early tomorrow.

2007...

is 4 days old, but it is shaping up to be a doozy. I love the word doozy. This will be another short entry, as I am just on my way out in Toronto to enjoy another unseasonably warm evening in Canada's biggest city. Lots of Kae Sun stuff upcoming, so check www.myspace.com/kaesun to keep up. Love You.

Home,

I am back in Toronto and surrounded by a pile of work.. massive pile. I love life.

2007 here we go. I'm inspired.

Shain

Below is all the writing I did on a week long cruise of the Caribbean. It's probably the most personal I have ever been on this blog. Enjoy the ramblings.

HOME SWEET HOME.

December 22nd, 2006:

On my last blog post, I was recounting my time in Geneva last week, and right now, on December 22nd, 2006, I feel about as distant from the peaks and valleys on Switzerland as I could possibly feel. I know I will not be able to publish this blog entry until December 29th, but I am writing it now, and will continue to write throughout my trip on this cruise, so I will try and outline everything by date to make sure whomever (if anyone) reads this, they will be on track. So, here goes…

Cruises are interesting western inventions. First and foremost, they are largess to the utmost extent, so much so that it becomes sickening and somewhat distressing after a while. I have been viscerally and liberally pumped up with so much food, I feel dizzy. The boat is rocking, however, so some sort of seasickness may also factor into to that description.

Anywho, my trip here was hell. I flew from Amsterdam to Chicago, and then transferred there amidst a maelstrom of security to catch a connecting flight to Toronto. Six hours later, I was on a packed, early morning flight to Ft. Lauderdale (next to two crying babies as well) and then after an hour drive to Florida City, FL, I was sitting in a Comfort Inn, wondering how to hook their wireless internet. After careful deliberation, I figured you could not connect to their wireless, because they only had the service available for Ethernet ports. Way to be in 2003 Comfort Inn. How comforting. I am not complaining by any means about my global sojourn, as I even sat next to three Chippendale Dancers on my transatlantic flight, but it was tiring, and I was irritable. After Sushi back in Toronto, I was ready for bed… Lucky for me, some Risotto exploded in my bag so upon opening it, I was greeted with myriad grains of rice to clean up all over my transitory setting. How fun.

Now onto the cruise. After some beaurocratic difficulties – as it turns out I was never scheduled to be on the trip, somehow replaced by my father’s wife – we sorted out the paperwork problems and boarded the boat. Since then, I have been walking around, exploring the munificent surroundings and the food and drink that go along with it. For the most part, this cruise seems to be made up of affluent Jewish families and retirees. It seems like everyone is either a teenager or a pensioner. The boat is pure opulence. There are several restaurants and bars, a gym, basketball court, spa, putting green, five pools and hot tubs, shops, jeweler, hair salon and nightclub, among other ‘amenities.’ It is a hyperspace, a simulacrum of real life, a third space, plainly fucked up in my opinion. In some ways, the sheer largess nature of the cruise bother me, as I am not used to this type of crazed consumption, so in some ways my conscience is having difficulties adapting to these surroundings. On the other hand, I am as lucky as a Mormon at a chastity belt warehouse to be here (horrible pun, I know.). Yet, something is troubling. Maybe it has nothing to do with the cruise at all. I am trying, honestly trying to enjoy this, every moment, but I cannot lie to myself about these troubling metaphors that seem to be overriding my enjoyment. Maybe I am theorizing about this too much, or maybe I am just too cynical a bastard to enjoy this type of holiday. I need some time to stew, ponder, live, breathe and sweat out this cruise. It is called the Coral Princess, and often coral requires more than a simple glance before its inherent beauty unfurls. Regardless, I will keep updating this throughout the trip, and maybe I can grow to make sense out of this experience, and why a floating town with no poor people is such an enchanting holiday experience for so many people. Now, however, I am going to search for a supposed wifi connection that I have been tipped off to, and with a scotch by my side, hopefully publish this entry and do some more work whilst I am at it. Merry Christmas.

December 23rd, 2006 – Day Two

I have not had dinner yet. There was this max exodus to the dining room around 6PM, making a reservation impossible. Therefore, I have postponed my luxurious dining excursion for a few hours so I could come and update this. Two days in, and I am still extraordinarily troubled by the metaphors and themes embedded in this cruising experience. Last night I decided to venture towards the hot tub at 1AM for a soak, lucky me, and upon arrival I met two Americans and one Canadian, all on the cruise for varying reasons. After some small talk, we followed one of the members party which grew considerably when she noticed a contingent of cousins was still up into the dining hall where everyone but myself proceeded to pig out on burgers and chips until 2:30AM, where drunken and tired, we resided to our respective rooms. I was sober, however, and one of the people that joined us was a Psychiatry PhD student from Chicago named Shayna. She was quite intelligent and accompanied by her brother, who I think was drunk, but who knows. After finding an open area, we began talking around our respective courses, where she and I began an intense debate concerning the validity of my chosen doctoral choice, as she believes Cultural Analysis only points out the negatives in society, wherein there are plenty of positives that are being ignored. Her valid argument, although I disagree, got me thinking. Firstly, I believe simply dichotomizing my discipline into polarities does nothing for the work we do in the grey areas of life, but upon unveiling my thesis topic to her, she began to lambaste its validity in terms of whether I am actually going to be making a difference, or simply stating negatives – being a negative Nancy as my friend Zach would say, via South Park. Anywho, our argument got heated and ended in a stalemate, as I see Psychiatry as being very essentialist, where things are paraded off as either being useful or useless, without any mentioning of why, how and the structures and discursive codes that abet such labeling. An insane person is deemed useless, for example, even though he or she may be wildly intelligent. In addition, Africa would be seen as useless, while Iraq useful. I cannot accept such discernment.

However, our debate was encouraging, as it is making me question myself even more, a theme that has been permeating my internalities for quite some time, as it should be with everyone. I always wonder if what I am doing is making a concrete difference in life, helping people in laments terms rather than just helping myself. Shayna stated that a certain level of narcissism is normal, even though I see that as a modernist, Caucasian western construct, but regardless, it is valid. Yet, studying airports and living my privileged life is narcissistic, even though I recycle, am a staunch defender of human rights and free speech and try and save the environment. Is recording music, writing about bands and studying esoterica useful? Probably, or in my opinion, definitely. Is it externally useful? I am not sure. I have been discussing this unanswerable, almost paradoxical quandary with one of my closest friends lately, and we are both stalemated. She wants to change her life; I just want to refocus mine. I love what I do, I love whom I do it with, and I just want to improve who benefits from it, basically.

Yet, sitting here in the ‘library’ on the cruise and writing this is unabashedly hypocritical. I am in a nonspace built on excess. A largess, troubling sphere of western ignorance for the sake of a weeklong vacation, a place that ignores its social responsibility for the sake of a good time. I am in, literally in, the acme of narcissism. Furthermore, my only contact to the outside world other than the endless polluted water circumnavigating the boat is CNN and a world I tried to escape years ago and have been dragged back in; the world of privilege for the sake of privilege, blissful ignorance and classicized demarcations of self and narcissism.

Currently I am listening to Trail of Deed’s “Wasted State of Mind” off Worlds Apart, coincidentally, and the song and album title are resonating with me in a piercingly violent way. I have done the equivalent of nothing in the past two days, deserved or not, and I am going to continue to do nothing until we dock in about a week back in Florida. In the meantime, shore excursions are being offered ‘to mingle with other cultures’ and an endless heap of food, alcohol and fake smiles are being broadcasted throughout the ship. Upon eavesdropping a conversation over breakfast this morning, I found out the cruise ship uses 2200 pounds of butter a week to cook all the food. Imagine if instead of cruising, we all explored our hometowns, I mean really explored, or ventured off to a neighbouring city ignored because it fails to connote exoticism. I should feel lucky – and in many ways I do – and grateful for this opportunity. My dad has done a lot of work to bring me here, and I appreciate it. I just cannot help thinking this place troubles me, like being in a permanent airport departure lounge drenched in the salacity of Las Vegas and some sun. Yet, there was no sunset today; it is cloudy, and I have no plans tonite, other than trying to put on the face I have been avoiding looking at in order to meet some people and hopefully, engender some sort of meaningful experience that is not entirely lubricated on whisky and dreams of smoking pot in the Netherlands Antilles, as was the topic of conversation last night.

Yet, I feel refreshed, especially as I write this. Downstairs, there are two extremely talented musicians playing Bob Marley covers on a grand piano and a steel drum – a nice variation from the usual Christmas hoopla and caroling that has spread through the ship like strept throat. Plus, the girls are pretty – albeit in a summer camp, Abercrombie and Fisch manner, but pretty regardless (the ones who look over 19 only), whilst the alcohol is cold and there is plenty of time for reflection, as you can probably estimate.

So, I guess a sort of cruising chronicles is sprouting here. I have nothing to do here but think – about myself, my loves, my faults and my future – and as a writer, throwing up on paper is my release. It beats yelling at people or eating a shitload of chocolate, which by the way, is easily accomplished on this floating carnival for rich people. Until tomorrow. Dinner waits.

December 23rd, 2006 – 10PM (after dinner)

I feel so alone on this ship. For whatever reason, this boat spews a nuclear family ethos, something I have never been privy to. Dinner was nice; fancy for the sake of being fancy with above average fair, including a soup that could easily have been misconstrued as frozen yogurt. My father taught a group of retirees bridge today, and our conversation revolved around the quality of the attendees and the theory of universal grammar, as noted by Chomsky and Pinker. It is questionable whether a universal grammar exists, as languages are fundamentally different, well core languages that is. From counting systems to historiography, a sweeping universal grammar theory is a tough bargain, but I do believe that at some point in each one of our lives, we did intrinsically embody something of that ilk.

Being on this ship, it seems all the customers have lost any dedication towards universality, any link with others outside of their culture, any culturally universal grammar. I know this is a bit of a stretch. So, I have retired to the library once again, and after fumbling aimlessly on Photoshop for a few minutes, have resorted back to this journal of sorts, wondering if this makeshift book I am writing at sea will ever be published. There are some intensely personal elements in here, stuff I may decide to censor, and maybe this is too much, too much revealing, for a blog. Uncensored, unabashed shainhouse, essentially. How crap is that? I would not read it.

December 25th, 2006 – Merry Christmas

I keep thinking how much can change in a year. For me, my life has ultimately been turned on its head, shaken around and presented as something completely different. Enough about that, however, as that is not the reason I am sitting here on this cruise ship writing, instead of drinking my face off and hitting on someone. I did not update yesterday. That is because of the day before yesterday, December 23rd, and what occurred after I packed up my Mac when I finished writing the above entry. I was listening to Strangefolk today and their 1994 album “Lore,” where on one of the songs the lyrics state “I hope last night doesn’t wake up this morning, and tell tomorrow what I have done,” or something like that. Anywho, that night, two nights ago, slightly altered my perspective on the cruise, as for the umpteenth time, the social theory that states that it is more important who you’re with than where you are controlled the night. I certainly hope last night does not tell tomorrow what I did.

In a roundabout way, I met a girl whom I was once her camp counselor, and subsequently her family and friends, ten people strong. The night consisted of us – the legal ones – spending much of our time at the ‘nightclub’ dancing to crappy top 40 music whilst chatting up various employees of the ship, including a dancer, two spa workers and my Dad’s boss. It was a fun night, but I had too much to drink, ultimately showering the next day in hunger pangs, but these pangs did not cry for food; instead, they cried for normalcy, something my recovering body refused to grant.

So yesterday, I lounged around, went to the hot tub and pretended to read. And this is me NOT complaining. It was a lovely day, but one that saw me conk out at 9PM after watching some American football of all things on TV. I thought dinner would free me from feeling like crap, but nothing worked. I did get a reasonable amount of sleep, something that has become a problem on the boat.

The cruise shakes; all the fucking time. The folks working on this floating classicized orgasm do not notice it, but my stomach does. It is sensitive. Very sensitive. Therefore, I have been perpetually nauseous on the cruise, and yesterday illuminated that perfectly. Plus, it was formal night – something I obviously did not participate in. Formal night, what unmitigated bullshit – and I had to be up at 7AM for the port call. So sleep it was.

Today we visited St. Thomas, albeit in haste. St. Thomas is one of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and its capitol, Charlotte-Amelia, houses about 56,000 people. The first half of the day consisted of a pre-planned tour, something that was booked for me, which consisted of a boat ride to an adjacent island for some mountain biking and beaching. The tour was nice. Ten of us ventured off to Water Island, home to a whopping 106 people. A woman from Detroit who permanently lives on the island was our guide, and her husband rode down with us on the mountain bikes. The trail was bumpy, but enjoyable. I have a neat blister on my thumb. After the 5.5 bike ride, we rode down to their beach, which happens to be manmade. The island has an interesting history, filled with all sorts of hoopla revolving around a man from New York who purchased much of it after WWII and built a hotel and resort on it, as well as homes for friends and family. The island was a WWII bunker site that was never used – it never got finished before 1945 – and the state department sold it to this dude, 4000 hectares of it, in 1946. He then dredged a beach and built up the island, until a hurricane removed much of the success in the 1970s. Since, the island has diminished slightly from its past glory, despite its proud citizens and their dedication to the island way of life, all hundred of them. Yet, all water and gas is imported. For example, despite them having a fire station, a fire fighter has never graced it. They can’t institute a volunteer fire department because of union laws in St. Thomas, and the government cannot afford to hire one full time for the island. Plus, potable water is caught in tanks from rain and blackouts are frequent. It’s a way of life for some, but not for me. The beach, called Millennium Beach and accessible by water taxi, was quiescent, in an almost stoic manner. It truly could resemble paradise, if Corona adverts define it. There happened to be a wedding the night before on the beach, so leftover fruit and drinks were brought out as we lounged. After three hours of bike and beach, we boarded the water taxi back to St. Thomas.

After lunch, I explored St. Thomas. It is a bit of a shit hole, with nice weather. I decided to find my own way around at first – bad idea. I ended up in some slum, surrounded by chickens and barbed wire, with locals consistently approaching me offering up myriad drugs as well as begging for change. The first thing that gleaned over the first hill I climbed was a strip mall – with a KFC, Dominos, Subway and Scotiabank inside. How wonderful.

I scraped back down the hill to the port, hot as a yak in heat and caught a taxi towards downtown, which consists of a small crowd of streets ultimately overrun by jewelry merchants. Dozens and dozens of jewelers. My mother – who has been here – would have had another field day. I was unimpressed, especially because everything else was closed on Christmas. Therefore, after meeting my father in town, we hiked up another hill to find a synagogue founded in 1796, and after finding it closed, we snaked back down a steady slope of hills towards the downtown core, passing some colourful local shops and folks in the process. Yet, the whole town is strewn with trash. Everywhere, piles of beer bottles and fast food wrappers dot the corners, as if the inhabitants have a physical aversion to tossing something in the bin. The smell reflected the landscape, and I felt like I was in a barrio, or some part of the developing world. This was not a wealthy place, this was a Caribbean Detroit.

I did, however, sample some Bermudan Ginger Beer – fantastic by the way – and met a couple locals, who seemed proud of their little rock, which to me is slowly turning into another landfill. It could be gorgeous; the culture is lively, the people were wonderful and the town’s architecture reminded me of Northern Portugal, but the trash was too much to bare. It was pervasive. After a long day, we made our way back to port and boarded the ship. Since, I have napped, hot-tubbed, ate and lounged. I am one lucky duck.

While the metaphors of cruising still bother me, I am adjusting to this lifestyle and vacation and enjoying myself more. Regardless, I do not think this whole cruising thing is for me. More on that later. Merry Christmas.


Wednesday, December 27, 2006:

Cruises are interesting entities. I only have about fifty minutes left on my battery, so here goes some explanation from the last few days. I did not update yesterday, as it was another port day, in Sint Maarten. Sint Maarten is the smallest landmass divided by two countries, the Netherlands and France. Phillipsburg in the capitol of the Dutch side and Marigot the French side, and the total population is about 56,000. All is peaceful, as the only divided is a sign. No one speaks Dutch, as French is the main language in addition to English, as the country has a sordid past with slavery and plantations, mostly with British and American ownership. From first impression, Sint Maarten is much lovelier than St. Thomas, as it is cleaner, fresher and hillier. To begin the day, I went sea kayaking with my father to an aquatic habitat unlike any other in the world, where mangrove trees protect an endangered shallow sea area from hurricanes (normal for the island), allowing jellyfish, sea cucumbers and coral to flourish. The colour of these jellyfish was amazing; hues of white and blue, somewhat iridescent but bursting with an innate fervor of life, and tame enough to pick up, albeit properly. We floated around the mangrove trees for a while – a very important plant by the way because its think branches protect from mudslides overflowing the reef – and then kayaked to a beach within a yacht port. While the yachts were abominably huge, too huge for me, the beach was lovely; white sand, virtually empty minus a few topless sunbathers and warm. The water was nearly eighty degrees and completely clear, so you could see the small coral communities flourishing below. The island has been in a constant fight with hurricanes, so there was lots of reconstruction throughout the beach community, but the area was pleasant – quiet, clean, serene, the Caribbean. We kayaked back, a distance of nearly two miles that to be honest, I did not enjoy, engendering a few nasty blisters along the way; but in retrospect, it was worthwhile. My thumbs are both cut up to shit right now, however.

After enjoying a few complimentary Caribbean lagers to reward us for the lengthy paddle, we boarded a bus back to the cruise, stopping at a sort of a duty free along the way that allowed us to sample guava berry rum, a delicacy on the island. I’ve decided I like guava berry rum. It is another one of those island drinks that can be chugged with knowledge that it is furiously alcoholic. The Vanilla rum, with flecks of Vanilla bean squirming inside, was also great. I like rum.

Furthermore, the rest of day was spent walking around Phillipsburg, a nice beach town that has little litter, lots of tourist shops and cheap beer – which you can drink anywhere because you are technically in Holland – along with some new friends, a few crew members I met kayaking. We got back to the boat at 4:30PM and sailed away.

The crew leads interesting lives. I keep thinking of the Futurama episodes that feature the sewer mutants, and that would create an image of how the crew lives. They have their own city, literal city, on the bottom deck of the boat away from the passengers. It includes a crew mess, or dining hall for those nautical colloquialism challenged, a bar, a dance hall, medic office, lounges, a ping-pong table, and all the nasty stuff passengers do not see, like garbage and toilet disposal, composting and kitchen facitlities. My friends work with small children, and they got off manning the ‘fun zone’ at 10PM and we proceeded to go to a crew BBQ, which was held on a hidden deck at the front of the boat, away from the passengers. Some people spend years on a boat, or at least six months at a time, and the life that is created in this little city, from social politics to sex, amenities and interpersonal requirements, is thought provoking. They literally live in hiding, away from the passengers, burdened with rules like when to eat and where and how to look and so on, but yet, their life is as exciting and creative as any passengers, maybe more so. Forty-six minutes on my battery. I am going to go plug in my computer.

(plugged in) The life of the crew fascinated me. I ate in the crew mess today for lunch with my friends, as they are served the leftovers from the main dining hall buffet service that the passengers eat, yet with no frills, no service and no smile. It is extremely blue collar, almost collectively stoic, and unruly perplexing. Tales of sex, divorce, inebriation, hating work, the whole cat and caboodle overshadowed our conversation, as if we weren’t floating in the middle of the ocean on a traveling barge turned salacious city. Life is life, as if I would be sitting at the Soundgarden bitching about school, but instead, our surroundings were completely different. It did not matter, though. Stories of further trips, Alaska, Panama, Hong Kong and beyond were verbally thrown around like meal selections, almost pervasively commandeering the conversation. I could not feel how constrained they were in one way, almost to the point where they could be qualified as well paid servants, and how free they were in another way. It is another ultimate paradox. A swirling theoretical conundrum, all packaged in the basement of a giant boat. I am so lucky for being considered crew and being exposed to the real lives that make this one gigantic fake life float. A new discovery, indeed.

After meeting them at the BBQ, we went to the passenger’s bar, Explorers, and danced and drank until 4AM. It was truly a treat, a convergence of peasant and prince, pauper and priest, to the tune of Skee-Lo’s “I Wish I Was a Baller.”

I am convincingly tired this morning. In retrospect I mean, as its nearly seven o’clock. Right now it is Wednesday night, and we are due to get off the boat Friday at 7AM, with a flight scheduled back to Canada at 11:30AM. I am ready to get off the boat. I do not think I mesh with the transcribed culture enthusiastically pumped into the clientele on cruise ships. The sheer excess, unethical at times, is nauseating. The free hooch has been lovely, especially because most of it has been Scotch – I am drinking a Rob Roy at the moment – but the constant stream of food, entertainment, distraction and nothingness is souring. While there are limitless activities available, I feel bored, almost trapped in a way. I sat in a hot tub today with a few makeshift cruise friends and watched them dive off the hot tub into an adjacent pool directly below, despite a sign adorning the area instructing them not to dive. An ensuing older lady emerged, pissed off at the disrespect, and proceeded to call security on my immature friends, creating a situation better for a National Lampoon movie than anything else. This little situation is a perfect metaphor for the cruise thus far. Nothing is consistently ordinary, in the middle, ‘normal.’ Everything sways to the side of excess, from the dessert selection to the harassment of youth for jumping into a pool. Everything is figuratively overboard, something Heidegger would construe as a distraction that has enveloped life itself, almost so that life on the cruise equals distraction, synonymously. I feel distracted. I have gotten very little work done, and reading Foucault has become nearly impossible.

Yet, I guess that is what cruising, or vacationing is all about. Our daily lives are so bad that we must escape them at all cost, get suntanned, drunk and leach off culture we know nothing about, whilst feeding our consumptionist ethic on prime rib and strawberry shortcake. With me, the day-to-day is not that bad. I love my life, barring its problems, so to me, this is not a vacation; this is more of a discomfort. I feel horribly cynical, critical and downright rude writing this, as I am lucky to be able to partake in this, but I believe that this prescribed luck is culturally crafted because cruises are seen as luxurious, rich and opulent. To be honest, my favourite moment thus far was in the crew quarters, because it was the moment that reminded me of whom I am, not what I desire to be because society delineates as such. I do not need cruising, excess, libratory consumption, stuffing of the proverbial face and touristing; I love the scotch, beer, some of the conversation (I have met some wonderful people, whilst also sharing conversation with people I do not get, or do not get me) and the weather. But I feel like the conscious cost of enjoying this is not worth the 24hour buffet. I would rather work on a cruise, see life as it is, not what it wants to be, and sail the fair seas with equals, rather than classicists. I am not saying everyone on the boat is driven by money, as generalizations are rife with discriminatory assumptions, but I have met a few folks who simply make my head spin. That is for another discussion however.

So tonight much of the same is planned. My father and I will eat in the communal buffet, rather than booking into the fancy dining hall, as we do not have the formal attire to partake, nor would I want to, as I always feel self-conscious in formal situations. Ironically, another formal night has been declared, as I have already seen one too-many bowties. Plans are to meet a transitory buddy at Explorers at 10:30PM and see what happens, which in cruise-lingo translates to getting drunk and hitting on girls, two things I am not particularly interested in. I know who I want and she is not here unfortunately, and I don’t want to get drunk, unless its with her. She remains a pronoun for blog sake, but she knows who she is.

On a wonderful note to end this entry, I have seen two of the most fantastic rainbows I have ever witnessed, one on a rainy day at sea and one above Sint Maarten as we were departing. Furthermore, I have seen some of the magnificent sunsets and stars as well. Lying on the deck at the crew BBQ yesterday was mesmerizing. I felt insignificant – once again – as my entire being ebbed and flowed around the natural puzzles forming in the sky. Tonite, a similar ethos will prevail, as I plan to venture outside and spend sometime alone talking to the stars, in hopes that someone may be up there, listening to my cynical wails and sarcastic shrieks. Here’s hoping. Lastly, RIP James Brown. Here’s to you, one of the biggest musical influences I have been lucky enough to discover. You’re the man, and always will be. Expect one final entry tomorrow and then I’ll upload the whole shebang after landing in Canada.

Moving Completed Ahoy!

While I still have a bunch of crap on the floor waiting to be stuffed into a bag for Canada, I have completed my move in Amsterdam. It took three trips (2KM each) on a bike for everything, which isn't bad. I have still accumulated a whole mess of crap here I've realized, including books, CDs, an ironing board of all things and other doodads.

I leave for North America tomorrow morning. I'm flying to Chicago and then to Toronto tomorrow, and then off to Ft. Lauderdale the next day. Then I'm on 'vacation' for a week. I even put a vacation responder on my e-mail, so I will really be away.

In the meantime, please visit www.shainhouse.com/kaesun.zip and download "Soliloquy" if you haven't and come see us in January. We're playing in your town hopefully. Check out our MYSPACE for the tourdates. Other than that, I hope to see any Canadian that is reading this blog, and to my lovely non-Canadian friends, see you in the New Year.

Happy Holidays!!!

Geneva,

I am back from Geneva, and I refused to check my e-mail when I was 'on vacation,' so here go begins some sort of makeshift 'round-up' of the festivities in a gorgeous, yet wildly expensive city. I'll stop putting 'quotation marks' on everything and get to it.

I landed on THR at 4PM, knowing full well my friends would have to go to work the next day. My friend Meghan lives in a flat with three of her coworkers in Plain Palais, a nice student neighbourhood that has a propensity for circuses, so her flat is aptly titled 'the circus.' It's a nice pun, as the organization she works for that put her up, Franciscans International, has owned the flat for years so the moniker has apparently been earned. There was a circus across the street the entire time I stayed also, even though we never made it there, except to buy a baguette of all things from a carney because that was the only way to get one on Sunday.

Geneva is lovely. All swiss cities are lovely. Geneva is small and loops around Lake Geneva, which provides a beautiful waterfront that is fun to walk around and plenty of boutique shops. Plus, everyone is rich, so much of the city is structured in a wealthy, French way. Big, ornate buildings, gorgeous balconies and plenty of flowers. This time around, it was Christmas trees that took precedent, but regardless, the flora was all over.

THR was spent getting to know her roomates and drinking at a neighbourhood bar. The beer they have there on tap is really good, called Feldschlossen. I remember drinking it in Basel... it may have contributed to the German Smooching Story, but that's another blog entry. Anywho, we had dinner at a Thai Place, relaxed and chilled as they were to go to work the next day.

After walking and walking and walking around both the gorgeous and not-so-gorgeous parts of Geneva the next day, one of the roomate's boyfriends and I decided to head up towards their work, where most of the UN's NGO's live and surprise them. Two of them could leave with us (Meaghan and Caroline) and we went grocery shopping and made dinner. After dinner, more inebriates took hold of our languid bodies (me from walking, them from working) and we pretty much just went to sleep, unless I am forgetting something. I remember drinking enough before leaving the flat to lubricate me from the impending cold.

Saturday Meaghan took me around Geneva, and I explored the Old Town, sampled some fantastic Olive Oil, walked and walked and walked, ate Quiche and ended up in Globus, which is a Pusateri's for even richer people with FREE SAMPLES. We spent over an hour sampling brandy, apple ice cider, champagne, chocolate (oh the chocolate) and others before we ran into my friend Nat and headed back. After Globus, my other friend Eamon invited us for dinner, and the rest of the night is much of a blur. He cooked mexican food and had tons of Vodka, as well some new friends of his from Geneva. After dinner, we went to a Geneva Squat Bar, a weird place open after 2AM with 3 franc beers and odd people. Let's just say it was an experience.. of some kind. Eamon's balcony has a lovely view of the lake and the waterjet (a big shooting jet of water in the lake that is a sort of tourist trap), provided the perfect backdrop for a dinner party. It was all I could ask for. Thanks dude.

On Sunday we woke up late and I made brunch for everyone. It consisted of a veggie and brie quiche with potato topping and grilled sausages for the meat eaters... Plus plenty of bread and hummos. After brunch with Meaghan, her roomates Caroline and Melissa and Melissa's boyfriend Gavin, we went to the Carouge Christmas Market, which is a sort of German-themed craft market with mulled wine, Grogg (hot wine and vodka) and crafts. It was packed, as it was the only thing open, but I met up with Nat again which was nice. She and I did multimedia together so we have that kinship only us crazy mmedia folks can have... After crafts and tea (coffee for me), we went back to the flat and waited for Eamon to show up before heading out for a pint... After the pint, we came home to find Nat and Farhad's lovely girlfriend Nikki cooking us dinner, which was fantastic.. More beers followed and now I am back in Amsterdam, pooped and sad because I've returned to real life.

Quick Notes:
1. Switzerland is EXPENSIVE. Beware when you go. The girls stopped caring, as they knew it was a rich country.
2. I bought a shitload of chocolate.. Non-denominational holiday gifts for all.
3. Swiss Vodka is better than any other Vodka. You can drink it straight.


I am going back to North America on WED. How crazy. Where did the time go. wow.

Moving Day...

I did something today I thought I would never do. I moved house on a bike. Just me, and a bike.. one large duffel bag, one big box, a printer, knick-knacks, three knapsacks and 3 drums, on a bike. It wasn't an ordinary bike, however, it was a Bakfiets, a common bike in Amsterdam, but something that is so uniquely Amsterdam, uniquely Dutch, I feel like I have assimilated just that much more. Ook mijn nederlands sprecken nog ga ercht beter so I can really dive into this culture. I know my friend Renee will read this and point out the grammatical errors in the above, but I tried. Anywho, I biked a total of 15km today, as I had to make two trips (3km each) for a total of 12, plus hustle down to class and back home. It totals about 15km. My calves feel like steel and to be honest, I've never been in better shape in my life. I'm actually feeling somewhat self-confident about myself, as no more does running 40 metres wind me out. Now I can run at least a kilometre or two before I need a break. A picture of my moving vehicle is below. I'm going to Switzerland tomorrow to see my friend's Meghan, Farhad, Eamon, Nikki and Nat. Back on Monday and I'll update this along the way. Love ya.

Two Updates in One Day...


I just hope people read this and realize that Iraq and the Middle East are not the be all and end all of the problems in the world... Really, they are nothing compared to this:

NY Times Article

I feel horrible and helpless.

Paradoxes,

Life is one big paradox... All we try to do throughout life is try to even out these polarities as best we can, to achieve some sort of equilibrium. Some days these paradoxes unveil themselves beautifully, but others they are more transparent. Today has been one of those days... Thinking, thinking, thinking.. Switzerland in two days.

Here's an article I just published on Two Gallants. It's about race.

Two Gallants and Cold War Kids - 11.18 - JamBase

Case of the Mondays...

It's quite gloomy today. I woke up and it was raining, and it is still raining. The only difference is, it's 4:00PM now and quite dark outside. I am going out for dinner tonite so I will have to brave the rain once more on my bike; something I am excited about, lemme tell you.

I leave for Switzerland on THR, move a week today and then leave for 6 weeks to the Caribbean and Canada a week tomorrow, on DEC 20. Things are winding down in a way, and winding up in others. I sense an interested 2007 ahead, one that I pray is better than 2006. This was a rough year.

Definitely a day laced with pathetic fallacies. The weather is king.. Besides, I get all the news I need from it.

Writing...

I jut started work with a new magazine, Pop Matters. They are quite well respected in North America, and I'm looking forward to adding more global coverage to the site. Here is the second piece I wrote for them. Hope you enjoy.

Kelly Joe Phelps and Sarah Harmer - 11.23 - Amsterdam, NL

Howdy,

I'm tired. Absolutely knackered. shattered. all the above. I haven't seen the sun in over a week, and I've been told it doesn't grace Amsterdam until May. How fantastic. This is no medium to rant in, so I won't rant. I'm just pooped.

Living three separate lives is exhausting, but I guess at 23, its sorta the time to do it. I want to focus on one, but I don't know which one yet, so soldiering on I go. I get a break in a little over a week, with a jaunt down to Switzerland to see some friends. That will be nice.

So over the weekend, I met a crazy dude with my friend Farhad. I'm going to try and explain him, but it's one of those 'you had to see this man in person' people. He just sat next to us at Bagels and Beans on the Kinkerstraat in Amsterdam, and proceeded to wield off wikipedia-esque bullshit like it was a white house press conference. Here's a short list of what this mastermind told me.

1. John Lennon is from Hamburg and still alive.
2. His sister is from Dusseldorf
3. You can make the following from pine cones; tobacco, pot, hash, beer, cigars and peanut butter.
4. He built sets for Budweiser at the Montreal Jazz Fest.
5. He worked for 20 years in Paris as a glass blower.
6. My friend Halliday should change her name for fears of getting kidnapped by people looking for a holiday.
7. The owner of the Hilton chain has black hair and isn't named Hilton
8. Fats Domino played in a forest called Brabant in Holland and he had sex with his wife while it was happening.
9. I look like a pianist.
10. He once saw a movie in Ohio at a theatre modeled after one in Amsterdam. He took the 'flybus' to get there. (my friend Nikki from Cincinnati sparked this one)
11. He knew John Lennon 40 years ago in Germany (this one could be true)
12. There is some sort of correlation between the way a pine cone grows and the way a pineapple grows. (he had two pine cones in his pocket. God know where he got them in Amsterdam, a city bereft of Pine trees)
13. He does not drink, but he smokes and enjoys a fine smoke-gar.

I'm sure there was more. It was great. Puts a smile on my face thinking about it. I'm still pooped. Back to the essay. HAPPY SINTERKLAAS.

Oh, yesterday my friend Jared said at his canteen at the Conservatory van Amsterdam, the lunchlady's were serving them in Blackface to celebrate Sinterklaas. What a magical holiday.

Here's pics of Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piete, cause the sun is out for four minutes and I'm in the holiday spirit.

KAE SUN NEWS!

Tourdates

THR, Jan 11 - The Red Dog, Peterborough, ON
w/ The Jimmy Swift Band

FRI, Jan 12 - The Main Hall, Montreal, QC
w/ Fredyv and Black Soil and What The Thunder Said

WED, Jan 17 - Third Floor Reilly's, Toronto, ON
w/ Shad K and What The Thunder Said

THR, Jan 18 - The Pepper Jack Cafe, Hamilton, ON
w/ The Jimmy Swift Band

FRI, Jan 19 - Vinyl, Guelph, ON
w/ The Jimmy Swift Band

SAT, Jan 20 - TBA, Windsor, ON
w/ What The Thunder Said

BIO:

Fresh off winning the Hamilton Music Award for Hip-Hop Recording of the Year, Kae Sun will be hitting the road with his band in January before returning to the studio to record a follow-up to 2006s award-winning Soliloquy.

Kae Sun is hip hop's true believer; a diverse musician with an uplifting repertoire. Whether singing or rapping, Kae Sun communicates honesty and realism through a raw, inspired and soulful vocal style coupled with progressive and politically charged lyricism. As stated in Echo Weekly, Kae Sun "abandons bling for brains, as his words both embrace and transcend the human condition." Over the past few years, in collaboration with several musicians and bands, Kae Sun has initiated a sound deeply rooted within but not restricted to the traditions of reggae, soul, funk, gospel and hip-hop music.

Soliloquy released in January 2006 under Toronto based Life Records Entertainment debuted to a sold out audience of over 300 in Hamilton. Subsequently, Soliloquy garnered heavy underground and local recognition leading to favourable press coverage, a tour of southern Ontario and heavy rotation on college radio including charting with McMaster's CFMU. Furthermore, the album garnered attention as far as Memphis, Tennessee and Amsterdam, including a request to have "Kidnapped" and "Stay Up" featured in an independent movie in Austria. "Stay Up" has also been featured on Pulse Radio in London, UK. Kae Sun has also been featured as the cover story with both Hamilton's VIEW Magazine and Kitchener/Waterloo's ECHO Weekly, and he received acclaimed press in the Hamilton Spectator, McMaster Silhouette, London Free Press, MonkeyBiz and Music in Ghana. Kae Sun has shared the stage with Jackie Richardson, DK Ibomeka, Shad K, K-os, Bob Egan of Blue Rodeo, Vanderpark and many other Canadian bands and musicians from across the genre map.

Live, Kae Sun is a force. Each stage performance, whether performing alone, with an acoustic act or full band, is a spiritual journey encompassing the best of the secular and sacred paradigms at once. Kae Sun's music is heartfelt, thoughtful, incisive and critical without being exhaustively didactic. Whether rhyming or singing, Kae Sun reminds you that while there is eternal beauty among us, there is always work to be done to make things better for everyone. A true testament of the engagingly personal culture of Western Africa, Kae Sun is the perfect blend of old and new, foreign and familiar, groove and soul. Political, spiritual, prolific, melodic and soulful, Kae Sun proves that hip-hop is flourishing without the shackles of demeaning lyricism, gangsta-intonation and negativity. Come see for yourself. Kae Sun will be supporting Below Me Music Artists The Jimmy Swift Band in Hamilton and Guelph, Shad K in Toronto and Fredyv and Black Soil in Montreal. Guelph's What The Thunder Said will be accompanying Kae Sun throughout the tour as his support band, as well as playing sets of their own.

Download Soliloquy for FREE at www.shainhouse.com/kaesun.zip
Website: www.kaesunmusic.com
Myspace: www.myspace.com/kaesun
Sonicbids: www.sonicbids.com/kaesun
TagWorld: www.tagworld.com/kaesunmusic
Blog: www.kaesunmusic.blogspot.com
PureVolume: www.purevolume.com/kaesun

Press Quotes:

..While combining traditional African rhythms, the characteristic boom bap sound of hip hop, and spirit cleansing soul, Kae comments on social issues and provides a much needed dose of spiritual emancipation. He abandons bling for brains, and his words both embrace and transcend the human condition... -Denise de la Frenier .. Echo Weekly

..Soulful, socially conscious Canadian hip-hop has a new name to champion. And since K-os and K..Naan have proven the success of the letter K, it won..t be too difficult to embrace Kae Sun .. especially since he sounds so good... .. Lori Mastronardi, London Free Press.

..His new album, Soliloquy, also lives in two worlds, so to speak, combining the rhythms of hip-hop with live instrumentation. The songs combine the western and the African, the gospel and the secular, the social and the spiritual... .. James Tennant, Hamilton Spectator

..Lyrically and musically, Kae Sun's expression is for the most part competent and cosmopolitan, melodic and mature, and even at times as inspiring as it is inspired, casting aside the boasting that permeates pop hip hop and delving into his own musical roots from the classics... - Ric Taylor, View Magazine, Hamilton

Procrastination,

By writing this blog entry, I am procrastinating. I have been doing so all day, despite the betterment of the situation. If I did my work, then I could party; but I party, instead of doing my work. And the circle, goes round and round. I've yet to paint a pony either.

It's getting colder, which is good because the colder it gets, the less I feel like the world is going to hell. Warmth, especially on December 1st, is not a good sign. Yet, the way we seem to be continuing along in our way of life, hope is facetious. It has just been that kind of day, it seems.

This weekend is reserved for work, and I truly believe I can feel accomplished - a rarity in my life - by Sunday night. I promised to reward myself with drinks on Sunday, but I'm sipping some Belgian ale as we speak, so I'm a bit of a cheater. Aren't we all?

more later.

What a day,

It didn't start out eventful, but I really had an interesting finish to the work day. After some meetings and class, I went back to my friends' for lunch and some studying. Following that., my friend Renee and I were biking home, and we kept getting cut off by a Volvo on a canal road. Canal Roads, like Prinscengracht, Keizersgracht etc. that ring around Amsterdam are narrow, and if a car is meandering through them, bikes can't get past. We were baffled why this car kept stopping and starting - it almost even stopped on a tee and I was two feet from smacking into the back of this car (don't worry mom, I'm fine). So we went around the car finally on the sidewalk, and we found out why this car was driving so erratically.

In the car was SINTERKLAAS and ZWARTE PIETE. For the uneducated, Sinterklaas is a religious, Dutch version of Santa Claus who represents a different holiday altogether, Sinterklaas on Dec 5. There is only one Sinterklass; the same man plays him every year, and there he was, waving to us in the car, staff in hand and sidekick, Zwarte Piete (Black Pete) beside him. It's a rarity to ever see Sinterklaas live, and Renee and I almost got run over my him. I'm still laughing. Even Zwarte Piete was all decked out in blackface (google it if you are curious) and big hoop earrings. It was surreal. We couldn't stop laughing in amazement as we biked past the Volvo. So there you have it Dutch kids, Sinterklaas doesn't ride a white horse, he drives a Volvo.

After criss-crossing through rush hour and taking the usual route home, I biked over a broken bottle and a piece of glass, about 1cm thick got lodged in my front tire, flattening it. I ended up walking home - about 2 miles - and dropped the bike off at the shop. It needed oil anyways.

There you have it. Happy Sinterklaas,

Tot Ziens!

Meneer Shain Shapiro

Sweet Adeline...

I love Phish. I hadn't listened to them in a while and after 15 minutes into "David Bowie," I am hooked again. They remain the best band ever. hands down. The Beatles are up there too.

Okay, I realized something yesterday after my program. Throughout our four year journey into undergraduate academic trancendence, we are just climbing up a mountain - and at the top of the mountain is a great wall. Once you graduate, you have reached the wall, but have yet to scale it. This Cultural Analysis program is pretty much just us flinging ourselves at the wall consistently, bruising our shoulders and frustrating our minds. We seem to keep trying to find a way to scale it, theorize the right way to get over the wall, but every time we try, it fortifies itself and becomes that much more impenetrable. Then, once we graduate and move onto PhD work, we don't climb over the wall, we just become the wall.

So here I am, drowning in essays, trying to become a small brick on a wall that no one has ever climbed over. It makes me feel like I may be that missing piece that meets the Big O, or that the big O is doomed to never finding that missing piece, because it never existed in the first place.

I'm off to read. love you.

Saturday,

What a lazy day. All I've done is written a paper, poorly I might add, and now Im exhausted. I'm thinking I'm going to go out for dinner for once, as I never, almost never do that. Yesterday, in a a rare with being a normal person, I went to Wagamama with my friend Gail and her sister and it was lovely. People actually eat out; who da thunk it?

Turns out I am moving. Not right now, but in January. I love my flat (and those who have been here can attest); it was amazing. It's just a bit too expensive for me right now, and I need to downsize. Turns out the first place I look at is perfect. Big, sunny, a great neighbourhood despite being a little further south - meaning out of town - then where I am, and my roomate/landlord seems to be lovely as well. I'm going to accept the deal next week and pack before I head off to Switzerland.

Now I have to find someone to rent this room by Jan 1. Drew up an ad today and will have it posted next week, so hopefully we'll get someone relatively normal, as Alex deserves someone as fantastic as me! Just kidding. Better than me I hope. No new news other than that. Tour promotion starts next week. fun fun fun.

my 100th post!

It'll be short. Here's a review of a Cat Power show in Amsterdam on 11.3

Hope You Enjoy It - Click Here.

-Love Ya

More immigration woes...

Looks like I'm back to square one mississauga with my immigration paperwork, as my residence permit was rejected because of an oversight and a typo. My Uni is helping me with another application, which will be accepted because it going directly through them. 5 months now and I'm still in limbo. I hate limbo-ing; don't have the knees for it.

Other than that, it's rain rain rain and work work work. Have lofty aspirations for tonight, and this is the last thing I'm doing that isn't academic before I buckle down and giv'r. Went to the market today and saw two litres of mustard for 1 euro. I was curious. Very curious. I didn't buy it.

Listening to Sufjan Stevens and John Coltrane tonite. Should be relaxing. Oh, and I'm playing a show tomorrow at Bitterzoet in Amsterdam with my friends, The Show, from Toronto. They are here because of the Cannabis Cup, and I'm sitting in on percussion. At least methinks that is what is happening. Come one, come all. No cover.

Lazy Sunday;

Lots and lots and lots to do... little motivation to do it.. or a lot of motivation and just plain lazy. I have gotten some work done, but need to do more. It never ends. Gonna try and watch The Grey Cup tonite because I'm Canadian.

J.S. leaves tomorrow.. ce la vie.. It's been great having him around. Also, I have decided that the Netherlands needs to enact no smoking legislation, simply because I am doing way too much fucking laundry. Anytime I go anywhere, I smell like an ashtray. Ashtrays ain't sexy.

Listening to the Burt Neilson Band, feeling slightly nostalgic. I'm also just sitting on MSN, ignoring my work as per usual and waiting for the start of the week... I did get a lot done today, but not enough. fun fun fun.

Dave Matthews,

Well, I got to the ticket shop at 10AM and counted eight people ahead of me. After six of them, the show was Uitverkocht, or SOLD OUT. Gail is going to kill me.

Also, on another note, J.S. and I saw some riot police in full gear in Amsterdam a few ays ago. Fun!

Africa,

Howdy. Quick Post.

Here's a piece that I worked on for ages and have finally been published. It's about African Hip-Hop. Best-

African Hip-Hop Piece

Also, Musical Recommendation. The Slip's new album, Eisenhower is quite possibly the best album I've heard this fall. Every song is gorgeous... Ah, just for the hell of it, here is a top 12 - in no particular order - of fantastic albums released in 2006. Hit up iTunes and get these!

1. The Slip - Eisenhower
2. Guster - Ganging up on the Sun
   
3. Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat
4. Pilate - Sell Control for Life's Speed
5. Patrick Watson - Weight of the World
6. Islands - Return to the Sea
7. K'Naan - The Dusty Foot Philsopher
8. Sigur Ros - TAKK
9. Magic Numbers - Those The Brokes
10. Two Gallants - What The Toll Tells
11. My Brightest Diamond - Bring me the Workhorse
12. (bonus) - Hidden Cameras - Awoo

Howdy;

For some reason, I can't get the Full House theme song out of my head. But I digress...

Things are well, the same really. I am currently booking a January tour for my band, Kae Sun, which is slowly but surely coming together. Here are the cities we're playing, but nothing is 100% confirmed so I cannot divulge anything else; Ottawa, Kingston, Montreal, Toronto, Hamilton, Guelph and London. Toronto will be extremely special as Shad K will be joining us, while other special guests are almost confirmed for other dates. I'll be promoting heavily, as I always do, so keep an ear out for that and I'll see you at the shows.

School is chugging along as well; I am beginning my final semester essays and formulating my senior thesis project, which begins in the Spring. I'm also writing the odd article when I have time, controversial and not. I just interviewed Bruce Hornsby, a legend in his own right, so check that out HERE.

I've also changed the colour of my blog, just for shits and giggles. I like to keep things relatively fresh and interesting, and new colour is a great way to change without actually changing anything. Oh no, I've let you in on my secret. Expect some more 'changes' soon, hehe.

Finally, I'm quite busy with reviews, as I have Two Gallants (11.18), Sarah Harmer (11.23 - Jordan's Birthday) and Minus The Bear (11.30) coming up this month. I'm also seeing The Roots with my lovely friend Gail on 11.22, which is a week yesterday, or next Wednesday.

So life swims and flutters along... My friend J.S. is staying with me till Monday and turning my new MAC into a super-duper-ultra-mega-techno-star machine, as he is a Mac wiz. The things you can do with it are hyperbolic; amazing, awesome! He also fixed a problem with my Ipod and may have recovered all my music from my external HD. He is the wind beneath my wings.

That's all... Love ya in green.

Howdy,

I just wrote an article about Panic! at the Disco for JamBase, a website that focuses on music that almost paradoxically, by mainstream standards, differentiates from the band in question. Pushing buttons is good though, and good music is good music, so we went ahead with it. Check out the article and comments here, as I feel like the Danish newspaper after they published cartoons of Muhammed. Alright, not that bad. Here's the piece.

Other than that, I learned how to moderate comments today and saw that I had a bunch. Wow, I can be an idiot sometimes. I'll respond to them now.

"When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all" - Futurama

How True. I realize this more and more...

Rememberance Day...

RIP Alli, Stan, Scott, Florence, Oscar, Sam, Celia and everyone else I've lost in the last few years. Love you all.

Bedouin Soundclash and Airports...

I am sick of Airports. I have been in so many I can't even count, and I have experienced the whole gamut of services, annoyances, time-delays and such. I've decided that airports enrage me so much that I'm going to devote my thesis to exploring how airports and the culture they engender affect us, the travellers. Think about it, in airports you can get drunk at 6AM, are encouraged to buy smokes, booze and perfume, pay ghastly amounts of money for basics and have to be poked and prodded just to be given the privilege to be in them. They are unique places, places of another world, and I'm interested. My brain is ticking.

I went to Tilburg on Tuesday (southwestern NL for the geographically challenged) to see friends of mine, The Bedouin Soundclash. It was their first ever continental European show as part of the Vans Antidote tour with Gogol Bordello, Disco Ensemble and Danko Jones, and even though they are huge in the UK, no one knows them in Europe. Ended up hanging out with them all day, had a blast and then endured a three stopover, 3 hour train-ride at 1AM back from Tilburg to Amsterdam. They only have 'local' trains that late, and Amsterdam Centraal was 14 stops from Rotterdam, which was 8 stops from Den Bosch, which was 4 stops from Tilburg. Tilburg is quite pretty though; like a tiny Amsterdam without all the problems.

So now I am sitting in the computer lab at school waiting for a friend to get off of work. I've gone out every night this week, despite my lack of funds and un-lack of work, and tonight is the same. I've yet to see Borat, so tomorrow I may give him a watch at home and relax. I have a massive presentation on Susan Sontag due Monday, so that's my weekend. Yee-haw.

I'm quite proud of the Iceland piece, and I have a few more in the works for the next few weeks. I just interviewed Bruce Hornsby today and wrote an article, and have pieces on Panic at the Disco, Mala Jube and Cat Power in the pipelines. I'm also looking for more higher profile work, so if anyone knows anyone.. hehe.

Other than that, things are relatively hunky dory. I feel directed and directionless at the same time... ambitious and lazy... paradoxical. I want to do everything, but I know it's impossible. Still, things are chugging along; Kae Sun has some shows in January and I'm going to rejoin the band on stage for a few of them, and we're going to start making the new album in January. Also, logo design and company stuff is in the works, and I'm reworking all our promotional material. I'm also slowly redesigning my website, with the help of my friend Kevin, and writing the odd paper now and then.

So there you have it. comprehensive and fresh.. toodle-oo.

ICELAND AIRWAVES FESTIAL REVIEW... ON JAMBASE

That is all.

Sunday,

My camera is giving me fits with my new computer and I cannot seem to get the pictures from Prague off it right now. The new MAC is fantastic, but I do have three growing pains that need sorting out, so off to the Mac store I will go this week to see if they can't use their expertise to assuage my idiocy.

Well, Prague Prague Prague... Forgive me blog and the 4 readers who check it out for not updating while I was there, but Internet was limited and I was not there to check my e-mail. I will try below to give some sort of a synopsis of my traversing in Prague. It wasn't all that entertaining, so it shouldn't take too long.

I arrived in Prague at the airport on Monday afternoon, after a wretched experience at Schipol, which is Amsterdam's airport. Everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE was there a line, and I think I waited for atleast 3 hours just going through the motions. Fun. I met my mom at the hotel in Central Prague after meandering through their public transport system from the airport. It was lovely to see my mom after all these months, and we ended up having a lovely time.

For the most part, Prague was spent walking around. Minus a bit of sightseeing, some shopping, lots of eating, some drinking and a few other surprises, we walked, walked and walked. My mom surprised me by the amount she could walk. She's a tough cookie, lemme tell you.

Prague is gorgeous, like most medieval European cities. A main square in the old town, a great Bridge called 'Charles' Bridge' that snakes across the river, a massive castle at the top of a hill, lots of exploratory alleyways and plenty of breathtaking facades. It was overly touristic, like almost to the point where it is a caricature of itself in some ways, but beautiful regardless. We walked around the Jewish Quarter and explored the city's Jewish heritage, including venturing inside one of the oldest synagogues. We counteracted that by hitting up an amazing church that was as otentatious as Versailles. It was amazing. The effort people go into to please God. If God was an interior designer, he'd (or she'd) ask people to probably tone it down a bit, as these houses of worship were as colourful as the remnants of a Saturday night on a Leeds' sidewalk. I couldn't live in those churches/synagogues. God needs sunglasses 24/7. Beautiful regardless.

The Prague Castle is immense and built on top of a huge hill that I walked up at 9PM. There were guards outside standing still and when I went, it was quiet. My mom didn't come with me as she was usually tuckered out after dinner. Another gospelized, middle century triumph, lemme tell you.

Eating in Prague was lovely too. We tried to maximize the Czech food, and found some fantastic restaurants along the way. 'pravda' was one I distinctly remember, and I had one meal where the wine list was encyclopaedic. Also, there was a bar around the corner from our hotel that served traditional czech beer (and food) including Pilzen, Kozel and Budvar for 30 krowns (about $1.25 CDN)! I studied there everyday, lemme tell you. The beer was so cheap, after 3 or pints, studying became facetious.

One night got crazy. I went to an Irish Pub to study (stupid move) and met these two Glaswegians who were watching football. After the game and some drinks, we went to this nightclub that was four stories high, and inside was a Contiki Tour. Needless to say, the reasonably priced White Russians make the rest of the story short. It was fun. I stumbled home in the freezing cold at 5AM.

I was fucking freezing, by the way. Noticeably freezing. Oh, we also did a horse and buggie ride and walked along the river for a while. It was lovely. So there you have it. Prague. Done by Shain.

Back home to real life now. More later.

Recap...

This is not going to be nearly as long as it should be, because my last week has been quite insane, but here goes. I did write a 3000+ word review of the festival which will be up on JamBase next week, so I'll post it when it does. I'll also post links to my picture page and my friend Dominique's, so one can get a 'feel' of some sorts as to the beauty of Iceland.

Firstly, I will be back next year, if all is well. One cannot predict tomorrow, let alone next year. I met some life-long friends, had a blast and see no reason not to return. Iceland is just such a breathtakingly unique place; one that will be visited countless times in the future, if all is well.

While most of the weekend was spent seeing music and floating around Reykjavik, I did get outside the city twice; once to the famous Blue Lagoon hot spring/spa and the other to the Golden Circle, a triage of tourist spots that famously dot Reykjavik's surrounding areas. The three include the site of the world's first parliament, a geyser and a crazy-ass waterfall. Everything was larger than life.

I saw the Northern Lights as well, as I had proclaimed last week. There were so many moment I truly felt refreshed, invigorated, exceptionally creative and at the top of the world. It was cathartic. I believe somewhere in the glaciers of the country, Alli is having the time of her afterlife. She would have loved it.

Band wise, the festival was top-notch, both locally and internationally. We saw music from 5PM - 3AM straight each day, really only stopping for dinner. I was sick the entire week, and I couldn't care less. I partied till the sun came up, because that is what you do in Reykjavik on weekend. Their was still a queue at 7AM when I left a bar once. It was surreal. truly surreal.

Now I am in London, and London has been lovely. I spent a day fiddling about with my friend Shirin, saw some shows (Panic at the Disco and Shady Bard), spent some time with my brother and friends Eamon, Brady and Jerry and got a lot of work done... Meetings, Meetings, Meetings...

Now I am leading three simultaneous lives (music, writing and school - importance in reverse order with the latter two equal), busy as a beaver and generally happy. The worst summer of my life has at least pushed some karma towards a brighter fall. The weather isnt horrible either.

Dominique's Pics
My Pics

Back in London,

I need to write up a lengthy report on Iceland, but I have a lengthy report on Iceland due for JamBase ASAP, and I am no where near complete. It is extremely difficult summing up six days of debauchery in 4000 words, especially when you can't recount every single moment. One thing I do know is I met some wonderful people, had a blast and throughout this week, hope to slowly but surely update my blog in order to really provide the best recap, in as informal a manner as possible, as to what happened in Iceland. Right now it is pouring here in London, I am sitting in my brother's attic pondering the best method to write this article. I guess it's time for an intellectual purge, or whatever comes from it.

More pictures at www.shainhouse.myphotoalbum.com as well...

love ya

I love Iceland...

I saw the NORTHERN LIGHTS yesterday; it was one of the most mesmerizing moments of my life. That is all for now. God I am in love with this country and its people.

MORE PICTURES HERE!

Hangover Morning,

I didn't drink a sip last night and I feel hungover. My lips are chapped because of the cold (walked home in about -20 windchill last night), too.

Yesterday was something else. I started the day walking around Reykjavik, taking pictures. I got a bunch of lovely ones, and they are stored HERE. That link is to my photo album. Then I went to see some music, starting at the 12 Tonar Music Store for Hot Club de Paris. Then after meeting some folks and hitting up an industry show, went for a not-horribly expensive dinner and then saw a bunch of music, including Mates of State, Tilly and the Wall, Hot Club de Paris, The Klaxons and a fantastic set from Metric. Ended the night checking out Germans' The Whitest Boy Alive and back to the press-only bar for some drinks. My cold finally caught up to me at 2:30AM and home I went. Thankfully this town is so small you can walk from one end to another in 20 minutes... It sure was windy, and unfortunately there were no Northern Lights, but I have a few more tries for that.

Today is up in the air and tomorrow I'm going to the Blue Lagoon. I'm seeing Islands, Wolf Parade and som Icelandic bands tonite.

Hi,

Being sick caught up with me last night and I gave up; after dinner I went straight to bed, and now that I've slept 12 hours, I feel much better, and with medication, I'm set to attack Reykjavik today. I've decided to try and se as much of this place today as I can, and then try and meet someone who wants to rent a car with me, so I can see the countryside a bit tomorrow.

There is something about this place I love... I havent put my finger on it yet though. The sun coming up at 10AM is nice; the shower smelling like a hot spring, the country growing most of their crops organically in greenhouses, the lovely people, the fact that it is NOT that cold (it's 1 degree right now)... Apparantely the population is made up of about 2% foreigners, or 10,000 people... I could live here. I think. If I'm making kronas, then its not as expensive. Plus utilities here are super cheap. My friends pay a quarter of the electricity most european countries pay. The windows are open right now.

Metric and others tonite. I'll drug myself up and make sure I'm there.

Iceland,

I am sitting here at my friend Bjarni's apartment in Reykjavik, Iceland. I have had a hell of a long day. It started at 5AM in Amsterdam and it is still continuing, as We Are Scientists are playing tonite down the street.

I like Reykjavik. It's small. Very small. Reminds me a little bit of the arctic, maybe of what Whitehoue may look like if it was invaded by the Danish. Their flat is opposite a fjord which ends at a glacier. It's gorgeous. Here are some pictures to start...

Iceland...


Well, priorities aside, I leave for Iceland tomorrow with a bit of a sore throat and plenty of excitement. I'll update with pics and info each day hopefully, so please visit if interested :)

Also, I'll be going to see Panic! At the Disco in London on 10.24 when I return... It's gonna be an eventful week... one full of life. I wish Alli was here to enjoy it with me, but in a way, I still think she is.

Technology...

I'm listening to Belle and Sebastian right now... It's amazing how soothing and comforting they can be.

Anyway, technology has certainly been kicking me in the ass lately. Here is a quick summary of my boring life...

1. My computer broke.. so I bought a brand new MacBook. It's an investment and I love it to death.
2. My external harddrive crashed and I lost about half of my music collection. I'm heartbroken, but it's just music and I can get it back. I have to send the drive back to Maxtor in Austria or something, so that's ongoing.
3. My camera broke, so I bought another one. I had my mom send me one from Canada, but it got stolen in the post. Thank god for insurance.
4. My blender, electric razor and two adaptors also crashed and have gone the way of old yeller.
5. My ipod speakers broke. Thank god my ipod is still working. I'd be screwed without it. If I lost all that music, I'd be really hurt.

So there... technology sucks. Other than that, things are hunky dory.. Researching a bit, writing a bit, applying to some new jobs as well, or trying to... I'm leaving for Iceland on Wednesday, so I have a lot to do to prepare.

peace-

The Magic...


The Magic Numbers were amazing. Easily the best club show I've seen in some time, or at least one I can remember. I went alone, didn't drink and had a blast. It was that fantastic. First show I've paid for in a while; I'm glad it was worth the 20 euros. Go see em if you can... I'm so glad I don't have to review it, I can just relish in enjoying it for the fun of it. Magical.

Today was also a fairly good day. Felt Alli was trolling along with me for much of it. Class went by fairly quickly, had a great introductory meeting with my thesis advisor and enjoyed the sun, especially when I sat and ate lunch at the edge of a canal. I love this city sometimes... It has that 'affect.'

More trouble with immigration, however, so that is bringing me down. It should be sorted on Thursday, but who the fuck knows with this country. The more horror stories I have, the more I realize they are commonplace.

8 days till Iceland...

Hello,

I have a fairly eventful few days coming up... All music related.

Last night I saw Matt Costa at the Melkweg. I really enjoyed it and wrote a review that will end up in Relix at some point. Tonight I'm going back to the same venue for The Black Keys and Blood Meridian. The company I work for, Belmont Bookings, handles the latter, so we're going for support. Tomorrow is a day-off, even though there is a festival in Assen with Ryan Adams and others. Sunday is a big day, as The Hidden Cameras, a favourite from home play with I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness and Kelley Stoltz at the Paradiso, two other artists Belmont handles. It's a night featuring Indie music. Great line-up. While the money is tight, a last-minute show was announced from The Magic Numbers on Monday night, so I may just bite the cash bullet and go after Dutch class, as I really love the band. I may be too exhausted though, we'll see. The crazy time is closed off with Xavier Rudd and Keller Williams, back at the Melkweg on Tuesday. Mogwai is also playing on Sunday, but I can't do everything.

It's been raining a lot lately. Since I returned from Leeds on Sunday, it hasn't stopped raining. It's pouring as I type. It ain't stopping my plans, however.

more later.