Quick Update...

My adoring fans would hate me if I didn't update this every now and again, right? I wish I had something interesting to tell you, an anecdote or funny thing that happened to me, but alas, no. I do like the word 'alas.' It is so Dickensian. Fun.

I've been giving tours of Amsterdam in my spare time for a company linked HERE. I've been making good money on these tours, and telling people lots of stories along the way. I know a shitload about this city now... not as much as other guides, but enough to bullshit my way through a three-hour walking tour. Come on one with me if you want.

My bike is also broken. Really, really broken. It needs to be fixed. The back tire not only moving like a wheel, but also side-to-side, as the spokes are loose and my gears are broken. Its an expensive fix. Thank god for tour guiding.

A long week...

I haven't had much time update, because I have been busier than Paris Hilton's parole counselor. zing. Oh topical humour. It's a lark. But I digress. I am sitting here in my new flat, watching the weather change every ten minutes from sun to downpour and back trying to catch up on some work. I moved on Tuesday. What fun that was. or was it Wednesday.

Well, when I arrived back from Canada, sans-sleep, I had a quick brekkie at the only cafe that was open at 8AM, loaded all my stuff into a cab and headed to my new place, on the other end of town. I live in Amsterdam East, or Oost as the Dutch call it, and all my other places have been in the West or South. This place is great though, albiet tough to describe. I live in the attic, but the rest of the flat is on the second floor, so I have to bypass another apt altogether to get to the bathroom and kitchen. It's more than fine, and my flatmates, both asleep beside me right now, are fantastic. I feel adopted into a little family, and I'm not sure if they read this, but I hope they feel the same way.

Things are busy as all hell with work. In addition to writing papers, or faking the writing of papers, I am booking a tour for Kae Sun, organizing an album release dealing with shitloads of legalese, writing for DrownedinSound - well, not that much cause Mike does everything - and trying to have some semblance of a social life. It's good fun. Today I took a break and went food shopping, one of the many things I have to do to fully 'move in' to this place. I went to a few Turkish places, got all sorts of fun things, like Plantains and Pumpkin and delicious things like that... dinner is planned tonite. I'm going to make pumpkin soup; or at least try.

Lots of things on tap until July 5, when I leave Amsterdam again for a few weeks. I am back in Holland for a few days, including July 12 to go to North Sea Jazz, before leaving from July 13 - 31. I'm going all over, and will update the blog. Until then, I have to make soup and forget how behind I am on my work.

much love.

My Primavera Sound Review along with Mike Diver and Kev Kharas...

http://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/2061026

enjoy
Shain

Been a while...

I can't believe Professor Robert Hamilton, probably the sole person responsible for my move to Holland reads my blog. I am amazed at the amount of people who actually read this verbal bullshit I spew. Really. I feel horrible for not updating it all that often, nor reading much of anyone else's blog. I mean well, but I'm super busy and lack proper internet access sometimes on my travels. Well, here goes with another blog entry, and I promise it to be a doozy, as I'll explain my week covering Primavera Sound in Barcelona.

Low cost airlines have the craziest flight times. I was due to arrive in Barcelona at 12AM on WED May 30, or early THR morning, whichever suits your fancy. We were twenty minutes late, so I arrived around 12:30AM. I met a lovely Greek girl on the plane who lives in Barcelona, and she helped me take the night airport bus into Catalunya Square, where I took the N11 bus to the last stop to meet my friend who lives in Badalona, which is way the fuck in the suburbs. What he didn't know is that the last stop changed, and I was taken up this mountain and dropped off at a hospital, alone, at 3AM. I called him laughing, and he couldn't believe where I was. I walked in, asked for a cab and took a €10 ride back down this black mountain to his house, where he was standing outside in hysterics. I passed out immediately.

Another guy was staying at his house, Chabby from Austria, and I spent much of the next day with him until I was to meet up with Mike and Kev from DiS to begin our Primavera coverage. We went shopping in the morning, explored Badalona and then took the Rodales city train into Catalunya and floated around the old town, stopping for a Durum Kebab. We strolled down La Ramblas, got some juice at the Boquiera market and went to the beach. It was nice.

Around 5PM I headed off on the metro to Selva De Mar to meet Mike and Kev. We had a few beers and strolled to the Forum, where the festival was. I then waited in line for two fucking hours to get my ticket, as we picked the wrong line to wait in and the pace was slow. It all ended well, I had my ticket, and we spent the rest of the night drinking, seeing live music and floating around the festival site. That continued for four days.

I met up with a fellow writer, Claire, who lived much closer than Badalona from the festiva (even though I found out Badalona was the next suburb over) and I went back to hers at 8AM it seemed and fell asleep. She has to go to work the next morning so I was back out, exploring Barcelona.

I had to move house that day, from Badalona to the centre, so I meandered through trains and subways and four hours later I was in the centre at my new couch surfing home, Nick. His place was fantastic, and he proved a gracious host. Then I was back to Primavera for another night.

At Primavera there was a seperate area specifically for press that had free booze, sponsored by Estrella Dam and Red Bull. The thing was, the area (which we called the island at that is pretty much what it was) was only audible to the main stage and was restricted, so we couldn't bring beer out. That meant a lot of hanging out on the island, including seeing The Smashing Pumpkins, the Fall, Sonic Youth, Patti Smith, Wilco and Maximo Park, among many others. The festival itself was great, tons and tons of music, average food, 5 stages, a music bazaar... Saw many a bands, in which will be published tomorrow, so I won't talk much about it. I will say that the venue was a concrete wasteland, quite postmodern, right on the sea, so a few stages actually backed onto the sea. It was beautiful and ugly at once, and there was a nice breeze filled with saltwater that made my glasses foggy. They also had tons of handicapped porty-potteys, so I peed pretty for four days. I hate those open urinals.. just not for me.

Saturday involved some beach time. I went to the beach near Mike and Kev's hotel, which happened to be a nude beach. Ah, when in roam right... It was a bit odd being completely surrounded by naked people, but it felt kinda free and in some ways, right. It was like people weren't hiding who they were, at all... Forty minutes of naked sun-burning and I was spent.

Back to the hotel and back to the festival on Saturday, which ended extremely late, so Sunday was a late day. I did a bit of sightseeing - but I reserved much of that for Monday - and had a fantastic dinner with Nick and his friends, in which I cooked up a storm. I made daal (thanks Alan), basmati rice, stuffed tomatoes with Okra and drinks and appetizers. Dessert was provided by two amazing French girls and some kickass chocolate, and we drank like freshman. It was truly an amazing experience, one I'll remember for a long time, and one I thank Nick for. After that, I went to see Malajube and Of Montreal at the Apolo, which for a lack of a better word, was AMAZING.

On Monday I went to Parc Guell, which is a park designed by Gaudi. It was glorious. Then I met another friend (Katie) and strolled around Gracia, her area. We had beer, got soccer balls kick at us by rowdy kids and ate falafel and gelato. well I had gelato. After that it was a lovely dinner with my friend Nick and bed, before I headed off to the airport for a 6AM flight.

Yesterday I flew back to AMS, went home for an hour, moved some stuff into a storage room and then flew to Toronto. NXNE and Joe's wedding in tomorrow. lots of work to do this weekend. more updating later. here are a few pics :)

Busy Busy Busy..

This will be the last blog update for a while, as I am swamped this weekend and early next week, leading up to my trip to Barcelona on WED night. I have lots of work, in addition me moving on TUE to a new flat in Amsterdam. Again. I'm downsizing for the summer, as I don't need a luxurious place when I'm rarely around to live in it. At least that's the thought.

Lastly, I want to say how much good music I've been privy to this week. I saw Antibalas and Hanne Hukkelberg last week, and followed that with Andrew Bird and K-Os, in which my friend Ben plays bass, last night. Primavera Sound is kickass too, which will be a fun work/vacation.

till later.

Home,

I am staring at flowers that were given to me and are now dying. They are on my kitchen table; I got them a week ago, so them dying isn't a metaphor or anything, just life. I don't feel this blog post has to be about anything in particular. I'm just wasting 10 minutes before I have to run off, and I thought a bunch of useless ramblings would be fun to jot down.

Nothing much is happening here. I'm off to Barcelona for work next week, and then back to Canada for a week for Joe's wedding, one of my closest friends. He's a year older than me and getting married; I guess I'm getting old. Plus other friends have already gotten married, had kids, all that jazz. More feeling old. Work is progressing. The new Kae Sun album is done. If you want, we posted two songs at our Sonicbids page, "Stay Up" and "Where Did Everybody Go." Both are political songs, to a different extent, and if you like them, lemme know :)

It's been gloomy today, as it was yesterday. Typical Dutch weather, I guess. I see Dutch weather and Dutch food in the same light. They are both white, grey or yellow, don't do much for the soul and aren't worth writing home about. Minus stroopwafels of course, and suikerwafels.

More Later...

International Life...

This week especially, I feel international. Yesterday I had coffee with two Turkish girls from Couch Surfing, and dinner and a tour of Alkmaar from a Fijian, with promises that she's bringing her friend from Nepal around next time. Today I have drinks with my new flatmates, who are from Portugal and Greece. Tonite I'm seeing Antibalas, a band from Brooklyn, with a British couple, my Canadian friend and my Trinidadian flatmate. Wow, I feel insignificant. Being Canadian feels so boring.

Shain

VNO-NCW Conference,

Today I stood up in front of about 800 people at the VNO-NCW West Business Conference in Holland and told a bunch of big wigs how flawed their immigration system is. To add some context, I was added as a guest speaker along with two other students to this business conference, which is essentially aimed at making Amsterdam more internationally friendly for corporations. The VNO-NCW is the chamber of commerce, and this was their big gala ceremony. The CEO of Siemens, a great guy mind you, asked me a bunch of questions, and we decided it would be best to lambaste the IND (immigration and naturalisation dept) for treating me like a criminal. The Dutch immigration system, like most European countries, is fundamentally flawed, which has caused a whole mess of issues, including me going through hell for a residence permit.

Plus, a lot of student friends who graduate with a 1 year MA from UvA leave and go home. Why the hell would the Dutch want that? Wouldn't the business want to keep the knowledge here, where it was fostered? Wouldn't it be good for the country to employ smart, tax paying expats who excel in specialized positions? I think so, and therefore decided to make my voice heard in front of some important people, including the CEO's on ABN AMRO, KPMG Europe, ING and the vice-mayor of Amsterdam.

It's funny. Everyone agreed with me. Thanked me even. Yet, I have no faith the system will change in my lifetime, even though these powerful folks have the means to do so. This is an amazing country, with a troubled integration policy. Canada is the same in many respects.

I also discovered, thanks to my lovely friend Nina, that when you eat asparagus, your urine smells. She pointed it out to me at the best possible time, right in the middle of a delicious Dutch style asparagus gratin with Gouda. At least the dessert was brilliant - aardbei (strawberries) with slagroom (whipped cream) and hagelslag (chocolate sprinkles). Plus an open bar.

A very open bar. sweet.

Work...

I have a shitload of work to do tonite. So much so it is worthy of the description 'shitload.' It's nothing out of the ordinary, but it does seem like there is more tonite. Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif is a busy month for Uni in Holland, and so on and so on and so on.

I lost my baseball game today. We deserved to lose. For those interested parties, visit My Club's Site to learn about us. Most of the info is in Dutch, but you'll get it. Now I'm home telling myself I shouldn't be updating my blog. I should be working.

On a side note, I've been spending a good amount of time this week with my friends Patrick Watson. They are a great band from Montreal, and I've seen them twice in Amsterdam and once in Utrecht this week, with one more show tomorrow when they open for Interpol. They are a brilliant band and brilliant guys, so if you like Coldplay, Jeff Buckley or Devandra Banhart, check out Patrick Watson.

I updated my journalism website as well.. Go read my work HERE.

ta-da.

Quick Story...

I was on the Amsterdam metro yesterday - yes, Amsterdam has a subway - and I was running for a train, which I thought I was going to miss. As I was running, my cell phone leaped out of my pocket, seemingly on its own, and right onto the train tracks. Then the phone rang.

So I stared, contemplating how to get my phone back. I ended up calling over someone working at the Amsterdam metro who called ahead, stopped all the trains and then got a technician to go onto the tracks and get my phone. It was a bit scratched up, I was a bit embarrassed, but a good laugh was had by all, in Dutch and English.

I'm an idiot sometimes.

Please Lord, Not The Bees...

It seems each time I update this, I am in a different country, or on top of a different country. This time I am in Toronto. Been busy with Kae Sun.

Today I came to the conclusion that this world is full of idiots, and there is no hope. I'm not sure if anyone is familiar with the plight of the honeybee, but there are some serious issues right now concerning a massive, unexplained drop in honeybee populations, and there is very little news about it. If we have no honeybees, then nothing, or very little will pollinate the flowers. Then the flowers die. Then we're screwed. This world is really going down the road feeling bad, and we're completely oblivious. One third of the food we eat is dependent on the honeybee population. ONE-THIRD! I'm worried.

To educate:

Great All Around Article.. A Bit Long, but Worth It

Article About Problem

Wikipedia Explanation

Associated Press

A blog entry whilst writing on the airplane…another airplane.

I spent a whole week at home in Amsterdam. It was lovely. The weather was perfect, so perfect we are beginning to wonder if the end of the world is coming and the forces that be are simply placating us with sun before they turn the switch off. I actually sunned, and felt it afterwards. My friend Meghan from Geneva/Canada came to visit for the weekend, staying until today. She was still there when I left this morning. We spent much of the weekend enjoying the gorgeous weather, sitting in the Westerpark, drinking, staging dinner parties and then leftover dinner parties, and catching up.

The reason she came, well other than to see me of course, was for Konningnedag, or in English, Queen’s Day. Queen’s Day is Queen Juliana, grandmother of the current Queen, Beatrix’ birthday. It is a celebration that began after the war and has turned into a country-wide flea market meets all-day and night party, one tough to describe. It was plainly insane. It lacked sense, this party, but it was fun. Super fun. Much of the rest of the post will concern itself with describing my Queens Day, the first ever in the Netherlands and certainly not the last. This was so much fun; just a brilliant, energetic, smiling time. I wish every Monday was like this.

For Konningennach, or Queen’s Night, a friend of mine baseball and others joined us for pre-drinking at my place before setting off into town. We just walked, passing many DJ and drinking tents along the grachts (canals) before settling for a beer in Leidseplein. The canals were packed with people; it was almost impossible to move in certain places, and everyone was dancing, drinking, partying, enjoying each other’s company. This continued until about 5AM, as we kept pounding back the liquids to stay hydrated before stumbling home. I left before Meghan and the guys, and I passed out just before 5. The next morning we awoke at the crack of noon and had lunch, put on our shiniest orange shirts and went into town to enjoy Queen’s Day.

It was gorgeous; sunny, bright, lovely, and there was a shitload of people everywhere. Apparently the population of Amsterdam doubles on Queen’s Day, and it surely was noticeable. We passed by a party in the Jordaan, well, several parties and made it all the way to Rembrandtplein, one of the big squares. There were thousands upon thousands of people dancing to DJs and hip-hip from a big stage in the square, drinking and just going crazy. I couldn’t move. It was insane. After some time there, I walked back home (about 90 minutes of Queen’s Day) and met up with Renee to explore the Jordaan. This is where it got even crazier.

I found a toy sword on the ground, one from the Thundercats cartoon show. I went home and put batteries in it, and it worked. Lit up and made a sound. We grabbed some beers, found a tent playing trance and started dancing with the sword. The sword was quite popular. I made quite a few friends flashing it around. One women even picked up a pair of panties from the ground and use the sword as the base for a slingshot, flinging the panties in the air of the crowd. This proceeded to ignite a gigantic clothing fight in the stage, as jeans, pants, shirts and jackets were flung between hundreds of people like glowsticks, followed by flowers and socks. It was, once again, beyond comprehension. I’m in the middle of a street I bike down everyday, listening to a world-class DJ and dancing with a few thousand drunken Dutch. And everyone is wearing orange. Meghan took pictures.

It didn’t end there. After the clothing fight, an old woman who owned a flat next to the crowd opened up the window and started throwing rolls of toilet paper at everyone. More drinking ensued, and by 5PM, the day became a blur. Yet, as the dancing continued, a man came up to me and claimed I found his sword, bought for his kid, and asked for it back. He made a convincing enough case, and not caring too much, I gave him back the sword and he bought Renee and I a bunch of beers.

I know this doesn’t make much sense; I wish it did, but Queen’s Day doesn’t make a lot of sense. A gigantic flea market; everyone was selling everything, absolutely everything, combined with a city-wide street party. Hundreds of tents sprung across the city with bands, DJs, comedy, beer Olympics. And all this in orange.

I went home for a minute as Renee had a dinner date, and met up with another friend Macauley and Meghan again and had crappy Mexican food in the Leidseplein. Then 11:30PM reared its hungover head and we biked home exhausted, confused, thrilled and smiling.

Now I am sitting in a plane going back to Canada. I ended up sitting next to a woman and a young kid sharing one seat, and this kid was perspicacious, so thankfully I was moved to the back of the plane, next to an elderly couple. I am Toronto for a week; lots to do, some shitty things and some nice things, and lots to think about. Things get tough once I get back to the Netherlands, in many ways. I have a lot to think about, which is good, because if I didn’t, I would be bored.

My 150th Post,

that is a lot. Seriously; think that I have updated this useless piece of interweb 150 times. It makes me gasp, to be honest. Well, I am sitting here at my home in Amsterdam, at 3AM, slightly intoxicated and wondering why I am updating this thing. Today I was biking to a friend's party and there was a couple walking directly in the middle of the bike lane. I rang my bell a few times, and then whilst biking around them, I yelled 'it's a bike lane, idiots' in a sarcastic tone. I didn't realize how much of an asshole I've become at times when riding my bike in Amsterdam, and this experience reminded me of that. Wow, I could have been polite, but no; I was not pragmatic, I did not assume they came from a different culture (like me a while back) and didn't now. I just yelled at them. I'm a dick. I'm guessing my friend Eamon would have done the same when living in Holland, and he is not a dick, so it makes me feel better.

Major changes in my life coming up in the next few weeks. I am torn between accepting something that is right for all the wrong reasons, and figuring how how to make it right despite the reasons. I am also going home on TUES for a week, for the Alli's Journey concert, a big gala in honour of my sister, the light of my life. Furthermore, other things are happening, but they will remain clandestine until I figure them out more. This summmer is looking to be extremely entertaining in some respects, and boring in others. I'm looking to save money, work on my thesis and stay in Amsterdam. sounds like a party.

Queens Day is one MON. If you haven't heard of it, here. It's gonna be a PAR-TAY.

Back in Amsterdam,

I realize that the busier I get, the less time I have to try and update this damn thing. I really hope people read it, because I am putting actual time and effort into updating it; this time especially. It's late, I'm pooped and spent the day on the road as per usual. I found out that there is a bus strike in Eindhoven, and ended up sharing a cab with four quick lovely Dutch people, and one guy who had no idea where he was. He kept asking if we were in Eindhoven.. funny.

The travelling was fairly smooth. Tube to Liverpool St -> train to Stansted -> flight to Eindhoven -> cab to eindhoven centraal -> train to amsterdam centraal -> walk home = six hours. I updated my datebook. fun.

London was, well, London. I spent some time with Jordan and Lisa, ruined a very expensive towel of theirs, felt bad and bought Lisa flowers, went to work a bunch of times which was great, saw some excellent shows including the Camden Crawl with my friend Nate and ate some good Thai and Veitnamese Food. I also spent way, way too much money, as per usual. Yet, I do love London. I'm still torn b/w it and Amsterdam. I like Amsterdam more, but London is where the work is; and the english speaking girls. just kidding.

more later.

What a Day!

It's worth explaining.. well, not in depth, but well enough for everyone to enjoy the foibles I experienced. After having breakfast with Renee, I boarded a train from Amsterdam -> Den Haag. Unfortunately, the switched the track on us last minute, and we had to bolt it (a few people and myself) to catch the train. The day started well. I went to this award ceremony at a museum in Den Haag, as I was to receive an award for getting this scholarship last year. I won't go into details, but for the most part, the ceremony was a formality. I got out of Den Haag Centraal and boarded the wrong tram, going 7 stops out of my way before realizing I was an idiot. I got out - in a nice area mind you - crossed the street and got on the right tram, and 18 stops later and 30 minutes late I was at the ceremony. I stayed for an hour or so, because I had to leave the catch the train to Eindhoven for my flight to London. I wish I could have stayed. Lots of really smart people and a great networking opportunity. Ah well.

So I took a packed train to Utrecht - sitting on the floor - to transfer to Eindhoven. That's where the real fun began. The train I was scheduled to take never showed up, the next one stopped at the station and never started again, and forty-five minutes later I was on another packed train, this time standing in the middle of the carriage, praying that I wouldn't miss my flight. Thankfully I met a really nice Dutch guy from Den Bosch who calmed me down, and fifty minutes later, I was in Eindhoven, pissed off, tired and hungry.

I ran from the train, down the stairs and out to the exit and hailed a cab. I begged him to take me for €20 to the airport, which he did, and he high-tailed it, even parking on the sidewalk at the airport to give me a better chance to make the check-in. As I was running to the check-in, the sign switched from 'open' to 'closed.' I ran up, threw my bag down and begged, again, for them to let me on, and they did. I sat through security, was the last person on the packed Ryanair flight and passed out, awakening forty minutes in London.

After a forty-six minute train ride from Stansted and another thirty on the tube, I made it back to my brother's, and I'm here now writing this, pooped while my friends are partying at the Camden Crawl, a big music festival down the road. I'm going tomorrow.

A While,

It has been a while since I updated, and to be honest, I do not have much to report. I'm swamped in work, back in Amsterdam now but off to Den Haag, Eindhoven and finally London tomorrow. back Tuesday for more work and then Queens Day celebrations. Hope everyone is well. More updates soon.

In Canada.

I am back in Canada for a few days. I'm learning that when one moves away permanently, they usually only find time to come home in tragic circumstances, which heighten the emotional tone of the whole visit. Plus the weather sucks.

I often wonder if there is a human being out there that is truly organized. In every way. I am reasonably organized, but no where near to the point I wish I was. I rarely (almost never) miss a deadline, but I know I could make much better use of my time. I use my time poorly, especially when I am super busy. Maybe it's just a rough day. I'll chalk it up to that today, as I've been up for 4 hours and done nothing and it's 9:35AM. I had aspirations to be somewhat productive. Ah well.

At least I'm still in good health. That's all that's important anyways.

RIP Kurt and Ruth

Been a While..


I am sorry that I haven't updated in a while, if anyone even reads these useless ramblings in the first place. I had an eventful weekend in Amsterdam, both in the positive and negative sense. My family came for a visit, which is beyond rare, and we had a lovely time traversing Amsterdam and parts of the Netherlands, as one day we rented a car and went to the sea, Delft, Marken, and other tourist hotspots. Even made it to Keukenhof, which is a massive flower garden in Lisse, Holland. It wasn't cheap, but it is a must for anyone who likes flowers and tourists.

On a sad note, my grandmother, an amazing woman of ninety years, is currently on life support and not looking positive. She has led a storied life and has fought back from death a few times, but this time does not look positive. She is my last living grandparent, and I will be going home for the funeral, if one occurs shortly. Yet, I have to be back in Holland by the weekend, so if she loses the battle, I'll be flying 8 hours each way for a 48 hours visit. Life sucks sometimes, as my brother wrote on his blog.

Saying that, all is as good as it can be. My mom is on a flight home to Canada after loving Amsterdam, and I am catching up on a ton of work. Kae Sun is going back on the road shortly, and we're slowly preparing for that. I can't wait to see K, Steve, Mike, Paul and Fraser again.. oh, and Kojo of course. Love Kojo.

be happy.

Shain

Fuck Tagged,

No one sign up to tagged.com. I got an invite from my friend Gail, pressed OK and suddenly it sent out an email to all 2600 contacts in my gmail system, asking them to join. Now I'm being swamped in emails from important people asking me what the hell this is. God, what a major annoyance; just what I needed. Ah well. Could be worse.

April,

Another gorgeous day. I'm beginning to expect them. I'm an idiot. Just a series of anomalies. It's also my father's birthday today, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! Nothing much to report. My week off is over, which culminated in my baseball team thoroughly thumping a rival 21 - 1 yesterday (I went 3 for 4 with a run) and us gettig stuck on the canal in a friend's boat whose motor went the way of old yeller. It was flooded, so eventually it started and got us to a dock where we hopped out.

April should be good. My family is coming on Thursday. Easter. Oh, Happy Passover to all the Jews.