Never mind the homework, here's the Vegan Teacher

 This is a photo of my cat. Notice the neck-cone? My weekend went like this; I go down to Calgary to record an album with my new band. Half-way through the session I get a call from Jordanpattern informing me that the cat hasn’t eaten for two days and that she’s going to take her to the vet to get her checked out. Gus has a history of vomiting, but up until now we were convinced that it was due to the copious amounts of hair she sheds. We were way off. I guess a while ago the cat swallowed a dime.

 Notice how corroded it is from her stomach juices? The edges are as sharp as knives and I can’t imagine what that felt like in her gut for so long. So check this out, the next time your animal is acting stangely, get it checked out yo. We should’ve had her x-rayed months ago.

Recording went well. First time I’ve ever recorded straight to tape. I think we only edited one bass track or something, the rest of it was live off the floor, as they say in the industry. No click tracks, no pro-tools, no auto tune or anything. Just four human beings, instruments, electricity and some magnetic technology. The thing about analog recording is that your work can be saved forever. When they sent the Voyager spacecrafts out to explore the outer-limits of the solar system, they both contained a recording of sounds from earthling life and culture. Unlike digital formats, all you need to play sounds contained on this technology is a needle attached to an amplifier (like a cone they used in the old days). I guess I find this kind of thing facisnating in an era where mp3’s are the norm. Music is disposable with the click of a mouse button.

In other news, I’m working as much as I can these days. My job at the after-school care program is pretty fun. Hanging out with kids all day who try to convince me to go home and google “big jugs” and whatnot. I’m trying to get them to think about their eating habits. One of my partners in crime successfully removed all the meat from the snack menu and we’re trying to start up a recycling program. It’s a fun and fulfilling way to spend my afternoons.

Yesterday I had coffee with Marc Belke. He played in a band called SNFU for over 20 years, one of Canada’s greatest contributions to punk-rock, and a band that was partly responsible for getting me interested in the movement. We waxed philosophical about the state of independant music and punk for about an hour. He regailed me with tales from his punk-rock past, from the first time his band toured Europe and how they were one of the first bands to have shirts for sale, to the time his band played in Edmonton with the Dead Kennedys, to mistakes they made in the process. It was nice to share ideas with someone who has the experience. It was like he was my punk-rock teacher, and I was the student. Cheers Marc, thanks for the records and good luck with broadcasting.

Summer is nearing and things are falling into place. My new band is recording next weekend, with hopes of pressing vinyl and touring later on. I have 3 jobs lines up, successfully avoiding a summer of lousy work in the labour market. I’ve also decided to start promoting local shows after the annual exudus of promoters to Vancouver and T.O. Between that, I’m sorting out other details. To be metaphorical, property in my mind (like that in Alberta), is expensive and hard to come by. So unlike the Alberta government, I’ve instituted rent control and have decided to renovate a few run down buildings.

With Eco-Mania spreading like wildfire, I think it’s important to keep in mind that replacing a couple lightbulbs is just the beginning. With current natural gas reserves estimated to be worth about 10 years of house heating, I started to get anxious. First, because most of the natural gas is going towards digging up oil sands and destroying the boreal forest. Second, because as a Canadian, I rely on natural gas to heat my place in the Winter. So I started digging around and found that the Geothermal heating industry is starting to take off in small towns, to the point where many people have begun selling power back to Hydro companies. It’s pretty incredible and quite elating to know that environmentally friendly answers exist, it’s just a matter of seeking them out.

Who gives the vegan diet a bad name? People like these!

Lastly, Andrikopants sent me a poem the other day that I think is quite apt. Gotta keep this stuff in mind and enjoy our time on this rock.

Get Drunk 

by Charles Baudelaire.

One should always be drunk. That’s the one thing that matters. In order not to feel the horrible burden of Time, which breaks your shoulders, and crushes you to the ground, one should be drunk without ceasing.

But on what? On wine, on poetry or on virtue, as it suits you. But get drunk.

And if sometimes, on the steps of a palace, on the green grass of a ditch, in the lonely gloom of your room, you wake up, the drunkenness already abated or completely gone, ask the wind, the wave, the star, the bird, the clock, everything that flies or groans or rolls or sings or speaks, ask everything what time it is; and the wind, the wave, the star, the bird, the clock will answer: ‘Time to get drunk. In order not to be the martyred slaves of Time, get drunk. Get drunk ceaselessly. On wine, on poetry, or on virtue, as it suits you.’