Filed under: gettin' er done
Listening to Sun Kill Moon on the porch. Loose ends more or less tied up as of today. Have packed, unpacked, rearranged and repacked. Ready to do this.
The great thing is that I’ve been good to go for two days so I’ve got nothing to stress about, allowing me to spend my last day home gardening and hanging out in the sun with my cats. My ipod is loaded up with some Canadiana and I picked up some tofu-jerky for the plane ride. A friend tipped me off last night to make sure I request a vegan meal for the flight or else it’s “chicken or beef”. Uh oh, forgot to call the Grandparents…
Last night I witnessed the glorious rock spectacle that is Iron Maiden. Being that arena concerts aren’t typically my bag (due to the often copious amounts of Kokanee-Brahs attempting to re-enact mtv music videos on the dance floor), I was a bit unsure as to what to expect. But let me begin by describing how before I even entered the gates, I witnessed a firey-eyed metal fan tear his shirt off and toss it in the trash in order to don his brand new Somewhere Back in Time Tour ‘08 tee. This essentially set the precedent for the entire night.
The set was killer. Name your favorite Maiden tune, it likely made an appearance. I found myself in the various stages of rock throughout, cycling mostly between fist-pumping and air guitar. The backdrops were very thematic and were switched up between songs. One moment there’s a red-eyed devil rising from the ground, the next a 10 foot tall Eddie would walk across the stage with a laser. The pyrotechnics were in sync with several key points during songs and Bruce was running around like a wild man. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a band work a crowd like Maiden did last night. Wait, a stadium-rock band that is (Fugazi blew my mind a few years back).
Anyways, we ended up playing the afterparty which was totally fun. Then I slept for 11 hours. Tomorrow, we’re demoing a bunch of new songs then it’s back to school for me on Monday.
Things are coming together nicely. Half of the things on my pre-Africa departure list are crossed off and the malaria meds aren’t giving me any strange side effects.
Here’s where I’m going to be:
June 15/16 – Fly to Minneapolis, Amsterdam, Accra
June 16-29 – We’re at the University of Ghana in Accra, working on a variety of assignments and presentations. I believe at some point we’re going into a school nearby. Weekends off to check things out.
June 30-July 4 – We head to the village of Apemanim where we are to stay at the Chief’s house (who is also our instructor) and check out the elementary school there (which apparently consists of half the population of the village).
July 5/6 – Travel to Elmina where I believe we’ll be checking out one of the largest slave trading posts that existed.
July 7-12 – Back in Accra. Classes, school. Not too sure. A bunch of TBAs are listed on my calendar.
July 13-16 – I’m in Amsterdam. Apparently Blondie is playing while I’m there so I’m going to try to marry Debbie Harry.
July 17th – Home. After 5 months, cease living life out of a suitcase.
Filed under: gettin' er done
Last night a friend of mine had a birthday party/punk-rock swap-meet at his place. I dropped off a crate of the vinyl I didn’t end up keeping (from last weekend) and picked up some records and a ukulele. Yup, I decided a while ago that I was going to learn how to play a uke but that I was going to wait until I found one with character instead of buying a generic one for 20 bucks at the music shop. When I got home, I stayed up for a couple of hours learning chord positions and tunings. As a result, I still know very little about the thing, but I have great ambitions. I don’t know what it is about the instrument that I find so appealing either. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s one of the most stripped down stringed instruments you can get. Maybe with such a reliance on technology in music these days, the idea of 4 nylon strings on an 18″ acoustic frame presents somewhat of an antithesis to modern music.
Today I put a bunch of hours into helping my friend edit and research his local music chronology chart. It was really fun to read all these stories about bands who were doing their thing decades before I was even born. I was given a sampler of regional music from the 60’s and one band stuck out in particular. The King Beezz, they were basically a Western Canadian response to the Who and the Stones. Another neat thing to learn about was how in the late 60’s and early 70’s, bands would get sponsored by companies and in exchange, the band would change their name to include the name of the company. A&W Band, for example. Also, in a paper clipping from ‘68, you would see that all of the local bands would have a regional touring circuit, where they would hit 4-5 places within a 20 km proximity over the weekend, all events billed as dances. Totally fascinating to learn this stuff. I’d do it for free, but I guess my friend believes in paying for my $30K research skills. Rad dude who said today (after sending out press releases all morning); “if Randy Bachman calls my house, I’m going to shit my pants”.
Filed under: gettin' er done
Well, here we go again. I’m back in the little mountain town for the home stretch. In my two weeks off I got a bunch of things accomplished that I hadn’t planned to do and came up with some ideas for the next couple of months.
First thing’s first. The band released the new record last night. The venue was sold out on word of mouth alone so that was kind of neat. I lost an expensive earplug halfway through the set (due to xtreme rockin’) and was bummed out at the end of the night at the prospect of having to shell out for a replacement. What do you know, my bassplayer friend found it while packing up the gear this morning. Neato! We also played a town a couple days ago that has been notoriously bad for any musical endeavor I’ve taken down there. To my surprise, the trip couldn’t have gone better. Should I reveal the name of the town? No, but I will say I was bummed out by their hockey team keeping ours out of the playoffs. Anyways, two nights of great music and good times.
On the home front, I spent a few days with my cats, hanging out on my couch and catching up on some reading. Marked some papers, and basically fell in love with the City. Nothing like getting away for an extended period of time to realize how great your town is. I am counting sleeps until I can return to my bed, the coffee shop down the street and reading the globe and mail in my sun room.
Ok, so here we go. I’ve got to put a couple of lectures together for tomorrow. I’ve more or less neglected everything to do with teaching for the past two weeks which gave me a chance to start up with some fresh ideas and renewed enthusiasm.
PS. Hey Dad, that tweed jacket I bought for $8 at Value Village? Yeah, so far I’m up with 5 for 5.
PSS. To my Mom, as if you weren’t into KISS in the 70’s! You guys had a Trans Am!
Just got back from doing some snowboarding at the hill where I once again rocked the Powerslave album. It was a beautiful day up on the mountain which is more than I can say for the last couple of days I spent at home. Brrrr, cold cold cold. It looks like March is going out like a lion this year. I saw moose on the drive in this morning which was pretty exciting. Usually you get some elk, some sheep, but never moose! Moose and bears are like nature’s b-sides.
Had a productive weekend back home. Taxes, student loan appeals, groceries, workin’, socializin’, eatin’… it was great. I am more than ready for the next four days. This week marks the half-way point of the APT. Time is quickly going by and I’m starting to get excited for summer.
I had my screening interview with a school board on Saturday. It was a bit nerve-racking since I’ve never had a professional interview before. The lady warmed me up with some fluffy questions and then got right into it. 15 “what would you do if”, “why do you want to teach” and “how do you know you’re being effective”-type questions. I answered them as honestly as I could without the help of coffee or a good night’s sleep. I should expect to hear back from them in May.
I am driving to the West Coast this Friday to spend spring break with some family. I’m looking very forward to it and it’s always nice to get some time in by the ocean. No big plans, maybe eat some food, might see a show or two, mostly going to do some serious relaxing. I feel like I haven’t slept in months.
The band is supposed to put out a record in a couple weeks as well. We haven’t played a show since January and I’m eager to try some new songs out in front of some people. We’ve also been asked to play a friend’s wedding this summer. It’s going to be really fun as she wants us to play jams by the Stones, Queen, Blondie, the Kinks, Neil Diamond and the like. For some reason I’ve always wanted to play a wedding but I don’t really know why.
Not much new here. I’m home for the weekend and it’s snowing. Hopefully it’s doing the same in the mountains because I’m planning on hitting the ski-hill Sunday. I have a lot of work to do and errands to run in town, but I’ve been feeling pretty isolated so I think I’m going to try to see as many friends as possible while I’m here. Picked up my ticket to Africa today. Tried to do my taxes, didn’t have the proper form. Went out for lunch, went to band practice. Pretty mundane. I’m feeling very underslept. Had a cohort meeting with my Bio APT class. It was sad, they are a fantastic bunch of people and I doubt we’ll ever be in the same room again. My prof was the most excellent. Bar none. Thank you for that.
Interview with a school board tomorrow. Nervous? Not at all actually.
Over and out.
Filed under: gettin' er done
This just in! The vegan teacher is getting 5K worth in grants! Guess whose plane ticket to Africa is nearly paid for? This guy. Who’s going to be able to pay a certain someone back $2000? Uh huh. And who’s going to be able to afford to live until the degree is done? Well, hopefully me. Eat it CSLs, I’m not going to borrow another dime from you EVER AGAIN.
Filed under: gettin' er done
I’m back in the City this weekend. It seems like I have a never-ending pile of things to take care of every time I’m here, which leaves me with little time to relax. It’s good though and I’m definitely making a ton of progress in all areas of my life these days.
I got in last night and was called out by my APT group. Being that I ditched out on my birthday, I joined them and we had a good time talking about the last three weeks during a game of sociables. I called it off early as I had to be up with the birds this morning to get my shots. I’ve been dreading it all week as I don’t do well with needles. In fact, the last time I gave blood I passed out and nearly ended up with my face in the post-donation soup. Well, 5 inoculations, 2 prescriptions and $350 dollars later, I should be much less likely to contract Yellow Fever, Meningitis, Hepatitis A & B, Typhoid and Malaria. Apparently the pills I’m getting to fend off Malaria give some people gnarley dreams too, so we’ll see what happens with that.
Other exciting developments include me getting my passport in the mail (after years of putting it off), finding out that I am going to be receiving more funding for my trip than I originally thought (which alleviated some of the stress I was feeling after the hefty bill from the Travel Health Centre), and meeting the chief of the village we’re going to be spending a week in.
Oh yeah, and tomorrow I get to go riding for free. I don’t think this weekend could get any better.
