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Monday, March 29, 2004
What else can I write? I don't have the right.
"It's starting to get dark, and I'm on deadline. It's time to go home. I buy some Diet Coke and some batteries for my Discman. My roommate isn't home, so I shut off all the lights in my apartment, like I always do, and sit down at my computer and begin to type. It is so simple here, so peaceful. I see so many people out there, who don't know what they're doing in this world, who are just like me. I wonder where they find their peace. I wonder where they go to slow everything down, to try to make some sense out of the chaos, to try to strip out some meaning from a planet that is doggedly determined not to provide it. I wonder where they step outside of themselves and relax, and think, and just be. This is where I find it. Alone, in a dark room, listening to the screams of Nirvana, the sound of helplessness. This is the only place I know to go to."
I don't know if you noticed, or follow along, or care, but Will Leitch just published his last "Life As A Loser" article. The last article out of a series of 200. That article and the other 199 installments prior to this have been compiled and turned into a book, published, and is now available for sale. And I swear, the second I get my next paycheque and pay my taxes, my car payment, buy a few pairs of dress pants, knock down my line of credit a bit, give Leo the $15 I owe him... well, right after all that noise, I'm getting my hands on a copy of that book.
Over the last year, as we've all played the various hands we've been dealt, and I personally have watched my sure things fall apart and witnessed all kinds of change and things I never considered or imagine come to life - I followed the Life As A Loser column quasi-pseudo-religiously. Doing this kept me far more sane than any psychiatrist or guidance counselor could ever do. Everyone seems to believe the things that cross their path as they venture between the 20 to 30 year of age milestones are completely unique and, at times, troublesome. Maybe, the reality is that we're all going through the same thing. It's just that no one ever tells you it's gonna happen, or that it's happening to them. Will Letch seems to have realized this and poured the nuances of his journey into the template of the 20 something experience... the resulting read is reassuring as it is entertaining, as inspired as it is genuine. You read this and you know that you're on the right track. There's 1,000 times more credibility to this collection of essays written by a 28 year old on the topic of being a 28 year old, than there is to any advice someone twice your age will try to casually pedal off as words of wisdom.
I'm thoroughly impressed with this book, and the fact it's gaining huge momentum. Hell, even CNN is covering it, and lumping into in to some made-up, stupid, non-descript "Lad-Lit" genre. It doesn't matter though... what's important is that I'm compelled to read books again. Futon really should be published next. And I've spent the last week mapping out the remaining scenes, themes, and chapters of Rockets. I'm finishing that thing, and publishing the damned thing... even if it's gonna be at some mirco-boutique publishing place... I'm doing it. Hell everyone, should do it, write something anything... just detail thier lives and the process... and then share it with the masses, I'm certain that those who would read it, would actually get it. This would be brilliant.
elsewhere
the life as a loser experience | Will Leitch interview | indie rock irony
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We rule the school...
The 3rd annual wine club dinner thinggy went down this weekend, and daaamn skippy, it was a gooder. The boys cleaned up, hopped into suits, begged a few girls to join them as dates for the evening, and finally went down to the local country club.... just like Jay-Z and his entourage do on a Saturday night.
I should point out that the wine club is anything but snooty or cultured. But turns out, every time, to be one of the better evenings of the year, what with the perfect wine and food that's served... and the mandatory Jager shots.
Life is good.
After the dinner, we celebrated Leo's b-day by hitting up Tantra, and in the process met up with every human being we've ever known (seriously, how many people were there? Eleventy-billion?). Pictures from the whole evening are here. I should point out, that after posting countless pictures from countless events, I've begun to ascertain a few things about our crew.
1. You can blindly go about your evening, not paying attention to the small details, because right beside you will be at least 4 people snapping away with digital cameras. This leads to, on average on a big night out, a picture being taken about every 2 minutes.
2. On a good evening I'll take 60 pictures, and manually adjust each shot to hopefully create a quasi interesting / artsy shot. Of the 60, about 30 will actually turn out. 15 will be remotely good, and of that 15, 5 will be cooler than hell. People will make fun of me for always messing around with the camera... and then later ask for copies of the shots I take. I am not bitching.
3. God forbid anyone actually stops to pose for a larger group picture (ie: not a candid), because suddenly EVERYONE gets a camera out and then asks some poor passer-by to take at least 5 pictures with each camera. The permutations and combinations of shots are endless... although 99% of the shots taken are totally identical.
4. People love taking lots pictures of Dave. Close ups, of his face.
I have no idea why.
Wine Club Annual 2004 | donate to the vanmega server fund
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Thursday, March 25, 2004
Music was saved...
It's late... from what I can understand, normal humans are beginning to start their weekday day, and wake up. I can't decide what I'm more excited about, the evening that was tonight, or the morning which will be tomorrow (which I will sleep right the fuck through... sans guilt, and then have a coffee, and then write "Rocket's" until the sun sets). I enjoy when the odds are long, and the unplanned things start to look like genius ideas. Tonight was an evening riddled with music, and singing, and standing on chairs and rocking right out. Dope... hot... rad... ohhh on the TLC tip.
Todd Gack is in trouble... and Dutch.
Dave said we were the best band he heard all night, except Metallica.
It's time to sleep.
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Tuesday, March 23, 2004
I win.
Here - because I love publishing the most intimate details of my life for the masses to casually browse like pages from the comics section, bundled with the Saturday paper - is my "to do" list for the remainder of the week.
To do:
- sleep in late, without a stitch of gulit
- hang out in the food court of a local mall, smoke with teens
- finish building this website
- sing. jog. but, not at the same time
- battle goddammed high school math
- go on a PR campain explaining to the masses, that Metric rules their collective asses, and then invite them to check them out at the Calgary show, with me, Dave, and The Beeker.
- listen to Elliot Smith CD's, drink vodka, stare at the wall
- save babies from falling into abandoned wells
- road trip to banff: hike tunnel mountain, have a slice of pizza at Aardvarks, get home in time for tea
- jam with LeftNutt, again (pending practice schedule)
- go off the rails for wine club weekend, featuring Leo's birthday, Tk, and Mandogg. Everyone I've spoke to so far, has this funny excited feeling in the pit of thier stomach for saturday night, just like we did before carpet / jeri-lee's b-day. This is a glor-i-ous thing.
- line up and knock down all my pre-launch responsibilities and articles for Cord Mag
- take my heart, pour heart out into a cup, pour cup over pc, passionately write and publish 5 more chapters of Rockets
elsewhere
the vice guide to canada | soy's anthem for the week [mp3]
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Sunday, March 21, 2004
Hey look, now we're ripping off PBS...
Ok kids, I've got some good news, and some bad news.
The good news is that I love you. I love you to the max. My love for you goes on and on until the break of dawn, in fact.
The bad news is that vanmega is losing its server host, and we need to switch to a new server... and this requires dollar-dollar bills, y'all.
Yup, the boys at Halo have been gracious enough to host vanmega on their servers for the last year, but you see... those servers are really designed for legitimate web development, etc (ie: stuff that generates the firm revenue, and keeps the business alive). Over the last year vanmega has grown, and so have Halo operations... the problem being that the infrastructure for both hasn't grown. More reciently, this has lead to vanmega sometimes going offline at night, and the site occasionally slipping into a password protected mode too keep bandwidth at bay.
So yeah, we need to move back to a paid host, and we're gonna happily go, and thank Halo for letting us crash on their proverbial-couch. But to move over a proper host, we're gonna need some cash to float the boat. Normally, I'd just pay for the hosting myself, but the machine I used to use for printing money has broken down in the more recent months.
I'm asking all users (ie: those who are a part of vanmega, and spend all day looking at pictures of themselves, downloading tunes, reading half-written novels, babbling and / or lurking). To contribute $10 to the vanmega server fund within the next week. That's the cost of about 2 pints, but will give you a year's worth of enjoyment. Also, those who donate will have their nickname@vanmega.com email aliases restored, and I'll offer server space up for personal blogs or whatever.
For those who aren't an active part of the site but would like to donate, you can earn lifetime good karma points by contributing. If you chip in a few bucks and have a blog, I'll permalink you, and hastily name any offspring I procreate after you. It really is a sweet deal.
Pitch in, kids, and keep the site going. If for some reason we get more money that needed to cover the costs of hosting, domain registration, etc - I'll flow all remaining cash back to the boys of Halo in the form of bonsai trees.
Get in touch with me if you need the vanmega mailing address.
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Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Posting quotes from other websites is a lazy way to run a blog...
...but, what the hell. 'Cause this pretty much sums up my feelings towards the concept of St. Patricks Day:
Every year, around this time, I find myself engaged in a battle of will, gnawing at my own tongue to keep from losing the few friendships that have survived the waning years of my 20s, a few cross-continental moves and the abrupt decision that I already have too many friends.
The battle begins in late February, with the first of their well-intentioned invitations. Would I like to do the Running of the Green, an Irish-style 10K race, the Sunday before St. Patrick's Day? Would I like to drink green food coloring in the cheap beer they sell down at Paddy O'Clanahans (or some stupid name like that) for merely $2 per plastic glass, starting at 1 p.m. March 17? Wouldn't I love an all-boiled meal of strangely processed meat and limp cabbage on St. Paddy's Day?
Like fuck I would. [read more]
Also
- Metric is playing in Calgary on April 7th.
- Ani Difranco is playing in Banff on April 18th.
I need concert buddies on the asap, yo.
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Sunday, March 14, 2004
Usher keeps friends close over instant messenger, fights crime...
Cowboy Soy says:
hey - wanna help me write a post for vanmega?
amand says:
k, how do i help?
Cowboy Soy sends:
img_usher_2.jpg
Cowboy Soy says:
I'm trying to make a list of 10 things we can ascertain from this stupid picture of usher
amand says:
so what do you have so far?
Cowboy Soy says:
not much. I just started. but I saw this picture, and it was sooooooooooooooo over the top that I'm forced just on principle to make for of it on the front page of the site.
amand says:
i like the pic. it has a very video game superhero quality to it
Cowboy Soy says:
I know.
Cowboy Soy says:
but look at the look on his face
Cowboy Soy says:
and the fire in the background
Cowboy Soy says:
and his inability to notice it
amand says:
and the mustache?
Cowboy Soy says:
he sings R ‘n’ B
amand says:
hahahah
Cowboy Soy says:
he's not a superhero flying from town to town
Cowboy Soy says:
he doesn't stop bullets
amand says:
but he looks like he could
Cowboy Soy says:
he sings fucking pop songs to 15 years old about making out
Cowboy Soy says:
he also waves his arms about in syncronicity with p-diddy in glossy music videos
Cowboy Soy says:
he does not fight crime
Cowboy Soy says:
he dances in baggy pants
Cowboy Soy says:
and wears expensive watches
Cowboy Soy says:
which are far too big
Cowboy Soy says:
but that's ok because they’re really expensive
Cowboy Soy says:
and he lacks the ability to sense massive fire 10 feet behind him
amand says:
do you not remember flava flav?
amand says:
big watches are hip. friend
amand says:
he's abviously THAT cool
amand says:
not to notice the flames
Cowboy Soy says:
Dammit... touche.
---
elsewhere
mixtape 18 posted | NewYorkish
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Wednesday, March 10, 2004
I'm beginning to study for the GMAT exam... because I'm a sucker for punishment. I've heard about this exam for years and the importance of a well thought out approach to studying and writing the exam itself. Before I began to prep for the test, I figured that if I ever did write the GMAT, during the test I'd be required to perform brain surgery, difuse a bomb, and then perform advanced calculus... whilst blindfolded, underwater.
Apparently I was off. Way off. There's an analytical writing portion of the test (argumentative essays and such - this is manageable), then a verbal portion (reading comprehension etc - again, quite manageable), but the 3rd part... is pure evil. Part 3 is the quantitative portion - which consists entirely of Junior High / Early High School math.
I am soooo dead. Does anyone actually remember Algebra? Geometry? Hell, does anyone even remember how to do long division? I'm an acomplished and smart guy. But, dammit... I'm a child of the internet generation. In the blink of an eye I can fire up my pc, build you a massively complex financial forecasting model, run scenarios and at tell you the most effective way to allocate funds across a $100 million business unit over 4 years. But if you ask me to divide 187 into 54, using nothing but a pencil and a piece of paper... I might be fucked.
I thought the whole premise behind math in junior high and high school was just to keep you busy doing abstract calculations as your hormones went wild and ran their course. I mean, in my high school days I thought half the time they were making that stuff up... really... who's ever used conics in real life?
Either way, if you need me I'll be digging through my old text books piecing back together and mastering academics from 15 years ago. Just for fun, I dare you to try doing these problems I scanned from one of the GMAT prep books. Good times, yes?
elsewhere
- Things that don't get nearly enough media coverage
- Rhett Miller: KEXP interview and songs [mp3]
- Beck is gonna be a Dad!
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I gots nothing...
I can't think of anything to write about today. So fuck it, in lieu of content I'll post a bunch of links which will keep you entertained for hours on end. Blogging really is the new kung-fu.
Sleeved Original Tattoo'd Clothing - Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
When I was in Australia, I met this fellow backpacker who just had both of his arms - from shoulders to wrists - tattoo'd in a "tribal" motif. I asked him if he liked the new tat's... he said. "No, I regret it. But it's a part of me now, and I'll live with it.". I laughed and had a Tooies New. Tattoos are supposed to be a thought out extension of your character and personality. Not something you decide to get on the spot, and ESPECIALLY NOT something you wear out on the weekend, and then throw in the wash with a Bounty fabric softener.
- "Return Of The Rock" - I can't decide if I heart of hate this article. The premise is that popular hip hop has gotten fat on it's success and is no longer trying (Hello, Chingy) nor viable. Furthermore, hip hop is about to fall to the wave of innovative, grass roots, indie-ish rock. I believe they're right, but I still think the article is far too smug.
- Goodle - nothing but good news.
- Ryan Adams arm looks painful post-surgery - That can't be good, if your career depends on playing guitar. Also... if you haven't listened to his album "Heartbreaker" your life is void of a lot of the important things. Really.
- Mario Brothers: The Over-The-Top Movie-esque 8-bit Drama - These flash animations are enjoyable to the max... assuming you're a kid who grew up playing old school nintendo.
Watch: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3. Word to Duck Hunt.
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Sunday, March 07, 2004
Cripes, I've been trying to type up this post for the last hour and it doesn't read as a funny tale, detailing the lighter-side of 20-something living, but rather an essay with the charm and literary poise of a 3rd grader submitting an essay to thier teacher on how they spent their summer vacation.
So instead of trying to retype the post again and again, I'm just gonna list the key points and you can fill in the blanks and using that vivid sense of imagination that I'm sure you have, you can dress up the post as you see fit.
- On Friday night I randomly drove to Edmonton.
- I hooked up with the boys from LefttNutt, and sat in on their practise session.
- I spent the bulk of my evening singing/screaming, playing crunchy electric guitar, and working through 3 flats of bud with the 8 boys in the practise studio. It was one of the most pleasing and generally enjoyable nights I've had in a million years.
- Within 5 minutes of beginning to jam with the band. Steve, the drummer, dubbed me "too artsy-fartsy for LeftNutt", what with my "desire to structure songs", and "play in key". I told him if they tried doing this kinda stuff, they'd get girls at their shows. Steve nodded, and promptly returned his focus to the drum kit.
- Me and the band then get down to business and ended up playing as a full 6 piece crew for 5 hours. The boys of LeftNutt perform crude punkish songs, and have self-proclaimed themselves as "Edmonton's worst band". But, I delightfully disagree - When the boys decide to actually play the same song at the same time, they're 20 times more entertaining to watch that any silly shoe-gazing, garage revival, band I've seen take a stage.
- As the 5 hour mark passed, 2/3 of the band decided to call it a night. Myself and Little J pressed on, and scoured the building (a huge / nasty industrial jam space, littered with all kinds of music freaks) and grabbed this guy who apparently has a masters degree in drumming and some guy with grunge era stoner-hair, and killer lead guitar skill. The 4 of us proceeded to have an impromptu blues jam... which went on for another 3 hours.
- I literally lived out the Brian Adams cliche, and "played until my fingers [fingernails, knuckles, and palms] bled". At this point, I put down the guitar, I switched to playing drums and kicked out the 4/4 tempos.
- I would have kept playing until sunrise, but Little Mike was petering out, and we needed to get him home. It was now 4am.
- I slept on the floor of J's apartment for 4 hours, and then woke up and drove back to Calgary with my hearing totally shot from the amps and my vocal chords scortched from all the singing and such. If I didn't have plans for the evening I would have stayed in Edmonton and done it all again that very night.
- Like I said, one of the most pleasing and generally enjoyable nights I've had in a million years. Pictures are here.
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Thursday, March 04, 2004
Boo-yaa, I say.
I just got my hands on an mp3 recording of a Danko Jones concert. As I've gushed countless times on vanmega, seeing Danko Jones live is one of the best concert experiences you can take in. Their show is all braggadocio and swagger. Seeing the band perform is like going to church and watching the minister take control of the room. Danko's performance is one half sermon and one motivational speech (listen to the track "The Mountain" if you don't agree). These guys had the cock-rock thing mastered way before groups like The Darkness even picked up guitars.
Not that there's anything wrong with The Darkness.
So yeah... back to the Danko bootleg. I've decided to share with all y'all, 'cause it's the only recorded live show I've ever found by these guys, and it took ages to find. The concert took place in 2002, as they performed at the Lowlands festival in Holland... and that's about all I know. Listening to a show isn't as rad as seeing the boys play live first-hand... but it's still entertaining and worth the download.
Danko Jones - Live at Lowland (2002)
00. Intro
01. My Time Is Now
02. Samuel Sin
03. Sex Change Shake
04. Play The Blues
05. Sugar Chocolate
06. Sound Of Love
07. Bounce
08. Never Again
09. Lovercall
10. Mango Kid
11. Papa
12. Cadillac
13. The Mountain
14. Get Outta Town
Right mouse click on the links above and choose "Save As" option, then rawk out. Files will be posted for a very limited time.
Danko Jones plays in Edmonton on March 10th. Road trip, anyone?
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