No Time, No Sleep

I'm in a position where come thursday i'll have worked 15 out of the last 17 days of my life, pretty heavy, my time is filled with either sleeping, playing guitar, snowboard, drinking in the day or working, and thus i have little time to write, which is a remarkably disappointing situation. My mind is in a constant frozen state, every thought of any interest is almost instantaneously replaced by nightmares about stocking hotlines and throwing plates at people, i feel like i did in the few weeks before final A Level exams, where my maths revision had made my mind feel like a scene out of the matrix, visions in binary code and green hues. On the plus side, i get paid on either boxing day or Christmas and should be richer to the shade of about $1200 for 2 weeks work which is pretty sweet, i can finally get my own laptop and stop relying on the staff computer in lunch breaks to get my shit done. I owe library fines again(i think), so tomorrow a visit to the village is vital, i barely visit my room anymore bar the bed/bathroom/sink and to stalk around angrily.

One item of interest, one of my coworkers is literally the biggest character i think i've ever met in my life, a japanese 50 year old called Satoshi, who used to be a pro skier, owns 4 houses in Whistler, is a millionaire and just does the same job i do to both keep fit, keep busy and keep his wife happy so that he's not out injuring himself on the ski slopes, absolutely incredible. If i'm that high spirited in 31 years i'll be a happy man.

My dinner breaks over so i'm back off to grind my life away with hoses and hot water, it snowed last night so everyone seems in a better mood, and it's slightly warmer(it's been as cold as minus 30 celsius in the past week) so that's good! OH, and if you hadn't heard, a Gondola tower collapsed up here the other day while i was up the mountain, the same one i'd have been getting to go back down to the village, pretty mental, look it up on the news, noone died but that didn't stop the hoardes rushing to the scene with their digital cameras in the hope for some car crash tv.

BACK TO DISHES, i don't really get to hear much from back home these days, so if you read this send me an email some time, even without any free time it's nice to see what people are up to back in the homeland.

First Day Up The Mountain

I was planning on finishing the entry I started the other day but I am just to exhausted to think about anything. On the bright side I have another day off tomorrow so will update this if I can.
What a couple of days.

W X

An Update

So lots has been happening of late, i've been busier than i think i've ever been in my whole life over the past 7 days, working all day and going out every night is in conventional terms a terrible idea, yet it's worked out well, i'm still alive and the only time anything bad seems to happen is walking from place to place before midday, sober, with keys in my pocket. How i've lost my cards twice in 3 days is beyond me, i reckon it could well be a hereditary family feature, but key fury is the most prominent part of my life right now. Right, i've done a 52 hour working week, mainly out of choice at the snow is shit and the hours meant i could still go out after my shifts and wouldn't have to wake up too early, pretty sick. Despite occasional degrading aspects of my job, such as having to play lackey to stupid chef trainees who are probably worse at cooking than i am, amongst other pretentious staff members who talk in acronyms about overcoming lifes various obstacles, despite spending their childhood years smashing their parents trust funds before having their harvard educations paid for them in full before having to do one shitty labour job in their life. There may well be a slight amount of bitterness in my words, but anyone who complains about how tired they are to me ever again can expect rage, drink coffee and get over it, everything is possible. Luckily i'm also busy enough to disregard certain petty things that would bother me in the past, which can hopefully continue, i literally don't have time to overanalyse lack of contact, tact or conversation these days, this is my first day off in a while and without the bitter, today would not be so sweet(DESPITE LOSING MY KEYS). I don't care, all i have to pay to replace them is time and money, the latter of which can finger itself, i've never really cared less about it. Working a job which is ridiculously well paid, with cheap as fuck housing and free meals means that basically 70% of my money is disposable, and being able to just chill with my friends outside of the guantanamo esque staff housing situation is a large bonus. I'm also trying to get a little acoustic solo thing going, i'm playing a set at one of the inner village hotel bars next sunday which should be interesting, until i get my own laptop i can't record shit but playing guitar has genuinely never been more therapeutic. From occasionally resenting training sessions to just really looking forward to playing at the end of a long shift induces much more creativity, even if it just feels like being an excitable little kid. I don't know, what i'm writings probably shit, but it's something, and i'd die without some kind of outlet. I haven't talked to a bunch of people in ages, it's weird how little i miss england, but i can imagine my ride out here's been easier than most. Tomorrow i'm up the mountain, -20 degrees Celsius up the top, but fuck it, i am cold as ice anyway, so this means nothing. Until later, Will should post something considering his jobs easy as shit and he has the time, but i don't know if anyone even reads this anyway, i guess it's more for my own purposes that i do it, when i can, if i can, if i even have anything to say, which as of today i pretty much don't. My mind needs time to get itself together, i haven't read in days, nearly got hefty library fines but avoided them with the power of proxy bypasses and sketchy internet geekery. It's half 6 at night, my eyes are sunken, and i'm leaving. Until later, FRWL

Ridiculous

Work commenced yesterday, i basically work with these ridiculously powerful dishwashers amongst other things and just chill with various kitchen staff for most of the day, already had burnt hands(130 degrees celsius spray wash, no lie) and i get to wear a hat on shift as well as being in one of the few jobs where i dont really have to suit up for the job, shirts tucked in, smart shoes, sideburns shaved halfway below the ear etc. I've had barely any sleep, got in at half 5 last night and phoned Josh until my phone card ran out of money, i think we got 4 minutes, and at time of writing i start in 15, washing up my own mess to be fair. It's a reasonable job, i can get up with my mind seeping out of my ears and still get shit done competently, which is pretty which what im about to do right now. Last night Will had the full on housewarming, narcotics and alcohol in a hot tub with his new danish housemates and regulars, i've been getting good vibes off of life lately, and am hoping to maintain this as long as possible, just genuinely happy i don't have to wake up wondering about being a dick the night before. Also, after leaving wills at like 4, i played guitar with a 7 11 worker for about an hour in their smoking area, turned out to be a chinese shredder, exchanging tips and hand movements, i think he's probably gotten fired for giving me free slurpees. Again, writing on this is tending to become more and more brief and rushed, but that's life, and it's as good as any other.

Its coming

I swear.

W X

Hiatus

Encouraginly in part, disappointlingly in equal part, i've had little to no time to update this in the last week, no internet access at work, working, snowboarding every shitting day until i hit my head kinda hard, and Wills constant move from location to location, stopping off at a Cowboys and Indians themed B & B on the way. I am here and have so much to write about, yet again so little time. We have censorship on the websites we can go on, a la secondary school, meaning i can't see if anyones networking me in my social little face. Therefore, i guess this is my main form of communication, albeit ridiculously indirect. I've gotten to know a lot better the people who i'm sharing my accomodation with over the next 5 months, a necessity in this situation, and there's about 40 of us sharing the same kitchen/common area. It's nice to lose pre existent standards and social taboos preventing yourself from finding anything of value or interest in people you normally wouldn't socialise with, i've actually learnt a lot more than i'd have expected to from some of the people i'd least expect to from here, common ground may be fleeting and rare, but when it exists in a place like this it's all the more enticing. Any one life is as good as any other, and surely the gauge of a life well lived is the enjoyment rendered from living it. I've spent most of my free time reading lately, which will hopefully become a recurring theme in my life in general, it'd be all too easy to revert to habits i've come here to escape from, merely existing and becoming stagnant in easy, comfortable surroundings, to going out and making the effort to open up and just become someone amiable, regardless of any previous intolerance i may have harboured. I can still use this as an advantage, from spending years over analysing people i have a better gauge on people than most, yet acting on logic in this over anything else has been a problem i've got time to correct. Ideally i'd lose this whole mindset entirely and just judge everyone on their own merits, but i'm not going to pretend that it's going to happen overnight. Also, i watched Wanted last night, possibly the worst, most ridiculous film i've probably ever seen.

It snowed last night, rather than rain, which can only spell out positive things, i'm about to walk into town, wander, meet and greet and god knows what else, i'll write again as soon as i have time, apologies to anyone who cares.

Sorry

Work was pretty busy today so I didn't really get time to write. Im working 10 - 5 today so should be able to finish off what I started. In the mean time a little something to keep you entertained.

I Have Some Stuff to Write About.

And so if you log back on in about 10 hours (when I finish work) I will have hopefully posted, a witty, heartwarming, tear jerking story of my past two weeks here in whistler. A non-fictional tale with unbelievable ups and downs, little sleep and a gorgeous protagonist. What more can you want? I will probably include pictures and videos so you literally couldn't want more.

W X

Mike Skinner, "I have way too many opinions to attempt to remember the reasons behind them all."

Fairytale Living

So today i went up the mountain for the first time, snowfall in full effect, i'm reminded of so many fairytales with the landscape around here, flakes and christmas lights on the streets. I'm still shaking quite a lot, on a full snowboarding buzz, genuinely am in love. I feel ridiculously priveliged to get to do this for like 4 months, the freedom you feel is unlike anything else. Almost a form of meditation, mainly because your mind needs to be clear or you're on your arse in 0.2 seconds. I'm going to eat pizza and watch a film now, THIS IS THE LIFE.

PS. Last night i drank a bottle of rum and a whole more shit, went to a season opening party in some lame nightclub, woke up in a Wildcat beer t-shirt i apparently won, literally no idea, i feel like Homer Simpson.

Inspire

Man, this video series inspired me to skate more than nearly anything ever, John Cardiel is the fucking man, if you already know who he is you'll know his situation, but for those who don't you probably won't have seen this, and you'll know more than enough about him very soon. This is very much worth your time, click here for links to the rest of the episodes in this 16 part series.

Lap of Luxury

Currently i'm reading "The Brothers Karamazov" by Doystoevsky, and from his vivid portrayal of mankinds wretches provoking a feeling of gratitude for the life i lead, i was almost immediately brought down to earth earlier by amongst other things, a tour of the hotel and private residences available where i work. A singular hotel room containing more floor space than what i consider to be an adequately luxurious(minus storage) home back in England is the norm here.
Whilst being impressed, obviously, by the lives some people lead, it strikes my idealistic side as a pinnacle of excess, in the consideration that, some of these vast residences can sleep about 20 people without issue, and the rich guys who own these only visit to stay perhaps once or twice a year, yet Whistler itself faces possibly its greatest housing availability crisis to date. I would like to imagine my inherent human guilt would prevent me from living the lifestyle of luxury some people indulge in, but this would probably not be the case if i had that kind of money at my disposal. I'm torn between thinking of bloodsucking vampires and simply a service that exists to fuel fantasy, which there is no problem with.

Again, eloquence is seeming to be a considerable problem these days, and while i know what i mean exactly, expressing it is another matter. I'll aim to continue this train of thought soon, my mind and i are alone more than enough hours to cope with it.

Incredible

I saw this ages ago and just again came across it, words from a rich rich mans mouth... DMX interview with some magazine or something, link here...

"Are you following the presidential race?
Not at all.

You’re not? You know there’s a Black guy running, Barack Obama and then there’s Hillary Clinton.
His name is Barack?!

Barack Obama, yeah.
Barack?!

Barack.
What the fuck is a Barack?! Barack Obama. Where he from, Africa?

Yeah, his dad is from Kenya.
Barack Obama?

Yeah.
What the fuck?! That ain’t no fuckin’ name, yo. That ain’t that nigga’s name. You can’t be serious. Barack Obama. Get the fuck outta here.

You’re telling me you haven’t heard about him before.
I ain’t really paying much attention.

I mean, it’s pretty big if a Black…
Wow, Barack! The nigga’s name is Barack. Barack? Nigga named Barack Obama. What the fuck, man?! Is he serious? That ain’t his fuckin’ name. Ima tell this nigga when I see him, “Stop that bullshit. Stop that bullshit” [laughs] “That ain’t your fuckin’ name.” Your momma ain’t name you no damn Barack.

So you’re not following the race. You can’t vote right?
Nope.

Is that why you’re not following it?
No, because it’s just—it doesn’t matter. They’re gonna do what they’re gonna do. It doesn’t really make a difference. These are the last years.

But it would be pretty big if we had a first Black president. That would be huge.
I mean, I guess…. What, they gon’ give a dog a bone? There you go. Ooh, we have a Black president now. They should’ve done that shit a long time ago, we wouldn’t be in the fuckin’ position we in now. With world war coming up right now. They done fucked this shit up then give it to the Black people, “Here you take it. Take my mess.”

Right, exactly.
It’s all a fuckin’ setup. It’s all a setup. All fuckin’ bullshit. All bullshit. I don’t give a fuck about none of that.

We could have a female president also, Hillary Clinton.
I mean, either way it doesn’t matter. I don’t care. No one person is directly affected by which president, you know, so what does it matter.

Yeah, but the country is.
I guess. The president is a puppet anyway. The president don’t make no damn decisions.

The president…they don’t have that much authority basically?
Nah, never.

But Bush pretty much…
You think Bush is making fuckin’ decisions?

He did, yeah, he fucked up the country.
He act like he making decisions. He could barely speak! He could barely fuckin’ speak!Can’t be serious. He ain’t making no damn decisions.

Well Barack has a good chance of winning so that might be something.
Good for him, good for him. "

Focus

This last summer and whole year in general, me and 4 close friends decided to pick up a music project that started off as nothing serious, and remained nothing serious but with more road trips, service station diets, and a lot of hangovers(for me). With no delusions of grandeur, we got off our dicks, recorded some demos in our school and my bedroom (read about here) and ended up playing a bunch of shows in the surrealest of places country wide. Considering my musical background in most instruments bar vocal chords, it was kinda weird i ended up singing, but regardless it remains one of the most entertaining periods of my life so far. No pressure other than tuning, which i was probably victim to slip-ups in, it helped in the realisation that, basically my priorities in enjoying myself had been totally misplaced. An epiphany of sorts, if you can consider it that. While the company of the same couple of guys over such a long period was sweaty, occasionally difficult, and we didn't actually end up getting anywhere, there was the potential to, and merely having focus on anything, irrespective of supposed worth of cause, was enough to provide an escape and genuine contentment. Being great friends previous to a band is both a good and bad idea, good in the sense that every road trip is entertaining to a degree, bad in the sense that responsibility is divided and less focused than most bands. In my opinion, the greatest vehicle towards happiness is a focussed mind, whether the cause is a good one or not. In degrees it can be considered obsession, but fuck that, it's worth it.

So, a taste was had, we may have been nothing in the scheme of things, but perhaps pretentiously, the effect it had on us was enough to make it worthwhile, once you know you can never go back.

Thought Discuss

"Then, for some reason, something exploded inside me. I started shouting at the top of my voice and i insulted him and told him not to pray for me. I'd grabbed him by the collar of his cassock. I was pouring everything out at him from the bottom of my heart in a paroxysm of joy and anger. He seemed so certain of everything, didn't he? And yet none of his certainities was worth one hair of a woman's head. He couldn't even be sure he was alive because he was living like a dead man. I might seem to be empty-handed. But i was sure of myself, sure of everything, surer than he was, sure of my life and sure of the death that was coming to me. Yes, that was all i had. But at least it was a truth which i had hold of just as it had hold of me. I'd been right, i was still right, i was always right. I'd lived in a certain way and i could just as well have lived in a different way. I'd done this and i hadn't done that. I hadn't done one thing whereas i had done another. So what? It was as if i'd been waiting all along for this very moment and for the early dawn when i'd be justified. Nothing, nothing mattered and i knew very well why. He too knew why. From the depths of my future, throughout the whole of this absurd life i'd been leading, i'd felt a vague breath drifting towards me across all the years that were still to come, and on its way this breath had evened out everything that was then being proposed to me in the equally unreal years i was living through. What did other people's deaths or a mothers love matter to me, what did his God or the lives people chose or the destinies they selected matter to me, when one and the same destiny was to select me and thousands of millions of other people who, like him, called themselves my brothers. Didn't he understand? Everyone was priveliged. There were only priveliged people. The others too would be condemned one day. He too would be condemned. What did it matter if he was accused of murder and then executed for not crying at his mothers funeral? Salamano's dog was worth just as much as his wife. The little automatic woman was just as guilty as the Parisian woman Masson had married or as Marie who wanted me to marry her. What did it matter that Raymond was just as much my mate as Celeste who worth more than him? What did it matter that Marie now had a new Mersault to kiss? Didn't he understand that he was condemned and that from the depths of my future... I was choking with all this shouting. But already the chaplain was being wrested from me and the warders were threatening me. He calmed them though and looked at me for a moment of silence. His eyes were full of tears. Then he turned away and disappeared.
Once he was gone, i felt calm again. I was exhausted and threw myself onto my bunk. I think i must have fallen asleep because i woke up with stars shining on my face. Sounds of the countryside were wafting in. The night air was cooling my temples with the smell of earth and salt. The wondrous peace of this sleeping summer flooded into me. At that point, on the verge of daybreak, there was a scream of sirens. They were announcing a departure to a world towards which i would now be forever indifferent. For the first time in a very long time i thought of mother. I felt that i understood why at the end of her life she'd taken a 'fiance' and why she'd pretended to start again. There at the home, where lives faded away, there too the evenings were a kind of melancholy truce, So close to death, mother must have felt liberated and ready to live her life again. No one, no one at all had any right to cry over her. And i too felt ready to live my life again. As if this great outburst of anger had purged all my ills, killed all my hopes, i looked up at the mass of signs and stars in the night sky and laid myself open for the first time to the benign indifference of the world. And finding it so much like myself, in fact so fraternal, i realised that i'd been happy, and that i was still happy. For the final consumnation and for me to feel less lonely, my last wish was that there should be a crowd of spectators at my execution and that they should greet me with cries of hatred."

Fury

Waking up with cuts on my knuckles and no phone in my pocket, i have no idea what is going on, can't even get a free replacement sim card like in England, beyond suck.

Fuck you karma.

Canadian Adverts

Tom Kruise i love you

Will has written a blog? WHAT THE HELL?!?

Still on a downer you ask?
Still no job?
Lets not dwell on the things I have mentioned non stop on the dreary posts left over the past weeks. Leave that to me. Lets get some new moans out of the way before I start on the positives.
Due to the fact of no income I have recently had to resort to the most primitive form of transport. My own size 9's. Although as much as I complain the views that I encountered on the endless trails were more then enough motivation to persuade me not to spend 2 bucks on the bus home and once again endure the hour+ walk, cold clear air biting my now dry lips and the strain on my legs growing. Stopping for a good half hour at the lake pictured below. Just sitting, listening, breathing the tranquillity that surrounds us(EMO. ed). $4 to me, Good times. On the other hand this walk has lead to a serious pain in my knee which has been getting progressively worse over the past few months but am only now starting to worry about; expect a post about the Canadian healthcare system very soon...Bad times. The lack of snow is another worry that not only I face, it is currently the talk of the town as at this time 365 days ago they, “were at least up to our calf's in snow”. The fact that I am still primarily wearing my vans eras is enough to describe the current weather conditions but the promise of 40cm on Thursday is enough to keep moral around the village at a moderately high level and snow or not, There's still Splitz. (Haven't heard back form them about the job if your wondering) and my locals card is all but filled. One more visit and I get a big juicy 'Splitz combo' on the house. Result.
HOOOOLLLDDD UP. So I was writing the beginning to this blog midday Wednesday, now Thursday night much has changed. I have a job. It has snowed. I haven't had a burger for 2 days. I know, SHIT. I start work on Sunday and move into my house just over a week from then. To add to the excitement we had well over 4 inches of snow in the last twelve hours and it is expected to intensify throughout the night and on into next week.MORE GOOD TIMES. Any one following football will know that I am also currently a happy man because of it and have had a cheeky bet on 5/6th place. Very good odds. Come on you Spurs.
That is all for tonight as I'm about to meet Martin to bust up a place I can't remember the name of, but Vice's guide to whistler has instructed us to go to. Can't argue with VICE maate nah. Also went to see Bond yesterday and was pretty disappointed. Not a touch on 'Casino Royal' although Daniel Craig is an outstanding bond. I just hope that the next one will actually have a better than average story line so that the reputation is once again held in high regard when I am scouted as the new Bond, James Bond. You all know it could happen.

Never Shaken,
Never Stirred,

W X

THEY ARE REAL

AND THEY WILL NOT GO AWAY.

www.beedogs.com

Mixtape No. 3

01. Instruments - You Won't Like Me When I Don't Take My Vitamins
02. Faraquet - Yo-Yo
03. YouMeTheSwitch - Alpha C Chiang
04. Owls - I Want The Blindingly Cute To Confide In Me
05. Soria - You Can't Burn Ashes, Prick
06. This Town Needs Guns - If I Sit Still, Maybe I'll Get Out Of Here
07. Damiera - M(US)IC
08. Colour - Over The Moon
09. Marvins Revolt - Bugs In Time
10. Maps & Atlases - Big Bopper Anthems
11. Antarctic - Paseo La Salamandria
12. Jairus - Sabina In The Deceiving Breeze
13. The James Cleaver Quintet - Russias Rodomante
14. Adebisi Shank - Caddyshank
15. Mutiny On The Bounty - World Domino Championship
16. Cinemechanica - The Professor Burns Vegas
17. Meet Me In St. Louis - We Need To Act Like We Don't Need This Shit, Then They Give Us The Shit For Free

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?1zz2md3ydeo

Well this is ridiculously long, i genuinely don't know what i was thinking in once again, giving myself far too much writing to do in too little time, but fair enough, my hands hurt and i can't play guitar so this is a respectable alternative.

If you already know some of the bands on this, you'll get that it's predominantly mathy or math influenced bands, for those who don't know it's basically fiddly music for people with too many neuro pathways buzzing at once to concentrate on. At the same time, i tried to choose a lot of bands on here who still retain a sense of melody first and foremost, regardless of how overwhelming complex you make something musically, if it doesn't have any melodic coherence you're going nowhere. That being said, i've gone totally geeked out selection wise in some places as well, whatever, i hope you enjoy, it may not be an easy listen on first go, but if you play an instrument or or are even reading this in general, it's probably worth persevering with.

First off, Instruments are a London band, 3 polite guys and a girl, who don't tend to say much and seem almost in some sort of shy hypnotic trance when playing live, yet it really works, i was going to put them on in summer 07 but it didn't work out, so i made my friend Adam do it instead a couple of months later. Ridiculously tight, and with volume it works so much better, as with most good mathy bands, they slowly reel you in and get you totally unfocussed on everything in the world ever other than your eardrums(mind you, some grungers at the show were still managing to think about buying Smirnoff Ice and getting on the girl who looks a bit like that one off of Evanescence).

Faraquet basically invoke geek whenever i think about them, i can't even remember what they look like too well and am not even on the internet to look on google, but i can only imagine glasses, science books, archaelogical finds on mantlepieces, broken lunchboxes from primary school days and a slight pre disposition towards just playing really complicated stuff on some instruments they found next to their parents Nobel prizes. This isn't even my favourite Faraquet song, but i think i thought it went well with the one before or something, anyway, they are one of the main sculptors of this genre in my opinion, fusing a lot of more jazz influenced chord progressions and arpreggiatic phrases in their songs than show in this particular example, and inspired me a lot when i first heard them, worth getting into if this is your sort of thing.

I've noticed so far these songs have been instrumental, which is more accidental coincidence than anything else, but it doesn't mean i'm going to stop. Next is another London band that probably would pass under most younger peoples radars, probably due to them looking a bit like substitute teachers, but regardless, their musics really underrated and i don't know if they're still doing much, if so you should see them given chance, nice to just rock back and forth thinking about your first girlfriend to, plus, despite the show i put them on at going to shit and me having an argument with their drummer, the rest of the guys were nice enough to give me a free vinyl and some merch so you know that's rated.

As with most Kinsella projects this is going to be revered regardless of any opinion otherwise, the Owls stuff personally didn't really do that much for me, while there's a lot of intricate guitar work from Victor Villareal that adds vast amounts to the arrangements, it just sounds to me like Ghosts & Vodka with vocals, while that's obviously not a reason to dislike it, i think they've done better! Still, worth checking out if you're a guitar mincer like me.

Soria come from Folkestone, England, which is near where i used to live, and are one of, if not the only young band doing anything different in this sort of style, and managing to do it well, they're a 3 piece in their teens (i have a feeling the drummers 15/16 or something as well?) and have a maturity in sound way beyond their years, while most bands tend to either over complicate or simply aim no higher than I-V-IV chord progressions at their age, they seem to have an ear for melody that sets them in a position where i'd actually listen to them regardless of whether i knew or was friends with the guys.

While a lot of my friends are big fans of This Town Needs Guns, for me personally it's just been something that passed me by, on first listen i remember being so impressed, and even more so live, but this was mainly due to their guitarist, who remains one of the best UK instrumentalists i've ever seen in any realm, and i'd recommend seeing them for that alone. This song's off of their split EP with Cats x3, and the songs on which, notably 26 is Dancier Than 4, are some of the catchiest singalongs to come out of the BSM stable in quite some time. They seem to be doing well for themselves and have always been friendly to chat to, and from their work rate and attitude i'd say it's well deserved! EDIT. IT'S JUST STARTED SNOWING, MOTHERFUCK!

Well, i'm feeling decidedly happier about everything in the world ever now, and it's fitting that the next song is one that has been a staple feature of most drives in my car or walks with my mp3 player. There's just something ridiculously polished about this band, from the unity of drums and every single guitar riff intricacy to the production on this record, the whole album of this songs title is ridiculous. I seem to remember hearing that the band spent about 3 months alone together just writing songs for this record, and it shows, no detail is shone over, disappointingly their latest release is in my opinion a bit of a letdown, but there will always be a place in my heart for these men, god speed...

So, Colour, i first heard these browsing the space when they just had some demos up and weren't really doing anything, yet remember messaging them screaming for them to get going, not realising they were only a couple of years older than me at the time, such young guys and so talented, they could all literally come from a music academy or something, although that's probably not true as most musicians from those places tend to be well into classic rock or arrogant metal(new genre, im claiming it). They've gone from strength to strength since then, and with Lewis from MMISL now on board, i have no doubt they'll be blowing up in everyones diaphragms(no idea why) some time soon.

Marvins Revolt are a totally rad scandinavian band, and as with almost every band from those shores i seem to hear about, there's just some kind of quality control that prevents anything even remotely sub par crossing the sea to us, or maybe i'm just not hearing the bad ones. Anyway, like Colour, these guys play a more poppy take on the whole math genre, but fuck pigeonholes, they're just straight up catchy, this song more than most. This whole little mini album is amazing, and when i ordered it the guys threw in a t shirt and an Adebisi Shank cd as it'd taken so long, good karma! I going to put them on in Ashford but it messed up, then was meant to see them in Brighton for a free show last time they were in the UK but my driver decided to go kiss his girlfriends little mouth for a couple of hours instead, cheers mate, good choice..

With this next song, in my opinion it's the best one i've heard by Maps & Atlases, it doesn't overcomplicate with the guitars as sometimes they can be guilty of, and some of the ideas especially later in the song harbour a creativity that many can only dream of. Apparently they've just toured with Foals or something which is pretty mental, so i can presume that much more good things will be heard of these bearded gentlemen very soon. Learn it on guitar.

I highly doubt many people reading this will have ever heard of Antarctic, and i'm pretty surprised i have either, think they're another victim of obscure US bands top friends browse. Spookily, about a week after i downloaded their 4 track i had an out of the blue message from them saying i should check them out and talking about the bands on my music section, surreal, ended up having a brief digital chat, i have no idea what they're doing these days but they've got some good ideas.

Jairus and The JCQ are again both reasonably local bands to me, the former having now split up(kindly, 2 weeks before i was due to put them on), and this song is off their self titled ep, which is in my opinion a vast step ahead of their previous full length The Need To Change The Mapmaker, more experimentation in sound and a break away from their previous stylistic idiosyncracies, you should buy it if you can find a cheap copy, really mature and accomplished sound, south east ain't dead. The JCQ meanwhile have had more lineup changes than almost anyone i know, yet seem to be on track now, along with a new drummer who's a friend of mine from a pop punk band i used to sing in, their main songwriter Maud is ridiculously good on drums as well as his clear guitar and production capabilities, these guys should have a lot more coming to them with upcoming tours amongst other things, hold tight.

I'm getting tired and i want to go play in the snow so these next few whatever i even write(i won't call them reviews) will be brief. Adebisi Shank are an irish 3 piece who i received a free CD of, as mentioned earlier, i have a feeling they run a small irish label with a sick roster, but this could be a huge mistake, i do not even know. Disappointingly, i saw a live video of theirs on beatcast the other day which i wasn't massively impressed by, quite samey in the end, but on recording the spectrum of sounds their guitarist produces makes them worth a listen alone.

Mutiny On The Bounty are the best band i've ever seen live in my life, period. Phenomenally tight, tech and flowing at the same time, these guys are from Luxembourg of all places and are about to release a full length soon which will undoubtedly put them on the map, this is just a rough demo, on the basis of which i put them on in Ashford with Meet Me In St. Louis, which remains one of the best shows i've ever been to, let alone put on. The guys stayed round mine and burnt plastic on the interior of my god damn oven in the process, never be forgiven.

Linking Cinemechanica and MOTB are mainly their tour booker, Dawn who organised both of their UK tours in their spare time, with little incentive other than genuinely liking them, totally rad. Anyway, musically, Cinemechanica are not solely instrumental, and nor are MOTB although these 2 songs show different, this particular track is either off of their first EP or a split with Maserati and another band i forget the name of, might be We Versus The Shark, anyway, it's pretty obscure so even if you've heard the band you might not have this song. The guys are excellent as well, as mentioned in one of the first posts on here, taking me on the road when the show i put them on at messed up, so much fun for a kid of 17 at the time. Their drummer is probably the best i've ever seen live, so much bombast and technicality, while retaining a subtelty not seen in a lot of bands of this style. Their lead guitarist is also one of the most head screwed on right guys i've ever met in my life, hopefully our paths will cross again! Buy their shit, for definite.

Just thinking about Meet Me In St Louis makes me a little sad, this record was the first time i heard them and i literally bought it totally on a whim without ever having heard anything by them in my life, such a wise decision now. The artworks excellent as well, if you can get a copy certainly do. While their full length after this is equally as good if not better, this short ep totally turned me towards doing something different musically and they remain the best UK band i've ever known about, R.I.P.

Enjoi.

Content

I apologise for the lack of genuinely interesting content on this currently, without suitable time allocation to dig out any kind of substance other than mediocre events and diaries that noone wants to read this blog could become a large waste of time. Despite my lack of hand/eye/pencil coordination i have been drawing some weird rough stuff, i'm sure whoever stole my entire gallery of sharpie art from the downtown diner once will be very interested in these. Plus i made another mixtape and uploaded it, but have forgotten the actual tracklist so i can't write about it as of yet, annoying.. Yeah and Wills meant to be doing some video but he's lazy and small, so don't lose any sleep over that. WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT, writing to pass the time is not my intention, and i don't want to end on some disney channel/sex and the city esque "the moral of this story is", so basically, i'm going to go and drink beer and play rockband, see people at the skatepark, then do some good shit i don't even know about yet. Oh and i'm writing an epic poem as well, not in the sense of Marduk lyrics, but hopefully long and intertwining and loads of other things.

Up until today, every comment about our staff kitchen from inspection had been creative variations upon "disastrous, disgusting, filth" and far more, yet when the guy came in and i was cooking today, our first good report; "smells amazing!" is my highest achievement in life so far.

GOODBYE

Fragility

Little to no lie, my body and mind seem to be involved in a huge conflict right now, this is of civil war proportions and no less. Inevitable considering Josh was with us in spirit last night, it's impossible not to punish your liver when horrific party bangers of the kind that only we know how to destroy come on the stereo. Ossified is a very good word and i intend to live by it. Regardless of this, i'm feeling well, despite the absence of snow and compulsory shaving for my new job (i feel like a cross between a foetus and a puppy without stubble) i'm gradually becoming less and less of a hater, due to various reasons, mountain air & escapism? or maybe the fact that my own expectations upon coming here have been nothing less than met.

To be honest i could've stayed in England in the pursuit of distancing myself from comfort zones and seeking out company in like minded people, but it's a stressful task, and in most social climates i'm not the kind of guy who wants to feel like a tagalong in pre existing groups. The world goes on spinning regardless of how much of an impression we could potentially make, and i guess i wanted to come out here to to be able to realise any of this within my own little bubble, without the pressure of adapting my creative output to suit other peoples pre existing ideas of what's appropriate or interesting. I expected nothing more than a mild sense of contentment here, the best kind of solitude amongst company, that may not seem to make much sense but i can be within my own mind 90% of the time here with noone to answer to, no law to abide by other than that of my pen to paper or notes on a sheet of music. Expecting little of people here is both a blessing and curse, while my idealistic elitist streak will not change over night, i know that the people i meet here are merely all strangers passing through a new place, which makes it easier to talk about whatever i want without worrying about forging any sort of longer lasting connection than over the period between snowfall and thaw. One thing i like/dislike about Whistler, is that it seems to have no true cultural sense of it's own, more an amalgamation of the thousands upon thousands of varying minded creatures who pass through its fairytale environment over the year. You can exist as yourself, there's nothing else to adapt yourself towards, and whether i change for better or worse on return(something that surely will be noticed by everyone but me), it will be solely influenced by whatever my minds doing out here, not via the influence of looking up to others and the way they live their lives.

That's not to say i don't miss being mentally challenged, and there are certainly a great amount of people who aren't just into saying "awesome" a lot, surprisingly one person who me and Will met on our first day in Vancouver has turned out to be someone i'd consider myself most on a level with, there are surely a great many options on how to spend my time here, and having the option of flitting between mindless social vampire tourist and thinking mans conversationalist is a very attractive one. It's like going out to a new place every night, faces tend to be familiar only in shop window glances and supermarket aisles.

I've rambled like a bitch here, but words are the greatest release i know, be it non sensical stream of conciousness or lengthily composed prose. So, today we walked to a big lake, shouted at dogs and moustachioed business men, then i sat in the library reading about this years best inventions(VERY GOOD).

Here's to George and escapism.

“The mind can make a heaven out of hell or a hell out of heaven”
John Milton 1608-1674

The Still Water

50% of the battle has been fought and won, with considerably sweet-ass results. I now have a house. 2 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms, big front room and kitchen, snowboard storage, right bang in Whistler village. Oh and a private hot tub on my big boy balcony. Hardcore. Don't move in till December 1st though which is a bit of a downer but it is a tonne off my mind. While this news continues to sink in the job hunt must continue, another day without work and still no word from the hundred/Thousand human resources managers I have contacted in the last week. Shocker. Yesterday while waiting for a call from any of these I went down to the Alta Vista Lake. about a 10 minute walk from where I'm staying and OMGZZZZZZ it is nice. Really nice. I will include some pictures below but even with the visuals and my words you can have no idea how mind blowing the view is. I will go down there again soon and snap some more when the snow begins to fall closer to home. It is possibly one of the most stunning and peaceful places I have been in a long time. Possible even on par with the view from the World Trade Centres and over the Grand Canyon or the Eclipse I witnessed on the French/Swiss boarder. Ok I'm boasting. Pretentious prat, but for anyone that has witnessed anything like that you will know just how special it is. Physically breathtaking.
Enough of that.
In other news I have successfully managed to encode the video from my camera and import it into my editor and am currently in the process of making a final product although most of the film work is even worse than that shot in 'Cloverfield' so I'll do my best but don't get to excited.
Saturday night and not going out, Saving it for tomorrow for the 'Longhorn'. Snowboard premier and piss up time. Bring on wildcat.
Bring on snow.
Bring on the 27th when the lifts open.


Bring the noise.
W X

Friends In High(Def) Lenses

So pretty much most blogs i do if ever always include this, but my friend Josh Bryant is amongst other more dense and annoying things, a sick photographer, pre hardcore show fish eye vampires he's just been up for taking his camera wherever interesting things could happen, and i've always been stoked on seeing his stuff. Creativity is one of the best things to keep within company and i'm sure he'll go on to do good things with his. Anyway, i met a guy wearing (unironically) a "Feeling Horny" shirt with a picture of a trumpet on, it seems uni lads night out stereotypes transcend national borders, so there's never a better time to reminisce on some of the few things i miss from back home. Now all that remains is for Jack Laidlaw to do a comedy show (first subject- Zebs tattoo) and my life will be complete!

http://1bryantj.deviantart.com/

This is a link to an old deviant art page josh made, i'm sure he won't feel it's all his best work but it's a small example, find him on facebook(yes, he's a traitor) or something and message him to take photos of your little paedophile faces..

Every Handshake Is A Wolf

From having the most annoying pensioners altitude sickness the last few days i've been a little out of sorts, no love, however, form has been resumed and i keep making (re)acquaintance with people i remember little if not nothing of, yet seem to know me. Basically feel like i'm in some sort of hungover Truman Show alternate reality, which has it's benefits, i've already made good enough friends in Vancouver whilst up in Whistler Village for them to invite me to come stay with them for a week, very heavy. I payed for my rent today which is a huge load of my mind, to be honest, i genuinely believe i could've strung it out and lived here without even being pulled up once upon my arrears, but i feel lucky enough as it is, no need for a jinx. Although, once payment comes back to me i'm considering moving into Will, Lori and Emmas place which they put claim upon yesterday, genuinely happy/relieved, from initially thinking i was to be deserted by the un-housed, things are lookily considerably up. I feel like i have a lot more energy, confirmed by my jumping up and down everything as per, this is like every hyper kids paradise, and when noones looking i regress to my 13 year old Tenterden monkey boy status, amounts of rush.

I'm currently writing a couple of entries on pen and with paper, but this is the first limited internet access i've had in our staff cafeteria, so thought i should provide a brief update nonetheless. Guiltily, i don't feel homesick, and am unsure if this will come, more so i wish the good ones back home could share a lot of this with me.


ML

Splitz Burger

I applied for a job there today.
fingers crossed for me people.

11th R.I.P
x

Will Got Punched In The Face By A Yokel Last Night

OK so you might think that Martin was exaggerating about how good WILDCAT beer is. In short, he's not. Its Sunday night and I'm sat in at 7.55 sipping the bad boys. Drowning my sorrows some might say as we recently returned from looking at the property I had set my heart on getting. We walked in the mild air for well over an hour attempting to find the apartment with no luck until we stumbled into an estate called “Woods”, luckily the one we had been searching for. Unfortunately this also meant that it would take over an hour for us to walk back home after a night out. Smashed out of our faces on the currently forming Ice. For this reason and various others this meant we were right back to shitty square 1. Homeless and Jobless. Balls, I need another drink, one sec. Yeah so homeless and jobless, living the whistler dream. Nice.

Past 8pm now and I should start getting ready before we go out and meet Martin, from his highly paid job and cheap staff housing, to hit up one of the 5 clubs here in whistler, get truly screwed and forget about the bastard housing rut 80% of the people I have spoke to are in. Although on a more positive note I have a possibility of a job in the 'New Era' shop down here which would be in Josh's words, “Phat Up” cheap hats and inevitably some highly needed steez points. Oh and 'Splitz burger',

'Splitz Burger' you beautiful little shop, you all need to experience this. So yeah, you all know I love burgers but this is the extreme, my heaven, the place of dreams. So basically you enter the shop and the smell hits you, pure beef satisfying my nostrils and teasing my taste buds, Lets go splitz. Order the 'Splitz Burger', with cheese and bacon of course, and move down the counter to the subway experience that awaits. Here you choose the ingredients that are going to for fill your fantasy, then comes the antagonising wait, at least 5 minutes till the half pounder burger is ready. But its well worth the wait. When your name is called, yeah mate personalised, you can run up to the counter and collect your waiting meat injection, heat up the spoon and feel the inescapable high. I can still feel it now, cheapest high I've had. Colin's take, “PPPHHHRRAAAAWWWWW”, I agree. Ok so im about to hit up longhorn. Power to the people, more when I return.

Popcorn everyone, popcorn!

Ramblings

Called on blue,

I rise to the gaze of sceptics and foals,
Born into eyes alight, weighted afloat,
Before sunrise my guise welded notes
On surroundings, trapped in a bubble,
Repetition of circle and prey,
Invoke words with no meaning, entreat winds with no warning,
Before sunrise my guise stutters then sway
My being with gusts of acceptance,
Sleeping friends slumber abridge their minds,
What lies dormant, control in elements,
Three pieces of a watertorn map left behind,

We grow tired, ease in silence, and in fear,
No comfort for a while, regress to the eyes of an infant,

I'll remain nothing less than my heartbeat

I wrote this when i was drunk and am not sure about it at all, words feel kinda different cross continent.

Last Night

Regression back to a few old habits has taken time, but now i'm there i can never go back. Deciding on a whim to buy an 8 pack of some weird canadian beer turned out to be such a good idea, from playing board games with a scientist and his girlfriend(NO LIE) leading towards one of my usual solitary adventures, meeting some girl on a bus trying to give me acid and being led to some pub where being English and Australian played into the hands of me and every single person with jugs of alcoholic substances, apparently drinking straight from them gets plaudits, become king. Anyway, i met some weird guy from MTV and this record label manager who got me and some dude into a ridiculously posh nightclub filled with unsatisfied billionaires wifes and free Jager all night. Some guy from London challenged me to a rap battle but sopped out, pussy.. Along with other regression, making up lives for yourself is sorely missed and made an appearance last night, me and this guy somehow communicated without the power of coherent speech or thought, yet got on wavelength enough to pass ourselves off as a multicultural two piece band on tour around North America, waking up with texts asking me if strangers can have guestlist to our fictional show tonight made me laugh so hard. I think i claimed to be Beirut as well, less successfully. I don't really know why i'm writing this, drink buzz in full effect, plus i cooked the best stir fry pasta with creamy mustard sauce earlier, score. Wake me up in about an hour, goodbye..

ALSO DOWNLOAD THE FUCKING MIXTAPE I MADE YOU JERKS

ABSOLUTE HERO

you are going to get me through my stay..

Mixtape No. 2

1. As Tall As Lions - Stab City
2. The Maple State - Starts With Dean Moriarty
3. Electric President - Insomnia
4. Annuals - Brother
5. Beirut - Nantes
6. Manchester Orchestra - Golden Ticket
7. Anathallo - Hoodwink
8. Interpol - Take You On A Cruise
9. Blonde Redhead - 23
10. TV On The Radio - Staring At The Sun
11. Colour Revolt - Our Homes And Graves
12. Ra Ra Riot - Ghost Under Rocks
13. Silversun Pickups - Kissing Families
14. Wolf Parade - Dinner Bells

http://www.mediafire.com/?nnmt3z2cxgt


Despite rumours to the contrary, i'm bored enough to write about this second little compilation i decided to make, partly due to not being a big enough fan of the cinema to spend $12 to eat popcorn and brush legs and partly due to it being kinda therapeutic. Thanks to a wonderful scot called Emma, i have a laptop to play around on, and thus the first time i've been able to freely write anything at home without the fear of being seen as antisocial. Although, still no internet, so i gotta wait until tomorrow to upload this anyway, annoyance. There's a sort of underlying theme in that i thought the songs had something in common or some kind of link, but other than that i just picked whatever, enjoy!

So, As Tall As Lions, as far as i can recall i think i picked up their album Lafcadio after checking them out on the basis of a sticker i got sent with another EVR package years ago, and being sort of impressed but not to the extent as to go nuts over them, but after their self titled a few years later i was blown away, not only was the production better like times infinity, but the instrumentation, vocals and basically everything was totally on point. This song sort of makes me think of being in some sort of twisted carnival on a bad acid trip, an experience yet to be embraced by me. This is the first track on that record and it's the first track on this, OKOL.

With The Maple State, they basically totally reinvented themselves following "At Least Until We've Settled In", yet managed to be one of the very few bands, who in my opinion actually managed to pull it off, from being one of the best pop punky emo-ish exports our countrys had to offer, then pushing more into the indie demographic while losing none of their songwriting flair shows a lot, still a young band and hopefully much more will be to come. This song retains aspects of both of these periods in their existence as a band, and the chorus is literally the most anthemic thing, i listened to it on repeat for like a week after the first time it raped my eardrums. Good dudes as well, Greg gave me a free beer once when i'd probably had far too many. Sorry about the bad quality, blame Canada.

I know nothing about Electric President at all, but i remember not caring at all on first listen, then it gradually growing on me, like a post Postal Service band that doesnt just follow formula, kinda cool. Thanks Rozi Wheeler.

Annuals are another band i've never met, seen or managed to come across at all until a few months ago when some message board kid was going on about them, comparisons with Anathallo and various electronica bands i was into resulted in getting sent a couple of albums. This tracks off of their 2006 release Be He Me, which for all i know could be nothing compared to their follow up, Such Fun, but i have not had the time to listen, unfortunate for everybody. Someone listen for me and let me know.

Beirut need no words. I remember being stoked on them since a friend showing me that video where the cameramans moving around that apartment building following the band before getting to where the drums are when it kicks in, if you don't know what i mean, ask someone who does, watch it, and appreciate, absolutely amazing. There's a good guy who sounds a bit like the man himself from the UK, only a bit older than me, goes by the moniker Gossamer Albatross, not sure if he's doing anything at the moment, but have a checkout!

Manchester Orchestra must be pretty big because my friend Lucie told me to listen to them the other day, which is usually my gauge of a bands ascension into the public domain, but anyway, i think Anathallo went on tour as support with them, i only wanted to see Anathallo so went to their Water Rats headline, but i guess MO are ok as well, listen for yourself! Things like this make me realise i have literally no grasp on actually how big bands are, for all i know just putting some of this stuff on a compilation could get me in trouble with the law..

But ok, Anathallo, such an experience, actually beyond pretty much anything i've seen, utilising every part of their body, instruments, harmony, melody and every music device, be it physical or theoretical, live they're a force to be reckoned with. This song has something to do with Nazi's and their disillusionment/self justification i think, some quotations are included in the lyrics, i know the singer to be a very scholared guy so it's probably beyond the common knowledge of you or i, and without the power of the internet to aid me in my information i'm running blind. Regardless of lyrics, this song is a masterpiece in my opinion, moving, powerful, dynamic and so colourful. This whole album is one of my most listened to ever, so go buy Floating World! Also, one of my friends(NO LONGER) lost my green Anathallo t shirt a while back, so if you feel like replacing it please do, i would but im scared of going on the site to find it's sold out then killing the culprit of my loss.

I'm going to have to chill out a bit because Interpol are another of my favourite bands ever, and i'm close to getting carried away. From first seeing them in The Scala years ago with Franz Ferdinand supporting(for real) to attending every solo London show they've done since, they've never weakened, and while Turn On The Bright Lights is still my favourite album of theirs (as it should be with every Interpol fan), i think anyone who wants to listen to them should buy that or attain it themselves, no introduction will suffice. Anyway, off of their other releases, this is probably my favourite, quite an obvious song but at the time i first heard it it had such an effect, i think i did my GCSE dance choreography to it as well while rude girls grinded to Now 59 or whatever, reminisce..

Keeping the trend of tour partners going, i got into Blonde Redhead when i found out they'd be supporting Interpol on their last UK tour, and despite lack of bass live, on record they've got a lot going for them, the vocals being in the same ethereal realm as someone like Bjorks, without the squealing range. I recently got their album Misery Is A Butterfly which requires some indulgence, expect one of those tracks on a mix to come.

I think i'm out of ammo... TV On The Radio and Colour Revolt are good, so are Ra Ra Riot but probably not as much so, Silversun Pickups are superior to both and this is off their Pikul EP so you might not have heard it, Wolf Parade have got an animal based name so you know they've got tattoo support, good night.

x

Travellers

Downers

At the moment, the whole world feels like it's on some kind of depressive mong out, this should not be the case as it's finally begun snowing in sunny whistler, but i've literally had it out with hsbc for hours today, cannot pay rent until my wire transfer comes through, which is looking like it hasn't even been sent let alone coming towards arrival. As such, i have zero money and the prospect of no money to come until i start work. I can't pay for rent for this month until payment comes through, which my staff housing has been surprisingly understanding about. Still, i feel like i'm taking the piss which is the least appropriate thing for my actions to be going towards.

According to everyone this is likely in the first few weeks, the hassle of accomodating yourself/your belongings and your problems while dealing with the inevitable karmic retribution of fucking with the man over my pitiful years of existence. WORDY WORDY WORDY.

I have plans with no means, money with no access, and life in waiting, the feeling is i'm just in one my generic bad moods, some things from home never change.

Sorry to not be more positive, once i pay for my rent i'll be a lot more chirpy, and aim to get phoning friends from back home asap. It may not sound like much yet, but potential is overwhelming.

Dreamzzz

Video

Ok so i haven't posted much to the blog and for that I can only offer my apologies. Although I have been using all my time, unsuccessfully, looking for somewhere to live while I am out here in the yet to appear snow. And so instead of making you chuckle with witty antidotes of my stressful week I am currently editing a video to fuel some envy for those of you reading this working a 9'to'5 and watching hollyoks on a daily basis. I promise to post regulary when i have a little more time on my hands and when im a little less stressed. Hope you enjoy the video, its just what was on my camera up untill this point. HOUSING IN WHISTLER EMBRACE ME!!!!
Obama do us proud.
Peace.
W X

Relocation

Apologies about the lack of a daily update, Will was meant to do one last night but apparently forgot his power cable, he is a liar and literary avoider. I'm assured he'll make up for this tonight and write last nights entry but this i have yet to see! Currently, we're chilling in wills temporary accomodation in a place called Creekside, cooking spaghetti bolognaise and garlic bread, living the high life in most senses! In other senses, we're cold and slightly dishevelled, but i've managed to move into staff accomodation for a stewarding job i'll be doing. Unglamorous, but with the housing crisis causing an unfairly large percentage of people to actually return home, luck seems to be on my side! With this being said, i'm still doing all i can to help Will Lori and Emma IN THEIR QUEST FOR GLORIOUS HOMES. My drink will be happening today, there's no way i can afford club alcohol, which at least reminds me of home a little.. Off licenses need to become my friend and fast.

Ok, where i'm living now needs an update, it's housing at the Four Seasons Resort in Whistler, which is shown below



Absolutely ridiculous, i know, and it does actually start looking like that in about 3 weeks once the snow starts falling. Annoyingly, i have to share a room with 2 other people, which for 6 months is not really something im up for, aiming towards finding something offsite, less strict and more private once i begin earning dollars. Until my HSBC wire transfer comes through, im still living off $200 i punched out of a bank machine in Vancouver. Annoyingly i can't really write much right now or go as in depth as i'd like to about the actual intriciacies of how i'm feeling about all of this, but Will promises to update his situation asap, and until then i'm writing with pen and paper in my bedroom, no internet access. Being away from everyone feels in between desertion and necessary, but progress is being made. EXPECT MORE SOON, people tell me what you're doing and stuff? Just something good from back home, you are not all dead.

x

Alta Lake

I pretty much feel like my brain is revolving around in my skull at the moment, not only has my jetlag been erased, but now it's been replaced by a reversion to my idiot UK sleeping patterns, only in Canadian time. Update situation wise is as follows, me and Will are in Whistler village, i have staff accomodation sorted as of tomorrow night, but not money with which to pay for it until HSBPedophile sorts out my wire transfer, calling themselves the worlds local bank is almost the most misleading thing i've ever heard in my little bankrupt life.

We stayed in a place called HI Hostel last night, which is about an hours walk from the village, it's insane, i could stay here forever if they'd have me, minus the lack of free food it's literally the cliched dream winter retreat, except there are about 50 tourists here, rather than me and 5 supermodels. Arriving last night with my booking confirmation, it turned out they'd had an error on the system which meant i had no bed, but i got to stay on the sofa downstairs for free, which turned up to be such a blessing this morning; Little did i realise the oversized glass windows in the downstairs living room weren't just dark portals into the abyss, but in daylight the most phenomenal view of Alta Lake with Whistler/Blackcomb mountains overlooking it, the only word i can think of is majestic, which i don't think i've used since primary school poems in an attempt to sound cleverer than my age(it worked).

Videos of this amongst many other things will be uploaded soon once will figures out how to connect his neanderthal camera to some video editing software. I don't really know what's going on, annoyingly i'm having withdrawal symptoms from the safety of coconut rum and schnapps, my time will come.

We're about to get a bus into town to meet our friend Lori after her job interview to crash at hers overnight, generosity needs to returned somehow, and there's been many generous people to us so far, it seems people genuinely are civil enough to help people out here without expecting stuff in return. A far cry from eye contact being a signal of war back home..

I have to go, but expect Mixtape no. 2 being up for download tomorrow night, once this most hectic stage is over, real life can begin. Snows in my eyes already, HAIL THE MOUNTAIN GOAT.

ps. here's a picture off of the HI Hostel website of where we're staying, for £15 a night it's got it's perks.

Like A Virgin

Ok, so I woke up this morning at around 9.15 which meant the jet lag I had been experiencing for the past few days had all but left my system. Good start. By this time most of you in the U.K would have gone about your day and looking forward to your evening, but I had just woken up. After showering and getting dressed we; Martin, Colin and I made our way downstairs to the welcoming sound of Madonna singing about her childhood molestation. 'Like a virgin' has not left my head all day and still now (11.45pm) “I am making my way through the wilderness”.

Unfortunately I have been touched by little luck over the past 48 hours or so. I still have no accommodation from November 1st onwards which is getting getting increasingly worrying, and is only made worse by the fact I still have no job. Shit. But you all know me, somehow I will pull it off. No doubt about it, Penthouse flat, executive job, back rolling in twenties within a matter of weeks, and when the snow starts I will be at the top of the lift, strapped in and ready to blaze. But until then there's a lot that needs to be done.

So, while being touched for the very first time, I set out back into Vancouver to continue the search for the best deal on mobile phones for Whistler. Before we go any further, without trying to get a mobile in Canada you have no idea how difficult this can be. In no way can it be compared to phone shopping in the UK. There's no getting a cheap pay and go sim and topping it up and ringing your mum. Nah mate, none of that. I'm not even going to go into detail about this ridiculously hard task but for any Call of Dutiers reading this, think 'Mile High Club' on Veteran, and lets just say I didn't save the hostage.

Luckily in a number of the shops containing these pieces of shit mobiles there were 360's demoing both the new Rock Band and the new Guitar Hero. Thus calming the temper which ROGERS mobile had ensured. Both games are insanely good and will be one of my earliest purchases when established in whistler. I highly advise getting one if not both. My temper also dampened by the fact that I achieved top score on every song completed. Pretty surprising really due to the fact a ridiculous percentage of the population here in Vancouver are Asian.
There are also a lot of homeless people and prostitutes although they didn't put up much of a fight in the G.H rankings so it is hardly worth mentioning them.
Yeah so anyway this is my first post to the blog and is written on our last day in Vancouver. I will try to post more with actually interesting or humour stories but Martin insisted that I write one today, I will also edit the videos filmed before we left and upload all those worthy. Bring on whistler.

Have a sweet ass Halloween.

Stay Black.W X

Equality

“...People that Cuts a great dash at home when they come here [to America] the[y] tink it strange for the humble Class of poeple to get as much respect as themselves [but] when they come here it wont do to say I had such and was such and such at home [for] strangers here the[y] must gain respect by there conduct and not by there tongue... I know poeple here from [Ireland] that would not speak to me [there] if they met me on the public road [but] here I can laugh in there face when I see them...”

Extract of a letter from Patrick Dunny, Irish immigrant to Philadelphia during the Irish potato famine, dated 1847.

Vancouver Love

Well, on arrival in Vancouver, me and will saw at least 15 corner whores in the first 2 blocks, i still feel like i'm on the set of GTA 3 or something, looking around and seeing perfect locations for sniping or last stands. Today we saw 8 police cars, marked nd unmarked go nuts outside a 7:11 about something as well, heavy..

Anyway, leaving England ws pretty mental, Josh drove me and Will up, as well as Jack, George and Maddy being driven up by Andy as well, it was surprisingly emotional, in the nicest way possible, i'll miss these guys and some others more than anything, hopefully there'll be a visit on the cards!

We've been wondering around the last 2 nights, im in the bar below our hostel writing this at the moment, with a ridiculously hot barmaid waiting for us to tip her to hell and back.. We were also met by a livid New Zealand madwoman screaming from her bunkbed in our room as well. We've met a bunch of people as well which hs been sick, some weird hawaain called Decland who bought us some savage Canadian beer, and have been exploring all day with our hostel roomate Colin who has the most savage pimp suit i've ever seen and a girl Lori who we met at our arrival orientation who wears Vans chukkas, always a bonus! If the social element of our trip continues like this i'll be a very happy child..

Getting full time accomodation is still a total shit, hectic and annoying, phone calls met with voices i'd expect to hear off Fonejacker, scam city. All will be well once we're in Whistler village itself, this i am certain of. Productivity wise, we did manage to get a bank account sorted and a phone discount from some chinese women as well, as well s a couple of pitchers of beer. Alcohol in bars is annoyingly expensive here, still stoked on being given free everything on our plane journey though, almost makes up for it!

WILLS STUPID A KEY DOESN'T WORK PROPERLY, FUCK DIS.

I'll leave a better post with more humour and information when i have time, but here are some photos from our last meal with friends, drunken night of guitar hero and films at Wills and the trip to the airport. Mad love UK, thinking of you!
x

Cassis

So last night was a lot, a load of us went to Wills to play guitar hero drinking games and watch Josh Bryant throw up. Ended up being ridiculously good, i didn't even expect to inebriate myself the day before departure but there you have it, so much Bells whisky is in my body right now, i feel fucking wafty. It's savage to drink straight incidentally, don't try this at home.. Josh is driving me and Will up in a bit, as well as Jack, Andy, George and Maddy coming up in another car to say sweaty emotional goodbyes, i don't really know what to say, i am revolving on my axis. This is also probably the last post i'm going to write in this country, so that's pretty mental, me and Will have packed our lives into suitcases, printed our booking passes and it's suddenly all becoming far too real. I feel like such an excited little boy, but to be honest i reckon this is mainly me still being drunk. There were a lot of photos and videos from last night, expect these uploaded some time soon as well as from a few other events of late, to be honest for a last post this is pretty weak, i should probably write something emo about new beginnings etc, but i'll save that for pen, paper and the plane.

FAREWELL UK, MARTIN RUFFIN

ps.


hehehehehe

Mixtape No.1

Tracklist:

1. Jeniferever - Atlantis Arise!
2. Pennines - Demo 3
3. American Football - The One With The Wurlitzer
4. The Murder Of Rosa Luxemburg - Welcome, Lost Souls
5. Ghosts And Vodka - Andrea Loves Horses
6. Secondmonday - Create, Destroy, Rebuild
7. Bjork - Hyperballad
8. Atlas Sound - Quarantined
9. A Sunny Day In Glasgow - 5:15 Train
10. Blackalicious ft. Saul Williams - Release Pt. 2
11. Ólafur Arnalds - 3055
12. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - BBF3

http://www.mediafire.com/?zzwmxtj2g3o

I have to put my hard drive in my suitcase in a minute, so i thought i'd upload a couple of songs, this selection generally taking a kind of obvious instrumental/post rock/ambient angle, it's more a compilation for the insomniacs among us, i can imagine the perfect situation for listening to most of these being coming home alone, being too tired to function and too intoxicated to sleep.

The first song is off Jeniferevers older "Iris" EP, which along with their self titled EP i think is their best work, really driving rhythmically whilst retaining their eloquent, relaxed style, before Martins whispering vocals started to become in my opinion slightly annoying. Appropriately enough considering their Swedish location, this song makes me want to stride through snow under the Northern Lights or something, epic. Scandinavia really seems to have it dialled when it comes to coherent ambient delivery, Sigur Ros obviously being the best known example of this, but to have bands like Jeniferever, Mimas, Logh, Last Days of April amongst others all from the same stable is quite ridiculous, must be something in the water.

Pennines i've talked about a few posts back, but the track on here is one i have a feeling they don't play much anymore, it was on their myspace when they first set up, i just really like the first little guitar riff.

Considering Pennines' apparent influences, i felt it suitable to include a classic American Football song next, i suppose some would consider this a strange choice for a compilation compared to some of their better known, and probably better songs, but it still shows the Kinsellas ear for simple melody as being second to none, as far as an album closer goes it remains one of my favourites.

Welcome, Lost Souls was a track off of TMORL's last release(i think), a 3 track called Secret Bark Language, which represented a ridiculously sharp departure from their previous angular jazz influenced musical assault Everyones In Love And The Flowers Pick Themselves, if you're wondering how that sounds think The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower meets Converge or something. Anyway, this 3 track was a far more melodic record, with sparse, monotone nonsensical vocals replacing the rasping shouts of before. If anything it sounded like a totally different band, and the progression from this sound to Andrews solo project House of Brothers is really evident in the change in songwriting approach.

The next song is one of my favourite pieces of guitar playing of all time, just a short acoustic track on an obscure Kinsella side project, Victor Villareals alternate tuning, finger picking and just uniquely creative approach to the guitar remains unparalleled, there's more to life than shredding. I think Victor took a load of heroin and "retreated from the public eye", but check www.myspace.com/noyess to hear his most recent work.

Secondmonday released Imagery back when they were about 18 or younger i think, and i remember listening and thinking they were basically making music as a band that i thought i would've ended up writing had i been able to form a band were it not for the scarcity of like minded musicians in the area. How they all came together in one place and formed something so creative and mature at that age still induces small town resentment in me. This is the only instrumental track on their album, therefore doesn't really represent their overrall style too well, but to be capable of writing this within an album of energetic progressive indie esque stuff at that age is ridiculous. They've been quiet over the past couple of years, probably smoking a lot of weed and playing a bunch of shows in Germany, but hopefully they'll be back soon. Small fact as well, i once put them on in Tenterden Town Hall of all places.

Hyperballad is infinitely good if you wake up to semi naked strangers dancing around your house at 6 am to it after a party, that is all i have to say.

I've been getting well into Atlas Sound lately, which is Bradford from Deerhunters side project, he seems to have a knack for inducing you into an almost hypnotic state with his music, the amount of times i've had it on my headphones whilst in an alternate mental dimension lately has been a lot. This song is off his first album Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel, which is in my opinion far better than anything Deerhunter has or will release. Annoyingly(for me) he is a devout religious douchebag, can't fault his composition skills though.

A Sunny Day In Glasgow are in the same vein as Atlas Sounds trippy atmospheric sound, yet are actually not a home bedroom solo project, but a 5 piece from Philadelphia. I don't know how or when their album came into my possession, but it did, and whilst being a little less accomplished in style than some other purveyors of the art, it's striking in its own way, they're still relatively small so should be worth a little check out.

With Release Pt. 2, off Blazing Arrow by Blackalicious I don't know why i'm still writing as so few people will read this far if at all, but i felt i should explain putting this song on my compilation, considering in a generally post rock/indie line up it's by a hip hop act, off a hip hop album. This is just a part of one song which i cut up in Wavelab, and features the spoken word skills of Saul Williams. I find this sort of music fascinating, just interesting speech in tracks, or commentaries, something like this i remember coming back to far more often than other far more catchy tracks on the album. Lyrical eloquence of an almost poetic realm is rare to see on a lot of modern commercial hip hop, but the imagery Saul paints in this is incredible, i don't know, maybe i'm alone in this but it just does something for me.
My hands hurt.

Olafur Arnalds plays piano and writes other stuff. He played with Yndi Halda a while back, tickets sold out and i stayed at home crying into my post rock pillow. DYNAMIC

Godspeed are unquestionably at the forefront of this genre, and this song includes a field recording of an interview with a guy called Blaise Bailey Finnegan the Third, there's something so powerful about the way it's utilised so melodically and dynamically that gives me shivers. For some reason i recognise this song from when i was younger and i still have no idea why. It stuck out then and it still does now.


DO NOT EXPECT INFORMATION ON EACH SONG ON THE NEXT MIX I DO, THIS WAS A MISTAKE.
x

Dinner With Friends

Earlier this evening our friend Ellie kindly organised me and Will a leaving dinner with a bunch of friends in our hometown. Getting to see the most important people from our past in this place, most of them i'd known since first moving to Tenterden made quite a difference to this leaving process, and it was genuinely the best kind of closure, reminiscing on times gone by at school, sixth form and various private girls school parties we'd crashed over the years. All i can say is, eating Mexican food to the sound of Phoenix in Flight was not how i expected the last time i saw a lot of my friends to be, Ellie even provided a sick chocolate cake as well, some might consider this sort of exit twee or quaint but it was really what i think we wanted, just a chance for one last hangout, with no pressure or tension between anyone, in an environment we probably wouldn't get a chance to experience again in a long time, if ever.

Also, it's come to organisation that our friends are going to drive us to the airport now which should be sick, and i'm going to really struggle to resist a drunken emotional sendoff, immigrations officers ain't shit.. Pictures of the meal and this will be coming soon, i'll load them up as soon as they're in my possession. Big thanks to Ellie for hosting tonight, and Josh, Jack, Jake, Andy, George, Hannah, Maddy, Catherine and Paul for coming down, you'll be missed.


In other news, any Bjork fans might be interested in this album dedicated to her album Post, an absolute classic and one of the best showcases of her beautifully ethereal voice, it features covers of every track off the album from the likes of Xiu Xiu, No Age, Atlas Sound and High Places amongst others.

http://stereogum.s3.amazonaws.com/enjoyed/enjoyed.zip

Biography

A swathe of cutlasses in an empty room are the only comfort, these barbed words on hooks that never slip, unfaltering in this inescapable future.

Or an anachronism?

How highly we hold this past that we sip at, moist lips let what’s golden part their ineffectual filter, we know the glass contains a bitter aftertaste, taste buds conditioned to only our presumptuous affections,
Insistent, repellent, benevolent or malevolent? An element
of surprise as the mouth parts until we swallow pride as well as contrived justice. Stop.

Break away to applause, bow clouded by delusion, a rush as we raise our heads too quickly to take in the surroundings, at an outdoor conference of great minds all I see is
Sun in my eyes
and my own reflection in the heat haze

Take stock in this, last chance as we reel through the ages, too quickly advancing through used camera negatives and sheets of dirty glass.



And the room is empty again, characters in a glorified autobiography take their rightful place amongst the dotted cobwebs and unwashed sheets,

Past beckons futures,
Pictures become words,
Both become warm air between our lips, ventilation extends to the pores of concrete, inches yet miles apart, these histories are to be rewritten again and again,

I say i forget what happened

I will never know.

Mutual Friends

Today i got a new pair of skate shoes to replace my beaten to shit Lakais, off a very nice guy called Simon Peplow, who i only realised they were from after i received the box this morning. I've never met Simon but had been a fan of his art and skateboarding over the years from seeing him and his installations/projects in Sidewalk amongst other places. The reason this stood out to me is because i messaged him before buying(Ebay) mentioning that i was leaving the country Tuesday and he said he'd make sure they got to me on time, what i didn't expect was him paying £8 to send them special delivery, really good to see such genuine goodwill directed to someone he'd never met to fulfil a duty that wasn't really his responsibility in the first place. Just goes to show there's noone better than skateboarders! Incidentally, you can view his work here on his blog, quirky character based illustrations, buy some of his art or something!  

The shoes were a replacement in actual fact, i had a pair of Quiet Life edition Lakai Belmonts which have been the best skate shoes i've ever been blessed enough to do bonelesses in, if you see a pair anywhere i'd very much recommend them. 

I also stumbled upon a pretty cool website today which could yield good things for anyone out there interested in various mainly UK undergroundish indie acts, BSM esque stuff generally amongst other gems. Its called Beatcast TV and can be found here, there's currently live set videos of Dartz, Tubelord, Johnny Foreigner and Pennines amongst others, with ones from Blakfish, Cats X 3 and others soon. Pennines are currently one of my favourite UK bands, being in my opinion some of the catchiest melodic mathy indie available to loll your head about to along with Colour. Another reason why they're worth your time is they're all really sound guys, short anecdote but i remember putting Cinemechanica from America on and it going to shit, them being good enough to take me on tour with them for a few nights to make up for it, sessioning smart price beer and Tekken in their van(so so good) and making it to Norwich where Tristan from Pennines was putting them on. He ended up being really out of pocket at the show but remained genuinely stoked on getting a chance to see the guys play and let me crash at his flat with no warning or hesitation, and was a welcoming enough host to make me and another guest food, stay up and play Super Mariokart until the earlier hours and never get bummed out about the lack of turnout, something i always found impossibly infuriating to deal with. I have a feeling he was also the person who first introduced me to Mates Of State which deserves added kudos. You can check Pennines out on myspace here and watch this video of them from Beatcast below, for some reason it's recorded with barely any bass at all, but i'm sure you get the gist. Goodnight x

Reminiscing

Last time me and Will went on a snowboard holiday we were about 15 and ended up faking a death, covering a douchebags bed in crushed up pringles, shaving foam and hair gel, taking out James Brooks bunk bed rungs to maximum effect, sessioning schnapps and ending up on the roof of some hotel, trapping our teacher in his room with a bunch of beer kegs, and for the icing on the cake lifting out a passed out guy in our room on his mattress, carrying him through so many hallways and lifts and leaving him asleep outside a familys room where the husband wore a jockstrap, see photos below.. Expect equal and far improved mischief on this trip, we are older and far more creative these days. 

 

Introduction

Until tuesday, everything will have been the same, easy, monotonous, and dull, small town mentalities and more insanity. Me and my friend Will Duke Oddy are about to leave England for a new life away from everything we've known, our comfort zone is about to be blown into a million pieces, the wreckage under which i hope to learn something new about myself, everyone else and become a bit more cultured in the process. This is a huge step into the unknown for both of us and we intend to catalogue it all here when we have time, via the new sights, sounds, and senses that we are undoubtedly going to experience. I'm still totally clueless as to how much of this place i'm going to miss, and what it is that lingers at the back of my mind that still motivates me to leave behind everything i've worked towards, given up on then swallowed my pride and crawled back into bed with over the years. This is going to be a collection of our journeys and amongst them our thoughts, with as little censorship or romanticism as possible, i hope some of you will enjoy it.

Martin Ruffin