broken cars and the weakerthans have a new bass player

last friday was a day i'd been looking forward to for over a month. an outdoor summer concert in a nearby town, with 2 of my favourite bands, the lowest of the low and the weakerthans playing.

so we got there around 430pm, and my car died RIGHT when we pulled into the parking lot. we actually had to push it into its parking spot. after thinking about what to do, we finally decided to wait until after the show to get a tow truck. we rushed over to 'the island', and caught (in progress) a workshop with ron hawkins and steve stanley from the low, and j k samson and steve carroll from the weakerthans. they took turns playing songs and telling little stories. the low guys played a couple of new-ish songs. jks played 'a new name for everything', and 'Anchorless'. also at this workshop was ford pier - a guy i'd seen before, as guitarist with martin tielli's band. he sang some great songs too.

then we headed over to the main stage to see the first band, the fembots. they're a decent band, and they put on a good show for a mostly-disinterested crowd. The low cam out after 8pm. i didn't write down the set list, but their songs included:
- dogs of february, just about "the only" blues, and then the riot, for the hand of magdelena, everywhere and nowhere, the sharpest pain, last lost generation, your birthday party, turpentine, 3 am taxi ride, save me alice neel, last recidivist, winter sleepers.
they played for about an hour and a quarter. after a short break, the main band, the weakerthans, came out. the crowd was really into it (apparently they were there to see this band!). funny, about 4 years ago, i saw the weakerthans open for the low. this time, it's the other way around...

i love this band, they played an awesome set list. oh, and they have a new bass player. a guy named greg smith, whom i've seen as the bassist for tielli's band. i don't know what happened to john p....

their set list included:
- diagnosis, aside (the sound went dead TWICE during this song, so they had to resume the song before finally giving up), watermark, pampheteer, this is a fire door never leave open, left and leaving, manifest, the reasons, reconstruction site, psalm for the elks lodge last call, plea from a cat named virtute, our retired explorer, one great city, benediction. their second encore was a cover of a song by the replacements, a song called 'swingin party' from their fantastic album called 'tim'.

so yeah, it was a great show, despite the car problems, i still found myself humming the weakerthans on the way home. the tow truck came at 1230, towed the car to my mechanics. we got a taxi to take us home. long night, but well worth it...

the car? well, i'll find out today if it's worth repairing. it is, after all, a 1989...

for the love of it

i've written a lot in here about my love for cycling. in recent years, i've been solely a mountain biker, riding 2-3 times a week on any trails i can find. but this year i've added road riding, and gone on group rides once a week. it's loads of fun, and it's so different than mountain biking. you'd think hopping on a two-wheeler and pushing the pedals is the same, no matter where you are, but there's more to it than that. mountain biking is bumping and fast. quick up hills and down hills. i find it exhilariting. road riding is also fast but smooth. the hills are difficult, but you can pace better. and the down hills are screaming fast.

one person once told me: road riding is like ball-room dancing; mountain biking is like being in the mosh pit.

so tuesday this week, i went on my weekly road ride. i went out with a group of riders of similar speed to me - i've ridden with them before, and we were riding along at a good clip, when we came to big climb. i started out in the lead and thought i was going up the hill fast. then, one by one, they all passed me with such efficiency, i thought i had stopped. at the top, i slowed to catch my breath while they kept going. i eventually fought to catch up, but eventually, i was dropped again. i rode the hill twice more by myself, and was eventually caught by another group of faster riders, but i was able to keep up with them as we rode back (no hills) to the parking lot, about 5 kilometres.

then yesterday i went for a mountain bike ride. we had a time trial, so there was a 10 kilometre loop, and riders started at one-minute intervals. i started off second, and was hoping to catch the rider in front of me, and avoid being caught by the rider behind me. i never saw the guy ahead of me, as he set the fastest time of night, beating me by 6 minutes. the guy behind me didn't catch me. a couple of other kids beat my time too, quite easily. the thing is, i thought i was going so fast, so at first, i was a little discouraged that so many people were faster than me. then in hindsight, i realized that i was going fast... fast for me. after the time trial, i rode around for a while, just for fun. not too fast, not too slow. i passed some recreational riders, and thought 'they probably think i'm fast - maybe i am relative to them'. and i realized that how much i love riding the trails. once i try to compete or race, it begins to lose its appeal. i enjoy racing once in a while, but i mustn't delude myself into thinking that i can keep up with racers. i'm in pretty good shape, it's great exercise, and i love it. i need to remember why i started riding in the first place...

for the love of it.

i don't remember

i don't remember what it's like not being able to ride a bike
i don't remember what it's like not being able to swim
i don't remember what it's like not knowing how to walk
i don't remember much from my trip to costa rica more than 10 years ago
i don't remember much about my grade 12 french class
i don't remember what i had for breakfast on september 23, 1982
i don't remember how i reacted when i heard my best friend from grade 5 died from leukemia
i don't remember what i thought the first time i heard the beatles
i don't remember learning how to talk
i don't remember the last time the leafs won the stanley cup
i don't remember the last time i went to church

i used to think our brains were like computer hard drives, and each new memory occupies a few brain cells. if this was the case, you'd think that there would be some finite number of memories we could store in our heads. and at some point in life, we'd fill our brains, so every new memory we create, we'd have to forget one from the distant past.

ah, i have such vivid, wonderful memories of the past... i don't want to create new memories in case i lose a memory that i want to hold onto...

but i don't think it works that way. i think it's more complex. i think each new memory creates new connections between various spots in our brains. i don't think we lose memories. forgetting something doesn't mean it's lost forever. we just need to re-establish the connections...

i do remember what i had for breakfast this morning
i do remember my first real kiss
i do remember being afraid of the water
i do remember my first new bike
i do remember my first concert
i do remember my best friend in grade 5

so how do we choose what we remember and what we don't? maybe our subconscious acts as this filter, so we don't have to think about 'issues' all the time. then we'd all be neurotic, over-self-analyzers.

and i wouldn't be the only one...

a walk in the rain

passing the time in a meeting that was going on too long
no windows, trapped in artificial light
finally, i rise, announcing my need for departure
i see the dark skies, the rain falling
my car, parked a good 15-minute walk away
people scrambling around outside
trying to get to their building, their car, before they get too wet
i take 3 steps, running
then i decide to walk
not fast, just slow and leisurely
i'm going to get wet anyway
i stroll in the pouring rain, soaked in seconds
i smile as people continue to run to and fro
in the distance i hear thunder
yet i walk slowly
the world slowed down for me for this walk
i make it to my car just as the rain lets up
i'm soaked, not a dry inch of clothing
i start my car and drive home under the dark skies
and i swear i see a break in the clouds
and the sun poking through

I've been tagged for the second time.

Total number of books that I own:
Too many to count, or at least, I'm too lazy to count.

Last book I bought:
Terry, by Douglas Coupland - it was a father's day gift for my dad. For my own father's day gift, I was given "Eleanor Rigby", also by Coupland. I haven't read it yet.

Last book I read:
Digital Fortress by Dan Brown. Pulp fiction at its pulpiest. I'm almost done "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson.

Five books that mean a lot to me:
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
Home Game - Paul Quarrington
High Fidelity - Nick Hornby
A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut

Five people I tag to do their own book meme:
K
E
less-than3
zeroreverb7
mandolin

i want to ride my bicycle, i want to ride my bike

so this past sunday i was in a mountain bike race - 6 hour race. they marked out a course through the woods that was about 11 kilometres, and the point is to ride as many laps as you can in the 6 hour period. you can enter as a team of 2, 4 or 6, or solo. i chose to enter this event solo, just to see if i could ride for 6 hours straight. my longest rides so far this year have been around 2 or 3 hours, so a 6 hour ride would be a real test for me. the race started at 10 am and ended at 4pm, and i managed to complete a total of 7 laps, taking only short breaks in between each lap to refill water bottles. so i was quite pleased that i was able to ride that long with no signifcant rest periods.

i did take a couple of little spills on my bike. the first was on lap 4 or 5, near the end, along a long straightaway. I was riding along at my leisurely pace when i heard a rider approaching from behind. i heard him yell 'rider coming up on your left', so i steered my bike to the right. a guy whipped past me, and i proceed to go back to the left where the main singletrack trail was, and this second guy plowed into me, pushing me off my bike into the raspberry bushes. he fell too, but stayed on the trail. and he gets up yelling at me, saying "i said there were 2 riders coming on your left". meanwhile, i'm stunned, scraped up from landing in prickly raspberry bushes, saying "all i heard was 'coming on your left'". this moron is still yelling as he rides away, not even checking to see if i was ok. i finally got up, all scratched and sore, yelling "thanks a lot buddy". i ended up with a raspberry-bush scratch across the front of my neck. it's not deep but it looks nasty, like i tried to slit my own throat.

my second fall was on my last lap when i was quite tired. i was riding down a hill and there was a tree-root, followed by a bit of a dropoff. i'd ridden this without incident each lap before, but i was tired, so i thought i'd slow down and take it easy. bad mistake. the front wheel stopped and i must have been leaning forward, for i was tossed over the bike, which did a complete flip and ended up backwards on the trail. i landed on my hands and knees, adding new scrapes to both knees. i rolled over onto my back to rest and assess the damage. thankfully no riders were coming up behind me. eventually, i got up, brushed myself off and continued down the trail. i finished my last lap just before 4pm and felt a sense of relief, not to mention satisfication.

if i wasn't so sore and tired, i would have patted myself on the back!

Five Things

This is from less-than3.diaryland.com with my answers...

Five Things I just Don't Get:
1. Britney Spears
2. Paris Hilton
3. 24-hour weather channels
4. Obsession with looks
5. Climbing the corporate ladder

5 Things (other than money) I Wish I had More Of:
1. Time
2. Speed and Endurance on my bike
3. Wisdom
4. Room in my house
5. Motivation

5 Least Favourite Words or Phrases
1. like... hello?
2. you had me at hello (from less_than3)
3.
4.
5.

5 Famous People I've Spoken with in Person
1. Dave Bidini (i know... you've never heard of him...)
2. Margaret Atwood
3. Michael Ondaatje
4. Paul Quarrington
5. Darryl Sittler

5 Things I do Daily That I Don't Enjoy
1. get out of the shower
2. work
3. watch tv
4. shave
5. did i say 'work'?

5 things I wish I had the chance to do more often:
1. write
2. travel
3. ride my bike
4. photography
5. sleep

5 favourite move, TV or Literary quotes:
1. "You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and you believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland. And, I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."
2. "There's only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures and the Dutch."
3. "You know that point in your life when you realize that the house that you grew up in isn't really your home anymore? All of the sudden even though you have some place where you can put your stuff that idea of home is gone."
4. "I'm losing all those stupid games that I swore I'd never play"
5. "Your life, as you know it... is gone. Never to return. But they learn how to walk, and they learn how to talk... and you want to be with them. And they turn out to be the most delightful people you will ever meet in your life. "
(BONUS POINTS if you can name the source of these quotes/lyrics WITHOUT looking them up!)

5 Things I have done that sound like lies:
... nothing comes to mind right now...
(added July 13, 2005)
1. I once studied french immersion in Paris
2. I once won 3 gold medals in a city swim meet in high school
3.

the transition

i'm gradually moving over my older posts from my old blog, but if you're really, REALLY bored, you can click on the link on the right to read all the old posts. i've copied over posts from present back to Sept.2004. the old blog goes as far back as about july 2003. i'll be copying that stuff over in time...

aging body

i had a hockey game last night and i was reminded of my aging body. i love the game, i love skating, shooting and passing the puck, but i'm finding that i'm becoming increasingly incapable of keeping up with the younger kids. i've never been the most skilled player, but my skating and hard work has enabled me to keep up with the pace. i don't know if the kids are getting faster or i'm just getting slower, but i am finding that i'm behind the play a lot, and when this happens, i sometimes end up taking cheap penalties because i can't keep up. this is frustrating.

i wonder if i should consider retirement... from competitive hockey, that is. i think i'll always play recreational hockey, but these competitive games are becoming more difficult each year.

it didn't help that our aging team was missing quite a few players. as it was, we were missing about 5 players and we had only one sub on the bench. i'm much more effective with adequate rest on the bench, but it wasn't always possible with so few subs.

however, we did manage to win 4-3. i assisted on the winning goal, but i took a penalty in the last minutes in the game that could have caused us the game, but didn't. our team picked up a player this term, a younger kid who skates like the wind. i can't keep up with him, so i try to get him the puck and let him do what he does.

somewhere along the way, i went from being one of the youngest players on my team to one of the oldest...

time flies on the ice

on the importance of music

i haven't been to a concert in a while - i think the last time i went was last fall. but i have tickets for the hillside music festival later this month. it's a weekend thing, friday through sunday, but i'm only going friday night because a couple of my favourite bands are playing: the lowest of the low, and the weakerthans. i've seen both of them before but this will be a cool, earthy outdoor venue. i've never been to the hillside before, but every summer, they attract some great bands - many or most of whom are canadian. and it's close to home...

if you were a reader of my old diaryland blog (the entries are still up), you'll know that music plays a big role in my life. most of my current favourite artists are canadian, and indie. there's a small venue here in town that i go to when these musicians pass through. sometimes i go alone, sometimes with a friend.

and now that i have my ipod, i take my entire cd collection wherever i go! it's awesome.

i'm still thinking about my project, where i take songs from different periods of my life and write about them. they're not necessarily my favourite songs, but they're songs that invoke some kind of memory or emotion from the past. i think my list is up to 13 songs. i want to get to 20, then i'm going to start writing about each one. the idea comes from nick hornby, and his book "songbook". the first printing of this book came with a CD. maybe when my book comes out, i'll include a CD!

so i don't feel like typing in all the songs from my current list, but the bands include:

beatles, replacements, the band, neil young, the tragically hip, lowest of the low, chris brown and kate fenner, the weakerthans, rheostatics, simon and garfunkel, electric light orchestra, michael hedges.

i just had an idea... maybe i'll start a brand new journal book just for this purpose. hmmmm now i'm talking...

:)

little insignificances

do you ever have those moments when you're by yourself, out on a walk in the woods or by the water, when you see something special happen, as if it has happened just for you?

like if you were on the beach and saw a tiny swirl of sand kick up, spin around a few times and then fade away...

i've been thinking about paying attention to the little insignificances in our lives. things that most people don't pay attention to, or don't notice. the shape of a cloud drifting by; the sound of a sunrise; the flight path of a songbird; a delicately woven spider web (though i hate spiders); the persistence of weeds that are growing through my asphalt driveway; the shape and colour of a particular stone on the beach...

i've been reading a book about the history of the universe and the earth. it seems like we're here for such a short time. the earth is changing, and will always be changing. there will be a time when it'll change and we'll all disappear, and everything will start all over again. it's easy to convince myself that we, as individuals are insignificant in both time and space. the world will go on with or without any one of us.

so soak it up!

and raise a glass to the insignficance in all of us!

cheers! (clink)