10 years ago, I was on a train going from Vancouver to Toronto with 11-ish rock ‘n’ roll bands, CBC Radio 3, mixed media documentary film crew and other free radicals + I was on board as Svengali-like guru ;) / advisor. It was our own 90 person indie rock Festival Express co-mingled with the usual passengers and doing ridiculous / ill-fated whistle stop shows along the way and ended up at NxNE festival for showcase and I presented a keynote talk about social media disasters… And finally, the documentary is coming out in chapter/band parts starting June 8th iirc. Consider yourself warned, amused and excited.
While assembling diaries about hospitals and massages in Phitsanulok Thailand, as well as general “field notes“, sorta rounded-up a variety of documentary images of post boxes (both outgoing and incoming), a few payphones, parking ticket dispensers, and other oddities. So, here they are for historical record, with little/no further annotation although the payphone may be included in existing archives.
Note: to be clear, some *may not* be in Phitsanulok (Chiang Mai?) and i may add some more later as i come across, as such, consider this a “Thai bucket” so to speak. Oh snapped with iPhone 4/5 and Lomo Sardine can camera for the most part. Lousy photos, interesting items.
10 years ago, I was on a train going from Vancouver to Toronto with 10-ish rock ‘n’ roll bands, CBC Radio 3, mixed media documentary film crew and other free radicals + I was on board as Svengali-like guru ;) / advisor. And finally, the documentary is coming out in chapter/band parts…, ergo:
Blurb:
In a rapid flash, Shred Kelly went from a broken-down van on the side of a mountain highway, to a tow truck then a rental racing the clock to Edmonton to hop aboard the train. Making it just in time to stumble into an epic dance party already in overdrive. Whew.
The jovial quintet then brought relentlessly positive vibes to the town of Melville, Saskatchewan with an early morning luggage car performance, serenading what-must’ve-been-90% of the prairie town’s denizens – complete with lawn chairs, big coffees, and/or tall cans – sliding open the box car to belt out a rousing tune about disaffection for crappy jobs. The beaming mayor expressed his sincere thanks as the train coterie danced alongside the locals.
Once the shock of their unlikely transport triathlon wore off, they settled into their groove of jamming with everyone, pulling out banjos, melodicas, mandolins and rocking with a rapt, packed train car with smiles as bright as an indie-rock Osmond family.
This episode features Tim Newton’s impressive assortment of toques and hats, Sage McBride leading sing-alongs like the grooviest community choir leader, plus Ian Page-Shiner on traps, Steve Polit on guitar, and Jordan Vlasschaert’s scene-stealing ‘stasche rounding out the roster as he shared the band’s ski-town friendliness by thanking the producers/directors/filmers/everyone involved on making this ridiculously awesome journey happen.
And so the VIA Rail Canadian train rolls on, backed by a free-wheeling soundtrack with community coalescing by the kilometre from Vancouver to Toronto – with an important lesson learned, “Whatever it takes, just make it to the station.”
you take a little shuttle boat to the resto which has apparently amused notable guests
As it goes, legendary Jumbo floating restaurant in Hong Kong closed (c19 conundrums) and *apparently* capsized when towed out to sea – strangely in typhoon season in international waters in 1000 m of ocean –condition unknown as of this memo. Seems a bit odd.
tow it to Cambodia, what could go wrong?
You know as soon as the media articles quotes an international maritime insurance adjuster saying “this was definitely not anything to do with insurance malfeasance” you know it definitely is.
Anyway, here’s evidence of the time I went there and ate food like a mysterious spectre, in the missing and so much forgotten years.
If only my jacket wasn’t disheveled but hey…
^ Photos taken by my dining companion
I also recall meeting the France Ambassador to HK that evening and crashing a party for fancy French shoe maker, that and the usual endless food and dress-up snapshots.
Recently another batch of vinyl by post, with brief annotations:
First off: REM’s “Reckoning” & “Fables of The Reconstruction”, original Japanese pressings. Quite thrilled with this find, liner notes, art and all. {previously owned in other media but worn cassette in a lousy van stereo just isn’t the same}. I have original vinyl of “Life’s Rich Pageant” and “Dead Letter Office” stashed at brothers house in BC along with an incredible assortment (which was in a time capsule since 1991 in Utah). Eventually will make its way here. The trick now is scoring “Murmur“ on vinyl, maybe even Chronic Town.
Aside: A bit more about the “time capsule” crates of records: I left with a friend in SLC in 1991 heading out on Grateful Dead tour expecting to roll back through in a few months, 20+ years later, picked up at his dad’s house in perfect condition.
Also added to David Bowie collection: specifically more artifacts from the 1983 era “Serious Moonlight” tour (my first big show) by adding Japanese pressing of “Let’s Dance” and interesting assortment of European press conference interviews from Glass Spider tour, on yellow vinyl.
In process is a “dossier“ post of artifacts from that “Bowie summer” at BC Place and later at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver shows which includes my original XS T-shirt, newspaper clippings, ticket stub. pin as well as photos by Steve Rapport from London show of the same tour + Japan Tour book, bi-lingual (my original was lost to time), as well as Let’s Dance pictodisc & Let’s Dance 7” ++
We’ll get that finished up one of these days maybe (then again I *always* say that :))
Also scored a sweet Japanese pressing of The Beatles’ “Sergeant Pepper’s” with the 日本語 liner notes and also this great “cut out“ sheet of decorative accessories. I really wannnna cut it out and use and maybe i will.
Was so very pleased to open it up and see all the original liner notes and inserts and everything.
Finally rounded out this shipment with McCoy Tyner, one of my all-time fave jazz players.
Buying used mail order vinyl in Japan works out fantastic 99%+ of the time as the vendors tend to take a lot of pride in the condition and packaging. Hooray @discogs!
PS once I find a vendor with something I really want, often add on a few more discs as the postage amount doesn’t change :-) #LikeINeedAnExcuse In this case, also added “Beatles Rarities & Oddities“ / It’s a legit EMI pressing, not a bootleg but kinda looks like it.
I rarely spend more than 1500 or ¥2000 per each album for the record and i play all of them… don’t keep them locked away. Music is for enjoyment and i love a session of spreading them all over, looking at notes, details. etc.
As for the Japanese pressings, I mentioned this because the quality of the lacquers is historically of a higher quality and on higher weight vinyl with better attention to detail – especially compared to the vinyl you would see at the “tail end” in the 80s where the records were rather flimsy and inconsistent.
Plus, the packaging has all kinds of extra stuff including a usual “obi” wrapping around the front cover to show their name/information/etc in Japanese, plus oftentimes translated lyrics, additional liner notes and primers about the bands. And i find it interesting to figure the nuance of the record label imprints and distribution and whatnot. Plus, I live in Japan so often times the records are obv Japanese pressings by default.
10 years ago, I was on a train going from Vancouver to Toronto with 10-ish rock ‘n’ roll bands, CBC Radio 3, mixed media documentary film crew and other free radicals + I was on board as Svengali-like guru ;) / advisor. And finally, the documentary is coming out in chapter/band parts…, ergo:
Blurb:
An ensemble is solving puzzles: metaphorical about how to play in different circumstances, logistical about how to deal with power outages, and practical like this puzzle has 500 pieces and three waterfalls. Yet, The Belle Game solves all the problems with courage and grace while shifting styles and eras – is this 50 years ago or 50 in future?
Starting with trackside sparklers at a “water stop” at an undisclosed location then segueing into unabashed joy playing with balloons, streamers and shine in the packed “activity car”… as Canada rolls past in endless twilight, the band builds layers like an art school thesis submitted for professors Eno and Bowie.
The band candidly discusses their apprehensions and concerns yet all the trepidation evaporates once they pick up instruments and launch into song – you’ll feel the emotion of “yes i will wait up for you”. Later, they squeeze into the caboose car, along with oboe and bassoon from Sidney York, and a clapalong crowd for a intimate performance to bookend their transcendent offerings.
Together, vocalists Andrea Lo and Katrina Jones (also keys), guitarists Adam Nanji and Alex Andrew – plus Marcus Abramzik on bass and drummer Rob Chursinoff – find ways to solve the puzzles: sing differently, change instruments, and switch approaches to find the infinite possibilities in constraints.
So, c’mon and oll through the “S curves” on this train adventure from Vancouver to Toronto complete with a cadre of bands, fans, documenters, and other free radicals in part 3 of Tracks on Tracks, more to come, more is past.
[Audio transcript from an updated/location undisclosed recording / Pasted, uncorrected]
Completely unrelated snapshot
Some of the projects I want to make over the next little while:
I want to write a collection of short stories that is just all wacky times, immediately leading up to or following quitting jobs.
Specifically, there is leaving Star Sand Beach Club very quickly and going to Palau and Yap, going directly to the airport and disappearing rather than going to the beach club (in retrospect, seems like the best job ever but for reasons, it just wasn’t.
There is the ATG drug testing, going to Belize incident.
There is the SS Neptune, leaving-to-be-a-schoolteacher-and-getting-karmically-bitten-in-the ass idea.
There is the leaving Kinko’s with a fax at six in the morning and going off to make a film story. That is a pretty good one.
There is the Wirthlin Group phone survey job that was such a nightmare and getting fired from that for not asking personal enough questions, then crashing the office party two days later and mooning the boss in front of everyone and pulling out while the cops pulled in the other way. That was a really good one.
There is Sharpey’s, but I didn’t quit that one, Well I quit but you know with noticing on good terms planning to go back to university of Utah which in retrospect was a colossal mistake. That one was a nice job. The stories aren’t as funny but they’re nice. Although, there was that good incident of getting my car crashed into and taking the insurance claim – this station is called Joyce Collinwood now – taking the insurance settlement money and parting with it and pulling out the dent with a coat hanger.
There is also the Pizza Beast and Pizza Feast incident, that one is a little harder of a story to tell.
There is also the real estate weekly route that me and brothers and I have, where all the papers went into the side yard to make a giant paper of file of pulpy wetness and that was pretty good.
There was also Bob’s story working for that jackass in White Rock that sits by the sea, going in there and me having to play some bodyguard for him. All we wanted was try to get his paycheck. That one wasn’t too bad although not great either, I suppose.
Then there was the job of delivering fliers for the travel company around the campuses in Utah. That one is not bad.
While at University of Utah, geez, I had three jobs there for awhile. “Cinema in your face”, that was a good one, where I delivered the newspapers and fliers to every bar in Salt Lake City – bars, bookshops, coffee shops, etc.
Then I worked for Bing Christensen Land Surveyor. We’d drive up in the hills in a jeep and stand out there in the middle of nowhere until he radios me and tells me that he got the shot and then I stumble down somewhere else.
Teaching WordPerfect classes while sleeping in my van. Well, not simultaneously. During that period, I lived in my van and I also taught the occasional WordPerfect 4.2 or 5.1 or something for DOS classes. But those jobs sort of faded away more than exploded.
Then of course the other really big one I should tell is the story of the job in Japan with the mushroom farm and leaving that day on Mike’s bike and that I have taken up in the trunk of the K car and running away from that horrible job up in the hills with the old ladies.
So if I could bust out ten stories of a thousand or two thousand words each, where it’s really just talking about quitting a job and going someplace rapidly, I think that would be beauty.
Father’s Day sashimi, also received a three pack of socks. Thanks to all those have given me sweet and sincere advice to help me be a good papa (especially whilst dealing #mecfs).
Also grateful to my pals around the world who became fathers in the same “strange time of public health conundrum” including the dad’s of Theo, Oliver, Ivan, Ryker, Momo, Auggie, Murphy and so on.
Tidying up the artifacts, as such, here is a subset of paintings at Tsuchida Cottage and/or Giggling Piglet Studio and Consulate or, in one case, a painting which is still in Vancouver. Joins other paintings by Noriko Miyake, Michal Korman, Vincent Gornall and others.
