Gosh, she is charming and talented #smitten
Note: Ms. Calder is now some kind of special artist in residence for city of Victoria, i have a snap i’ll add here at some point, really
While i started enjoying haircuts when i found a barber shop which also offered libations, good tunes, pinball and the like,… since “the illness” I made a list of things I can do which involves sitting down, but gets me out of the house, and leaves me with a feeling of satisfaction.
These include: making scrapbooks, seeing matinée movies, sitting in parks under a tree, getting my beard professionally trimmed (rather than chopping at it myself) plus trim up the haircut,… as well as pedicures documented elsewhere.
While rambling, i like to seek out the hole-in-the-wall, no fuss, traditional barbers and enjoy a leisurely visit. Its hit or miss sometimes but ya know, hair grows back right?
Sometimes, not always, i grab a snap with the barber or the shop or me before and after… sometimes i don’t so you won’t see those. Oh sometimes i recall names and/or locations, this is not meant to be comprehensive, just amusing and vaguely documentary.
This assortment features barbers in Canada and USA, moreorless (pending).
Continue reading Momentos: Barbers, various (vol. 1, domestic)
Rolling from Jack London Square in Oakland, California through the night on Amtrak, look out at Portland, hop off Centralia, then from Provo to SLC on Watsatch Frontrunner train with a bit of poetry… then flying by Harbour Air seaplane from Victoria to Vancouver.
No narration or action, just ambient drifting.
This book was assembled in a real tough stretch of time – medically and mentally. A summer in which i came close to “giving up” – the details are still too real and painful so instead i’ll tell you this: This book was a 100 yen store gift from brother Bob and/or Mom and a great layout, size and heft for my usage. To try to keep myself motivated and cheered up, i filled with bits of inspiration: photos of me and others with smiles, scraps of mantras, colourful things from events, brochures and activities going on around the city i was living at the time (Victoria, BC). There isn’t a chronology or narrative per se, just items old and new and lost and found which made me sorta smile. I was really trying to improve and instead fell apart. Badly, i’m still here though. #survived.
Continue reading Scrapjournal: “Guide to Goodtimes” / personal ephemera, Victoria, 2016
Not too many mixed0media masters creating ephemera-laden epistolary literature weaving intriguingly mysterious relationships, international time shifting, plus pop-up books, tarot cards, and postcards. As such, meeting the master of of all of the above, as well as a well-trained fine artist (who also happens to be exceptionally prolific) was a thrill for me. Say hello to the affable Brit, now Columbian, Mr. Nick Bantock.
I “introduced myself” via a letter to a reading he was giving which i was unable to attend (illness) but we started a correspondence – i mail him dossiers of stationery, stamps and whatnot from around world and he sends me the most remarkable postcards and books.
Our stories again intersected when I was on my way to the post office in India when I got the news that my mom passed. Later, from her home in Logan Utah, I mailed him the package, and when I met him in Victoria, he kindly inscribed my Mom’s copy of “Griffin and Sabine” providing a most wonderful signature with stamps of various kinds.
Later I participated in his workshops (about writing 100 words *exactly* long story). While I was certainly *not at my best* after recovering from another long ramble, certainly enjoyed his company and tutelage very much in his now-closed studio space, appropriately dubbed “the forgetting room”.
In this charming studio space (in a restored loft in Victoria, BC’s Chinatown), was the “illustration that started at all” in the Griffin and Sabine series, framed and propped up against the wall next to yes, the toilet.
Such respect. More to share about postal encounters with this gent.
Dave with Tragically Hip “Man, Machine, Poem” tour kick-off ticket
Pal Julian (L) finds his kindred doppleganger (hockey sweater speaking anyhow)
Tragically Hip, Victoria, BC, July 22nd, 2016 setlist, part 1 – with annotations
Tragically Hip, Victoria, BC, July 22nd, 2016 setlist, part 2 – with annotations
Tragically Hip, Victoria, BC, July 22nd, 2016 setlist, part 3 – with annotations
Notes (to edit)
Choosing which hat to wear to tonight #TragicallyHip show in #Victoria. Trilby or Mountie or…? Also, preshow meal jerked, beer can chicken
By the end, Gord was clearly spent but there was no melancholy or nostalgia or even banter throughout the show until he blew kisses and said thank you 100 times during the encores. Note the five song on encore set (two sets really)
The show started quick out of the gates while people were still lining up for beer and merch… There was an announcement that “the show will start in five minutes” and BAM! it came out of the gates like a rocket. So no Hip chant but, later in the show there was a “Gordie” chant. The outpouring of love from the crowd was unbelievable. Everyone on their feet and cheering like there’s no dress rehearsal, this is our life.
And while there was a fair bit of Gord ad-libbing, mimeing and other hijinx, he kept his schtick shorter and more concise so they could pack more songs into the allotted time. A lot of songs in just over two hours.
Also, Bobby Baker must’ve played a dozen different guitars at least.
Also worth noting, in the first set, the band played kind of “in the round” very close together and facing sort of each other, with video screen in black and white above them.
Johnny Fay used two different drum kits, both on the stage at the same time
Paul Langois has maybe the worst beard I’ve ever seen.
Sinclair’s bass cut through loud – like where it gives you that good kick in the sternum.
Gord did the microphone with cord as fishing reel and paintbrush amongst other things. Less of the “whirling dervish” and yes, more subtle antics.
Statistic of the night: number of shiny lamé suits Gord wore… 3. Purple, Silver, Gold
There were four songs if I recall correctly from the new album – all played in the series in the second half of first set. There was sort of a short break but not a true intermission, Gord changed his suit and some lightning storm video played.
The 4 players -As usual I suppose-barely cracked a smile. Game face all the way. Black, gray, white clothes contrasting with Gord’s shininess and resplendent hat with enormous feathers.
And for sure Gord looks skinny but not drastically unwell. And his voice was in top form.
Honestly it wasn’t sad until the end when there were some teary-eyes, including mine, during wheat kings and ahead by a century.
I will note, on some of the slow tempo songs, the band was sort of fighting about the speed, but that’s first show of the tour and lots of adrenaline.
Crowd shots of various marching bands (mostly from BC and Washington State) playing in the Victoria Day Parade in Victoria BC Canada, May 2016.
I’m a sucker for fun photos with costumes. As such, while presenting at Social Media Camp in Victoria in 2016, I availed myself of the promotional photo booth and dug into the provided tickle trunk, plus added a few items I had on hand, to create this series of photos to craft characters and story.
Presented individually, then as they appeared in strips for the record (in case you want to print and trade with your friends).
Continue reading Collection: Photo booth dress-up fun at Social Media Camp (Victoria, 2016)