Stuff

As always, things are changing for me. I've got many more stories from my travels that I'm working on, but won't be posting them anytime soon. My best New Orleans photos are still to come. In the meantime, read about my super exciting life in Vancouver:



Last wednesday Ninja High School, the tight-pants-rap outfit out of South Toronto (jokes), who manage to make yelling over mp3 beats, slam dancing and writhing around on stage look like high art, played the Video-In. I had a great time. Tom, a new aquaintance, recorded the show and posted it on his blog noiseandsound.blogspot.com. Rumour has it they're playing again tonight:

Castle in the Clouds with lots of solo performers!
152 W. Hastings, Vancouver, BC
$5, Doors 8pm!

The opener Hot Loins would have been good if the first band Blue Grey Dots hadn't been amazing.

Last night I saw some noisy art bands at the Waldorf's Tiki Room, a delightful little bar reminiscent of Tony Montana's hangout in Scarface. Except for the high price of drinks, this is the place to be in East Vancouver. Still, it felt hollow. What is it about going out here that is just way less grungy, and far more expensive, than back east? I'm craving the dark and stinky little places with cheap beer that are so ubiquitous in Central Canada. More dirt and more drinks equals more fun. Speaking of which, after leaving the place around one (we skipped the Shearing Pinx) we trekked through the Downtown Eastside looking for Funky Winker Beans, the best (and dirtiest) pub in the world. Unfortunately, it was closed so we went over to the "good" side of town and oggled the Ginos and the jocks on the Granville Strip. Imagine the confluence of clueless yuppies with violent suburban trash and drunken Australians and you have one of the most shockingly awful spectacles in the world.

Okay, enough complaining. In a week I'm driving to Los Angeles via Eugene and my "spiritual homeland" the Bay Area.