我 靠 *

Well, 2009, as my Grandfather used to say; "It's nice to see you come, and nice to see you go". Percy, wherever you are - I couldn't agree more.

I took this photo on Christmas Eve down on the beach at English Bay. I thought it was sort of fitting. Part of me feels that they are celebrating the upcoming future, going forward with glee and good spirits. Another part of me feels they are laughing at the departure of the bad things, and that while "Joy is in the ears that hear", type-thing and they are looking forward to the upcoming future. Its kind of the same thing, no?

All I know is that as one who really doesn't put much stock in the passing of the years - for 2009? I say good riddance. Thanks for dropping by - and there's the door.

According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2009 apparently was the Year of the Ox. That's funny, because I was sure that it was "The Year of Getting Urinated On From A Great Height". Even after all that though? I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic about 2010.

Bonne Annee, and Bonne Chance, Everyone.

*wǒ kào (我靠 or 我尻) – "Well fuck me!", "Fuck!", "Fuckin' awesome!" or "Holy shit!" (Originally from Taiwan, this expression has spread to the mainland, where it is generally not considered to be vulgar. 尻 originally meant "butt.") Source: Wikipedia

It's Fading

In the last 8 weeks, I've had the rather ignonymous duty as serving as sounding board for 3 friends who's marriages that have very recently broken up. Also, I've been an impartial observer to a long term relationship that recently hit the skids as well. I think it's been a tough year all around for matters of the heart.

I loved, Loved, LOVED this version when I initially saw it. The great Todd Rundgren, Live From Daryl's house, with a crack band, and two blue-eyed Philly soul men at the peak of their powers.

I've been trying for a while now to find a way to slide this song in here without being maudlin. It's honest, earnest, & truthful - it's everything what a perfect pop song should be; Unbelievable background vocals, true artists flexing their creative muscles, and showing the rest of us poor schlubs the real meaning of craft & taste. All while singing about something as horrible as heartbreak & loss. Sometimes though, heartbreak & loss can create beautiful things. This must be one of them.




Awesome. Just awesome.

I've Got Troubles, But Not Today

It's always impresses me how quiet my apartment building, and the surrounding neighborhood are at 4:00 Am. I live one block west of Denman Street in downtown Vancouver - a fairly main street, 4 blocks from the beach, the strip, and such, but once you cross Denman, westwardly towards Stanley Park, it's a completely different deal. No traffic noise. No sounds of the bums & dumpster divers dragging their shopping carts in an endless procession up and down the back alleys, No sound of anything, really.

The reason I know this, is because I went to bed around midnight and 2 hours later, it appears I'm up for the duration. I tried reading myself back to sleep (which, if any of you might have slept with me at anytime over the last 20 years, you'd know it's usually fail-safe, and a bone of contention to any and all sleeping partners) and yet nothing. So after an hour of tossing & turning (I'm reading Cormac McCarthy's "The Road, which in its own is depressing enough to keep anyone awake) but it's not just that. Another hour went by, and I tried a sleeping pill which I rarely, if ever do. I had some left over from my last overseas trip - and nothing. So, I pulled out the big guns, a steaming hot mug of Neo-Citran - and nothing. So now it's 4:15 AM, and I'm resorting to some very good 18 year old scotch. If this doesn't work, I'm going to be at my wits end. The only thing even remotely comforting about this, is that eventually, the scotch will kick in sometime within the next 20 hours or so, I should be getting some sleep. Hangover most probably included.

I have a considerable amount on my mind. I suppose this is just the way my subconscious deals with it. This would be much easier though, if it would do it at 1:00 PM, but then again, I'd be missing out on sitting in my living room with candles going at 5:00 AM, with all my windows open on an eerily quiet night, listening to Joe Purdy sing "Wash Away".

Holy Shit. It's Christmas

This time last year - the Lower Mainland was in the grip of a massive, week-long, once in a decade-type blizzard. This year? Nothing but green grass & blue skies.

On a different note - I always sort of though I was plugged in to the artists whom I admire, and to my utter astonishment - I JUST stumbled over Live from Daryl's House. Daryl Hall is one massively cool dude. He invites up & coming artists to his house, and him and his absolute crack band play old H&O songs, the guest artist's songs, and cook up huge dinners each week. A new episode is webcast on the 15th of each month. Check out the Todd Rundgren, Company of Thieves, and Parachutes episodes. Brilliant. Simply brilliant.

As for me, I'm retrieving the aluminum pole from the crawl-space (very high strength to weight ratio) and preparing for the annual airing of grievances.

It's not seasonal, but I thought to include a beautiful version of "Hey There Delilah" with Daryl, the band, and the Plain White T's. As with staying with the above smiling motif, it made me smile. Hope it does to you as well.

Happy Holidays.

How Much Does Your Life Weigh?

*The above picture was taken by my assistant in Cannes 2 years ago - George and the rest of the Oceans 12? 13? crew walked right past our window at the Palais du Festivals on the way to their press conference*

So, my obvious, awkward, man-crush on George Clooney aside, I saw the footage of Reitman's new film "Up In The Air" previewed at the Toronto Film Fest in September, and it knocked my socks off.

The 'teaser footage' below is something that Jason Reitman cut exclusively for the web. He had a battle royale with the marketing folks at Paramount to release it. The officially sanctioned trailers 1, 2, & 3 are all very well done - but this one is the best. Well done Sir! Well done indeed!

The basic guts of the story is about a guy who is corporate downsizer, which means that he works for a company who is contracted by their clients to fire their own employees. He has no life, travels 300 days a year, has a goal to make 10,000,000 air miles, and is more at home in an airport, rather than, well, than at home. Until he gets downsized. The National Post has a pretty nice review. I'm sure there are others that are better, but the way Chris Knight spun his tale about the film - it just kind of stuck with me.

As one who has spent a considerable amount of time in airports, flitting from one city to another, one continent to another, (or quite infrequently, one relationship to another), while risking nothing but an inconsequential personal life... I'm completely down with this story. They even interviewed (and filmed) 25 people who had lost their jobs during this massive recession, and included them in the movie.

For the record? I'm only up to 92,000 air miles. Thank goodness.

When Something's Gone

"... I want to fight to get it back again". (The Fixer / Backspacer / Pearl Jam / Rel 2009)

Rock & Roll, my brothers & sisters! It's indeed a contact sport, even into your '40's.

I've really been grocking on the new-ish Pearl Jam record. It clocks in at a paltry 33:36, and is (for the most part anyway) chock-full of optimism & hope. As an added bonus, the below video for "The Fixer" was directed by the great Cameron Crowe.

"When something's low, I want to put a bit of high on it
When something's lost, I want to fight to get it back again
When signals cross, I want to put a bit of straight on it
If there's no love, I want to try and love again".

The prototypical angry young men have become middle aged fathers and gloriously squeezed out a joyful, happy record... and I think that's all right.

November? Fin.

"Parallel lines never do cross over". (Parallel Lines / Nearly Human / Todd Rundgren / Rel. 1989)

What the heck is it about this particular month? Has everyone gone insane? Everything always seems to suck balls in November. To reinforce; I can refer you to Terry & Sab's Dog Dawson 2007, the Silly Fresh Water Riots of 2006, The Month Of The Dead from 2005, also My Cousin Maya's dog Shilo 2005 (Or, for that matter, my last three weeks if you're a particularly avid sadist).

It was also this November where I very quietly noted the 25th anniversary of the passing of my Mom. 25 years! It's just crazy. It still seems like it was yesterday. Also, in 3 weeks, it's going to be the 7th anniversary of the passing of my Dad - just before Christmas. (As a side note, I'm thinking of trademarking December as November Jr.).

A few people who are very important to me have drifted out of my life as well, but hey - it's ok - people come and people go in each others lives all the time. It's the natural progression of things really. The only thing that sticks in my craw is that both are long time friends, and of whom I've invested a considerable amount of time & energy, and *poof* they've just disappeared / dried up and blown away in the winds. That would be the November Winds - if anyone out there is keeping score (or still awake). I feel that November can make one... disposable. Has anyone else noticed this?

Here's another tidbit: although we didn't come CLOSE to the record set in 2006, I'm please to report that in November 2009, out of 30 days - we had 26 of rain, and only had 38.6 hours of sunshine the entire month. The reason that statistic is relevant is that 7.2 hours of that sunshine came last Friday - one of the few days we had more than a few uninterrupted hours of not getting covered by grey skies and deluged with pelting rain.

Last Friday morning, as I was padding around the kitchen before work, making a cup of tea, something made me glance upwards to the ceiling, and there was about 100 fucking larvae crawling around up there! Larvae. Beige colored, about 1/2 inch long. Everywhere. Now, with a nod towards my growing maturity - if this was 10 years ago - I'd have simply moved - that same day. But now, I spent my time cursing, and doing the pee-pee dance obliterating baby whatever they are, and called the building Super. Turns out they are Mediterranean Moths. They most likely hitched a ride home in some groceries, and then set up shop inside my pantry walls, venturing out to snack on various kinds of breakfast cereal and such. I get to look forward to a full apartment fumigation over the weekend, as opposed to last weekend, where I spent it painting Uncle Stan's house (Aka the job that will never end).

Last night, a friend of mine was passing through town for the Whistler Film Festival, called me up, and we got together for a late night spur of the moment cocktail at the Hotel Pan Pacific overlooking Vancouver's magnificent harbor. We're old pals because we gossip like schoolgirls and talk smack like NBA players, so it's always a pleasure to spend some time with KB. About 5 minutes into it she dropped a bombshell - she and her husband of 5 years are splitting up. I was shocked, and obviously more than a little concerned for her. As people often do, we went through the details, dug up the nasty bits, talked about the past and the future. And, as I so often do, I stole the line from Todd Rundgren's great song Parallel Lines (So I send you the gift of empathy), and we talked for a while. We got to talking about the anatomy of a break-up. How it happens, how you are supposed to feel, what do you do with your life now... the usual stuff. Then she asked "What's happening in YOUR life?".

I sort of spat my drink all over the table (mainly through my nose), then blithely changed the subject.

So now, for something completely different, (and to celebrate the passing of The Cruelest Month), captured via a nature-cam, here's a happy young Elk calf playing in a wallow.