The Land of Bass

Art is so much more fun than school.

I played my first show with Glenn Nuotio doing his own stuff yesterday. The band was the same as it was for the jazz-type gigs I played with them, so we already have somewhat of a rapport going. It was a lot of fun and went pretty well. Glenn's songs are poppy and fun and largely about the sorts of things you would expect a fun-loving gay to write about. It was fun to hear him introduce the songs about gay sex to a crowd of children without actually saying anything that concerned parents would object to.
It was also the occasion of my first performance on cello. Playing cello in a pop band is fun. You're buried under a whole band, so you don't have to worry about actually sounding good like you do when playing, say, one of Bach's cello suites. You're also allowed to play whatever you want, and nobody complains, because pretty much everything sounds lovely on a cello. I definitely see more pop cello in my future.

I love and hate playing at the Blacksheep. It's nice because it's a nice place and makes a good excuse to go to Wakefield. This time, I went with Manda before the show and we had a wonderful brunch at the Chez Earle and then wandered around Wakefield for a while. I definitely want to do so again once it's warmer and more colourful out.
The venue itself is also quite nice, though kind of annoying. I never noticed playing with Kyrie, but the stage is tiny. Having to play both cello and bass in a tiny corner against the piano was a pain. Paul is also the weirdest sound man I've ever worked with. He'll start by saying something like "Whatever you need is fine, everything's hooked up and I can adjust to whatever you do." So I asked to have a mic for my cello, and use the mic and my pickup for my bass. I really hate the sound of my bass pickup, so like to mix it with a mic for the house sound. But Paul flat out said "No." So I said, "Okay, I'll use a mic for both then." "No, we don't have enough time. I want things to be as simple as possible. There's a DI for your bass." So his wonderfully accommodating offer really just turned into what he wanted.
I can't really fault him that though. The house sound is always great. Though our monitor mix was horrible. Everything was mud, and nobody could hear anybody else at all. Meh. The monitor mix with Kyrie has always been good, and if we had more time he might have been able to hook us up.

My musical future is looking interesting. Evil Dead rehearsals are just starting up, hopefully we won't do too many band practices before we start playing with the cast. My music is all rock-style root quarter notes. And since I don't have a bass score, I have to improvise it all anyway. Basically, all I need rehearsal for is getting cues down and such, which can't be done without the cast. But it should be good fun. I'm really excited for it.

Then I've got another gig with Glenn next month on the 6th at Zaphod's, which everybody should come to. Ironically, we're playing with the New Teeth, a band that was wanting to kick their bass player out and I jammed with a few times. I think it would have been fun to play a gig where I was in both bands. As things go though, I'd rather be playing with Glenn with them, so no regrets.

Things should kick up a bit in April. There's the aforementioned show with Kyrie opening for Buck 65. Glenn's grants should also work out by then, so we'll start recording. He wants an EP ready for Westfest, then to do a full album afterwards. I don't know what's going on for the summer yet, but I'm sure it'll be fun. I look forward to lots of globe-trotting with Kyrie. I was recently reminiscing about The Edmonton Folk Fest, and really hope that we can be one of the lucky people that get to play there multiple times in a row. Otherwise, I think we'll probably play Bluesfest this year since we were booked last year but couldn't play because of the stupid Ottawa lockout rules. Otherwise, I'm sure she's got all kinds of stuff brewing. I'll keep playing with Glenn whenever able to as well.

I've got a neat opportunity to display some photography as well. A friend is playing a show at Mike's Place on the 27th and wants people to display and sell artwork. So I'll probably put up some prints. It's kind of awkward since I don't really have anything that I would push to display, but I think it would be fun to actually hang solid pieces of art, rather than just putting them online for people to see. It would also give some legitimacy to my claim as a "photographer." But yeah... I need to figure out what I've got that's good enough to hang. On that note, is there any of my black and white work that you like enough that you would say "Oooh, that's cool!" if you saw it hanging at a show, or would even consider spending a few bucks on?

In other news, I can't wait to graduate so I can stop being a starving undergraduate and become a starving artist instead. Life will be so much better when I can devote my limited thought and productivity to being creative instead of writing essays about secondary scholarship about Shakespeare *grumbles* Seriously, why do I have to write about 15 people's opinions about Shakespeare? Wouldn't it be more creative and enlightening and add more to the world of scholarship to write on Shakespeare instead?

I'm also progressing fairly well on finally setting up a proper website. The layout is mostly finished. I just need to integrate some blog software so it doesn't really look like a blog and write some content. Maybe I'll be able to get it done while it's still reading week. I've discovered how easy it is to have a site show up in Google, so I want to try and make my site something that will show up sometimes. When I wrote that long rambling thing about Leica and Midland, I cross posted it to a forum. On a search for "leica midland" it's about the fifth hit or so, and a derivative search will bring you right to my lj page. So I figure I can write a few articles about music and photography and get somewhere, which could be fun.

With that, I'll leave you with some ( photos ). I haven't been too fruitful this month, but I've got some stuff that's probably worth posting.

It's true, I do. I've never understood why sometimes when you're not home to receive a parcel, they'll have it at the post office by 5 o'clock, but sometimes it takes until the next day at 1. I suspect it relates to how lazy the driver feels that day. I have no idea how it could take any more than six hours to drive two minutes down the street to my post office to drop off all the undelivered packages from the area.

However, that was the case with my Leica on Friday. Except that by "tomorrow" he really meant "three days from now." Which I also don't understand. I see mail trucks on the weekend all the time. How hard would it be to deliver a package that you're late to deliver?

Of course, maybe I'm directing my hate the wrong way. If I didn't have my stupid Shakespeare seminar from 8.30 til 11.30 every Friday, I would have been home to get the camera in the first place.

In any case, my lack of camera left me feeling antsy in regards to cameras this weekend. I was too sick and it was too cold outside to actually go take photos. So I ended up pulling my Russian lens apart again, cleaned some of the grease out, and was left a lens that still manages to freeze up when left outside. I think I need to find some better performing grease. Then I tried to take apart my Russian camera to clean out the viewfinder so it would be usable in anything less than daylight (I don't know why, since I'll probably never use it again... Its lens fits on the Leica) however that plan failed when I realized I'd lost yet another precision screwdriver. Actually... I think it's in the car. I may be in luck.

But today, I decided to do something both useful and crafty. I've been looking at better camera straps and found some options that I could get for anywhere from 40-200 dollars. But I decided that I would much rather build one with all the features I want for less than 10.

( This is the result! )

All in all, I'm really pleased with it. It might turn out to be too thin, in which case I'll buy 2 more dollars worth of webbing and another buckle for a buck. Then I'll have two straps I can choose from depending on what I'll be carrying.

Also, after randomly browsing Blacksheep's concert listings after looking up a show I'm playing there this month, I discovered that I'll also be opening for Buck 65 with Kyrie. I never used to like Buck 65 and I don't know any of his new stuff, but his concert with the Symphony Nova Scotia is just superb. It's like nicely orchestrated accompaniment plus Johnny Cash with a little bit of modern sensibilities.
Moreso, I'm proud to say that the Blacksheep is my most often played venue. There are far worse places in the world to play.

Finally, I'm happy to report that after many years, I'll finally be playing in the pit again. This time for Sock 'n Buskin's production of Evil Dead - The Musical. It looks like it should be a fun show, what with the blood, demons, and rock-musicy score. All of you Ottawa-types should come see it, I say.

Also, I'm taking suggestions on what I should do for my solo performance at music night this Friday. If you suggest something crazy enough, maybe I'll do it! And record it so you can hear it too!

I know what you're thinking.... "It's been a while since Martain went and irresponsibly spent money on things he didn't need. Good for him!"

However, you are all completely wrong.




Behold, the Leica M2, born in January of 1961 within a few days of my birthday. Fitted to its perfectly German-engineered lens mount is the Leica Summicron DR 5cm/1:2, only a few years older at 51.
It is one of the finest cameras ever produced in the entire history of cameras. The lens is equally well engineered, with a marvelous combination of old-school low to mid contrast and new school sharpness that makes it one of the most sought after black & white lenses in the world. The viewfinder is the brightest, clearest, and easiest to use out of any 35mm camera. The horizontal cloth shutter makes the most satisfying swish sound that is all but silent in anything other than a perfectly sealed room. And now, mine!

Even my grandfather who has been a serious photographer for as long as my new camera has been alive adopted a boyish excitement when I told him I'd bought it. "Woooow! That's the one camera I always wanted but could never afford!" then before I could go on to explain to the rest of the family all the virtues of the camera, and why it's worth the ludicrous amount of money it drained from my bank account, he was doing it for me, "blah-blah-blah, rangefinder, silent, small, etc..."

The Leica is the camera that has captured many of the most iconic photographs and been connected with some of the most significant photographers of the last 75 years. Brassai, HC Bresson, Garry WInogrand, Lee Friedlander, the list goes on. Not to mention that it was the only choice of photojournalists for over 40 years. More than any other camera, the Leica is surrounded by a mythology of perfection and magic. Many people claim that a black and white photograph captured with a Leica alternately have a "glow" or a "3d presentation" or some other entirely subjective claim. I only buy into this way of thinking somewhat. However, I do know that a photo taken with Leica glass has something about it that is entirely distinctive. It's the same sort of distinctiveness that led to my Takumar 50/1.4 becoming my favourite lens. What the Takumar is to colour photography, the Leica is to black and white.

Now, it's a well-known fact that a fancy camera won't help you to take nice photos. As the Holga has deftly proven, you don't need 15,000 dollar Leica lenses to make a nice photo. In fact, the best way to become a better photographer is to become comfortable with the camera you've got, and use it many, many times. The most effective use of my money would have been to not buy a Leica, and buy 200 rolls of film instead. However, I realized that I only ever use my two crappy rangefinder cameras. Combined, they cost less than any one of my Pentax lenses. This is certainly not an efficient use of my money. With its rangefinder, bright viewfinder, and superb glass, the Leica actually becomes the most effective tool to take photos with. It's even tiny, being able to fit in my jacket pocket. Smaller yet if I pick up a collapsible lens for it at some point. Being small and a delight to use, I'm more likely to bring it everywhere I go, and thus more likely to take more photos, which means a better chance of a good one. And let's face it. I just like nice things. Slowly but surely, I'm replacing all of my crap with nice German pinnacles of technology.

There's also another reason why the Leica is my dream camera. Even before Amanda introduced me to the wonderful world of photography, I was interested in the Leica...

In the 1950s, my hometown of Midland was running into some trouble. The town was very old, with a rich history. As most towns in central Ontario, Midland was originally a farming community. However, Midland had one advantage: it was located on the shores of Georgian Bay. Logging operations began, which led to early growth. Later, Midland became the terminus for the Midland Railway Companys line. At this point, the logging business only became better, and Midland was booming. Midland City (as it was called) was rebuilt with an eye towards the future. Large lots were connected with wide roads leading to the water and the railroad. Later, grain elevators were built, and Midland became the centre of shipping between upper Canada and the west. By the turn of the century, yet another industry had established itself in Midland: to sustain the volume of shipping on the Great Lakes, huge shipyards were established in Midland

All of this was quite well. The first world war brought contracts for military ships to the shipyards, and Midland continued to be an economic powerhouse. But then, the Great Depression utterly destroyed the town. The shipyards were closed, the forests that the town had relied upon for so many years were becoming sparse, and the simple fact that nobody had enough money to buy meant ruin for a town that was founded upon commerce and industry. The second world war brought a bit of hope to the town as the shipyards were opened once again to supply warships, but that only lasted as long as the war; the shipyards were shut down once more immediately thereafter. The once thriving community of Midland was left with no industry at all.

Then in 1952, everything changed. A few German representatives of Ernst Leitz GmbH had been touring through Canada looking for a location to build a new factory. They found themselves relaxing in Midland and happened to have dinner with the primary photographer of the Midland Free Press. Being a longtime fan of Leica cameras himself, he suggested that they consider Midland for the new factory. Midland did everything it could to ensure that the factory was built there. They offered to build the factory, pay to have it connected to water and hydro, build an entire subdivision to house employees, and gave them huge tax incentives. Midland was chosen over the three other locations that were under consideration.

Now, the Ernst Leitz Canada factory probably didn't singlehandedly save the town of Midland. But they were the first factory to be opened in post-depression Midland. Eventually others followed in their footsteps, and the town was saved. But not only does Leica hold an important place in the history of Midland, Midland holds and equally important place in the history of Leica.

One Walter Mandler, a German engineer who was employed by Leica in Wetzlar, Germany, was chosen to go to Midland for a short time to ensure that things were set up smoothly. He decided to stay in Midland, however, and became a Canadian citizen. While he was in Midland, he designed many groundbreaking new lenses. Leica's classic lenses were wonderful optics with an unmistakable signature, but with the new SLR-centric direction that photography was taking in the fifties, the Japanese lenses were beginning to outperform Leica's offerings in areas such as contrast and sharpness. Mandler took the classic Leica characteristics and combined them with modern technology to create groundbreaking new designs. Some of the most well-regarded lenses in the world were designed and built in Midland. Even my own beloved Summicron 50 was designed in my own hometown.

And one must never forget that what goes around comes around. Just as Leica saved Midland when it had fallen upon hard times, Midland came to Leica's rescue when it was in need. By the seventies, the SLR had all but taken over the photographic world. Already the Leica was relegated to being an expensive, niche market. Sales of rangefinders were at an all-time low; most of the Japanese companies had produced rangefinders through the sixties and abandoned them when they became unprofitable. Leica had just released the M5, an advanced camera designed to succeed the M4. Unfortunately, the M5 was met with a very cool reception; the camera was too much of a revolution and did not find acceptance in the already marginal rangefinder market. As a last-ditch effort, Leica re-released the M4. It was to be built in Midland. This time the camera was to use cheaper materials and less exacting methods of construction. The M4-2 was a proven, popular camera design that could be produced with a greater profit margin, thus it is the camera that saved Leica from the brink of disaster.

So, the Leica is a camera that is inextricably tied to my own hometown. It's quite possible that neither one would exist today without the other. Certainly they could not exist in their current form. Perhaps even more than I love the Leica as a camera, I love the Leica as a small piece of my own history.

Of course, I don't have it yet. The mail takes far too long most of the time. Particularly since I can't bring myself to think about anything other than my new baby for more than a few seconds at a time. I have a lot of school work to do between now and when it will finally get here. And once it finally does show up and I can stop anticipating it's arrival, I'm fairly certain I won't want to put it down. And it's hard to write an essay with a camera in your hands....

( Look how artistic I am! I roll my own black and white film and develop it myself! )

I post these photos not because they have any sort of merit. Rather I post them because of the hellish story of their birth.

I decided today that I would take my rangefinder camera on a walk to the kitty litter store in celebration of the new fourty year old rangefinder coming in the mail. The rangefinder was out of adjustment, which I found mildly irritating. Also, it was snowy, which I find boring to look at, and cold, which I find... cold. Thus, once it got colder, I retreated to my blanket.

Later that night, I thought it would be a fine idea to take some night photos. So, I fished the half spent roll of film out of my Minolta and loaded it into my Pentax. Then I pulled out my tripod only to find that I've lost the plate to mount a camera to it. Not to be deterred, I grabbed a flimsy tabletop tripod and made my way outside. No sooner had I taken two photos than my Pentax broke.

So then I ran home, developed the half roll of film I managed to shoot, ripped apart both of the cameras and fixed their respective problems, made lasagna, ate lasagna, played scrabble, then scanned the film once it had dried.
Obviously, anything that required this much work and despair deserves to be seen by the world, regardless of its artistic merit.


I also thought I might stop in and say hi, since it has been about six months. I haven't kept up with my new toy posts.

First I got a bass. After spending enough money on a rental to buy my own bass, I got fed up and bought my own bass. I enjoy it rather more than my rental, and it brings me happiness.


Secondly, I got a kitten. He is the cutest thing ever, and I love him very much. When I was at a loss for a name, Manda suggested Galileo. Not only do I think Galileo was an awesome man, it's also a fitting name for my kitten. He's incredibly smart and constantly comes up with ingenious ways to accomplish his desires and sate his curiosity. Furthermore, when you tell him not to do something he continually does it over again, much like Galileo continued talking about how the Earth revolves around the Sun, despite the Inquisition telling him not to. I can only hope young Galileo fares better in life the Mr Galilei.


....Another of him, just to prove that he actually is cute.


I also got a fancy Minolta autofocus slr for a ridiculously cheap price. I find it boring. So, it's for sale, to make way for my new 1960s Former Soviet Union-produced copy of a German camera from the 1930s.


Joining that Russian wonder will be another hundred feet of film and associated chemicals in order to facilitate the application of my New Year's Resolution:
I have decided to shoot at least one roll of film or the digital equivalent every week.

I have decided this because when you own five cameras, countless fine lenses, a darkroom, and a good film scanner, you really ought to take far more photos than I do.

I only hope that the snow goes away soon so that I can take photos that aren't just expanses of white interspersed with black lines or spots with a contrast far beyond the reasonable abilities of any film or digital sensor.

Even if I had a frustrating day of photography, it reminded me of why I love it so much. The world becomes much more exciting to look at when you have a camera in your hands. What is usually abysmal snow and slush becomes a veritable feast of line, form, lights, and darks. Unrolling a roll of film from the developing tank to find well-exposed negatives is oddly satisfying. I long to watch a photo form on blank paper under a red safelight again. Hell, I even love the smell of the various deadly chemicals used to perform all this magic.

In a satisfying side-note, I didn't allow myself batteries in any of my cameras today. As a result, I had no lightmeter, and had to guess at the right exposure. Happily, I succeeded. It makes me feel cool, or successful or something. Also, my new Fed has no lightmeter at all, so learning to not need one is good, lest I be forced to carry two cameras whenever I want to use it.

Anyhow, this is enough rambling about stuff that I'm certain none of you care about. A secondary goal is to get my website up and running complete with gallery/blog/etc. But considering my server doesn't even work at the moment and I have to go to school again, I'm not too optimistic.
....Not that anybody cares about that either.

So with that,
Happy New Year!!!!


p.s. If anybody likes any of these photos, or I suppose any in this album, and would like an honest-to-goodness 5x7 print of any of them, let me know, and I'll you one.

Right.
So, I have a history of writing entries when I buy new toys. I feel as though I should keep with tradition, especially since I bought what is perhaps my most exciting new toy to date.
Many years ago, we did some body work on a car. That car was an old BMW, and I pretty much fell in love with it. Since then, it has been on my list of possibly attainable dream cars.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, we were talking about cars at work on lunch break. The subject of BMWs came up, and I mentioned something like "Man, I'd really like to pick up a late eighties 325 one of these days..."
My boss at the time, Neil, replied, "Yeah? I've got one. Do you want it?"
"....Yes. Yes I do."

Long story short, it's in almost perfect condition mechanically, the only real problem being that it was rear-ended, leaving me with some body work to do, which does not worry me in the least.
It's not very pretty right now, but give me a few weeks, and things will be different.

I only wish it wasn't so night time and rainy outside so I could go play with it.

Much has happened recently. Many photos will follow:
( Pictures with stories )

I hate this season more than you god-damn-well know.
As if having to walk home in it isn't bad enough, once I get here, I have to spend fourty fucking minutes trying to get into my fucking driveway. Fuck this shit.

So.....
I bought one.



...Now for it to come.

So here I am again to write more things again.

Manda always prompts me to start playing music again, and to fix my bass to facilitate such a thing.
So, when my Nana offered to rent me a bass again, I told her to do so.

I've started playing with Kyrie again as a result, which has gone very well. She's a stellar singer, songwriter, and musician. And very fun to play with.

We played our first gig on Thursday, which went very well. I even might get some studio work out of it, which would be sweet. Studio work is ideal. You get to play with lots of people, learning new songs, and moving on before they get boring. You get to play in many styles, which is exciting and useful as a player. And you get your name out in many places. I'm really hoping I get a call from the guy.

One of my professors was at the gig, and he adamantly enjoyed it. He's a big fan of Kyrie, and also used to be an upright bass player so enjoyed my playing. We've decided that I will teach him how to play electric bass.
He invited a few of us to his place afterwards, and I ended up staying over at his place.
We talked about all manner of nerdy things. Once everybody else left, we stayed up til 3 singing Stan Rogers songs. It was brilliant.

We also have some more gigs coming up.
We're playing at a Tom Waits tribute in Toronto, which should be a blast.
Then we're playing at a Schumann tribute again in Toronto, which seems to be a high class gig. It will apparently be recorded in video and audio by the cbc. They're even paying for a hotel room for us to stay in.
Needless to say, I'm incredibly excited for these shows. Driving to/from Toronto 4 times in the span of a few weeks is less exciting. But all well.

The other exciting news in my life would be my plans for next year.
I'm most likely going to be going to Leuven, Belgium to study philosophy. An exciting prospect in so many ways.
The environment is an exciting one in so many ways.
Your time outside of lecture is generally spent in cafés with other other hums/philosophy kids and grad students from Leuven basically talking about philosophy all the time.
You have ready access to all of Europe, and plenty of time for travelling to take advantage of it. Trains in Belgium are free on Sundays.
You get to live on the best waffles, chocolate, and beer in the world.
You get to have your girlfriend come visit you to go gallivanting around Europe.

This is still a pretty young idea in my mind, of about a week and a half, but the more I consider it, the more I feel like it's absolutely the right decision

I am also considering buying a dslr. I've got quite a bit of excess money coming in, and we all know that I'm incapable of not wanting to buy stuff.
However, I think it would be ideal to have for spending a year in Belgium. The cost of the camera would be pretty easily recouped in the cost of film for a year in Europe, I'm pretty sure. Plus, it would save the hassle of trying to use film in a foreign country. Plus, it would make it easier to share all the neat things I see with all of you.


Aside from these exciting things, I'm lost in the midst of a mostly self-imposed week of hell. But that's okay.

Also, I've realized that I just passed my four year anniversary of livejournalling. Oddly, I'm still almost exactly at a 2:1 comment recieved/sent ratio.

So I've begun shaving with a straight razor.
It's really quite wonderful.
I get this nice connection to the past, when things were simpler.
I get the satisfaction of maintaining a knife with an edge sharper than a japanese sword, and the satisfaction of taking it to my face.
I get nicer, closer shaves, with no razor burn or ingrown hairs.
I get the satisfaction of using fancy soaps and cremes, and lathering them all over my face with a brush.
I don't have to spend five dollars on razor cartridges that only last a few shaves at best. I can instead spend that money on fancy soaps and cremes.
I get to make a much lesser effect on the environment, with the lack of aerosol cans, or disposable razors.

I've had a long-standing desire to receive a straight razor shave from a barber, though never acted upon it, not really even sure whether such things were practiced any more.
At the same time, whenever I'm in a fancy store with Manda, she tells me that I should buy a brush and creme, since it results in nicer shaves. Admittedly, I never thought too much of it, as they're expensive.
Then, not too long ago, I put two and two together, found out that one can buy cheap razors, as well as cheap brushes and soaps, and decided to embark upon a new Odyssey.

I find I enjoy these older, simpler sorts of things. There's something about coming out of a shower, lathering up scented creme and spreading it all over my face, scraping it off with a thirty year-old communist Polish blade, then splashing a nice aftershave onto my skin that makes the process of shaving especially enjoyable. To top it off, with the new focus on nice things for my skin, my face looks and feels nicer than it has since I hit puberty.

Some people might think I'm crazy for spending half an hour in the bathroom shaving, when previously I could do it in five minutes or so. But it's turned from a chore that I loathed, and thus tried to do about once per week, into something that I look forward to, and wish I could do more than once every day and a half.

By the same token, some people might think I'm crazy for wanting to use a fountain pen that I have to refill once or twice over the course of a lecture. But, using a nice pen turns note-writing from a pain-inducing side effect of attending school into something that I can gain joy from. I guess I'm just old-fashioned.

From here, I will delve into the fascinating world of shaving soaps, aftershaves, and colognes. Hopefully not too quickly though. These things get expensive.

Sometimes, I don't know what to make of myself.
Here I sit, "writing" an essay- despite the fact that I've hardly "written" anything except for a vague outline.
I'm sitting/lying in my bed, with my laptop beside me, opened to Pages (all other distracting windows closed, to avoid distractions.... apparently not very effectively), piano-jazz softly playing, drinking a non-alcoholic beer.

Seriously. Who the fuck writes essays like this?
No wonder I'm lazy as shit.

I'm somewhat torn on the non-alcoholic beer. I bought it on a whim, remembering that my dad gave me one in the summer, and surprisingly finding it tastes rather like beer. I maintain that it's not a completely horrible drink, especially after you've drank a few and start to forget what beer is actually supposed to taste like. However, it's only 50 cents per can. But, being non-alcoholic and cheap there's nothing stopping you from drinking a lot of them, as though it were pop. It can't be terribly healthy. I'm pretty sure I'll not be buying it again.

I am thus far enjoying my second year in the College. Philosophy is a lot of fun. It appeals to my logical nature. It also influences me to think of the world in a new light, which is something I did not find in first year, as interesting as it was.
Perhaps surprisingly, I'm also finding studying Homer for the third year in a row to be interesting and fun. And not only because of my wonderful cockney professor.
Manda and I dropped Latin. In my case, due to the professor not kindling the all-important love of a dead language as my professor last year did, as well as my slacking off, and having 50% by the second assignment/test. Without the interest cultivated by the professor, I didn't study much, and if anything was going to prevent me from getting my scholarship back next year, it was gonna be that class.
This presents somewhat of a difficulty, given my interest in pursuing classical studies in grad school.
Also, I would like to take not only Latin, but also Greek, and Sanskrit next year. This, of course, would be impossible.
Aside from that, art history and religion, while not being my favourite classes in the world, are far from being the worst, and round up quite an enjoyable 80% course load.

Inspired by Manda's adoption yesterday of a sexy new lj layout, I bought a domain name to set up a website of sorts.
Outis. Bonus points to anybody who is not a Hums/Classics major and can tell me what it means.

It started with a general overhaul of my way of living. See, it's come to dawn on me that I'm not really... mature enough to live on my own. I don't really care about basic human things like feeding myself, or cleaning up my clutter. Anyway, the first stage of doing this was to clean up my shit. In doing this, I decided that I would buy an old Mac to set up a fileserver so I could get rid of all the wires streaming across my floor (I had like 7 wires of varying sizes all running across.) Then I started thinking about all the fun things I could do with a dedicated server. Now I have a web site.
Despite there being nothing there at the moment, it is intended to be an outlet for photography, music, and possibly a blog of sorts. Hopefully this will be some kind of extra impetus to actually take photos, and use all of my recording gear. In turn, I hope that taking part in these creative activities will result in a somewhat healthier, more productive life for myself.
....Now, anybody who knows me at all knows that in a few weeks this will all blow over, and I'll return to my usual way of living, but it's nice to hope.

The past couple of weeks have been somewhat trying, due to actions of my own. However, I feel like we've established a new ground in our relationship. It has a new, fresh feeling that I think tends to fade away over time. I am happy that it's still there.
Not quite a month ago, we celebrated our second anniversary. That is a long time. It becomes even longer if you think of it as 730 days. To my not-quite 20 year old mind, that is an extraordinarily long time to share with somebody. That is over 10% of my entire life. Most importantly, I hope to spend at least the next 730 with her.
She is an extraordinary person. And I'm fortunate to be able to share my life with her.

The first day of school has come and gone.
I feel that this year will be wonderful.
Sadly, three of my professors are young contract profs, fresh out of grad school (one still in.... ironically he's the best of them.) This is contrast to a man who is probably the finest orator Carleton has to offer, and the lovely Kim Stratton.
However, Monday nights I have class with the man known as Josh Beer. That ought to be wonderful. I envision many hungover Tuesday mornings. And of course, we still have MacIsaac, who is a very funny man, and will be a joy to be taught by.

In other news, I have secured what may be the coolest job ever. I'm working for one of the Classics profs. I will be scanning slides, books, articles, and the like for his use in his class. It's gonna be awesome.

Best part about moving?
Finding shit you haven't seen in forever or so.

Best thing I found?
My cd wallet with all of my favourite cds and music dvds that I had assumed lost forever.

Most disappointing thing?
A community involvement sheet with 42 hours of volunteer time logged on it, that was lost and never handed in....

Holy fuck!

The house I live in used to be lived in by Edward Sapir, anthropologist of Sapir-Whorf hypothesis fame.

Granted, there are only about 2 of you who know that theory, but I think that doubles the coolness factor of my apartment.


...There is a book in the Carleton library with a picture of my house.

After much frustration and false starts, I have a place to live next year. Slightly more than I'd hoped to spend, but it's about as close to perfect as could be reasonably expected.
It's 67 Aylmer, one block north of Sunnyside. So the lack of parking permit/gas will make up for some of the excess rent.
While it's not terribly large, it's not terribly small either, and I should be able to comfortably fit my stuff. It could almost be a one-bedroom
The land lady is an older lady, who loves cats and jazz. We will get along fine.
The other tenants are a girl and a family.
I am going to have 5mbps internet.
Life will be grand.
( Photos Enclosed )

Oh, life.

I no longer have any room mates. This kind of sucks. I shall be looking for a bachelor somewhere.
Fortunately, there are more bright sides in life than dark.

On the long weekend, I went to Midland with Manda. It was nice. Aside from the fact that we had to work on my dad's boat some, and spend time with him, I think she enjoyed it nonetheless. Unless she just didn't want to disappoint me by saying she didn't. It was rather nicer than just going up myself.

At work I found a racing bicycle for free. I love it very much. I took it for my first ride this morning and it was awesome. It goes ridiculously fast with no effort. And it feels like it's going ludicrously fast. You feel every little bump on the road, since the tires are so small as to be almost non-existent. It was actually the most exciting thing I've done in a while. Will be painting it soon enough, then will hopefully ride to school and such next year.

Went to Bluesfest Friday night to see the Flecktones. It was a stellar show, as expected. They played every song except for one that I hoped they would play. It was actually almost a perfect set list. However, you go to a Flecktones show expecting to be blown away, so it's not so mind-blowing when you are.
However, Kid Koala was playing afterwards, and he certainly did blow me away. Most DJs I don't like a whole lot, at least not to listen to, though I respect their ability, and would love to get some tables. But he was using 4 tables, with another one off to the side. Simply watching him spin them was amazing. But at the same time, he managed to pull off seamless music, that was good to listen to and well planned out. And he also can play melodies on the turn table, which I thought was kinda funny. But cool. I also found out that he is on Ninjatune Records, home to my beloved Jaga Jazzist. That makes me happy. Ninjatune rocks.

It has been quite some time since I last rambled about on the internet...

I guess to start with, I finished school. Ended up with a GPA somewhere in the neighborhood of a B+. Which is alright, the only frustrating thing being that I lost 2000 dollars. But these things happen. The situation will be better next year when I (hopefully) don't take retarded classes and (hopefully) do all my Latin homework.

I've also decided to start learning Sanskrit, since Carleton won't teach me. My goal is to have the alphabet down by September. I've just about got the vowels down so far, so I think that's a reasonable goal. Then I'll ask Salmond about some Wheelock's-like text for Sanskrit.

After a nice month or so of unemployment and a couple weeks of job-hunting, I found the perfect job. I work for a condominium company at Bank and Hunt Club cutting grass. It's outside, physical work such as I enjoy, and I make truckloads of cash. I also almost completely manage to avoid rush hour, so it's only a half hour commute from Kars, and once I move into the city it'll be like a five minute drive, or a workable bike-ride [I got a nice free bike from work (people throw the craziest things out. I found a real nice set of dishes in the garbage one day on the way to break, but 15 minutes later they were gone :( )]
So that is a nice way to spend my time. I've almost even gotten to the point where I am not completely dead after work.

I also have started up a jazz combo. My Mom's boss was holding a birthday party for her husband at Tucson's and wanted me to get a band to play. It went really well. There is Max, who is of course awesome, and attends Humber, and Chris Chekan, who is a stellar player and who will be going to York, and a drummer by the name of Tristan, who is easily the best drummer I've ever had the pleasure to play with, and who attends Concordia. And of course me. I'm horribly outclassed by all these music students and it's wonderful. I'm pretty excited for it.
I think I'm going to actually get ahold of John Geggie and start taking lessons this year. At this point, to become a better player I need somebody to guide and push me. So that's something I'm going to look into come September.
I haven't heard from the Slackjaw Sinners in almost a month now. I kinda hope they haven't kicked me out or something like that. I'm not too worried about it though. I'd rather put more time into playing jazz right now.

Sadly, I can't move in with Laurie any more. But Carolyn and I are on the hunt. We seem to keep missing places, and the one place we did go see was miniscule. However, I should be getting a call back on Monday about another place that sounds just about perfect. I haven't lost hope yet.

I suppose there's not a whole lot going on though. My social life consists more or less of Manda. Otherwise I work a lot and sit around a lot when I'm not working. And then play music. Life is pretty good. I'm quite anticipating school however.

I'm currently battling my consumeristic nature. I've allotted myself a few hundred dollars with which to buy myself a toy this summer. I'm not worried about buying a new computer or anything this year(as much as I would love a new macbook pro with the fast graphics and led-screen goodness), so I do have a bit of funds to play with. My original plan was to buy a bare set of speakers and some wood and build some nice speakers for my stereo. But, the more I look into it, the more I begin to think I may be better off buying a nice vintage set for cheap or even keep my crappy set I have now, rather than build a nice set for ~300, which may actually be underwhelming given my lack of a subwoofer.

I love the game Forza Motorsports, which was the racing game that I bought an xbox for. It was even better than Gran Turismo in most ways. I made a resolution when I sold my xbox that I would wait until Forza 2 was released before I even glanced at the xbox 360. Unfortunately it was just released, and unfortunately 360s are still somewhat expensive. But Forza 2 is actually everything I could possibly want in a racing game. It even has online racing, which is wonderful, since I don't really have any friends that are into realistic driving games. So I might go that route, even if it would be slightly more expensive. There is also the question of the economics of buying a console essentially for one game, though eventually I am sure there would be others of interest.

The last thing that I am considering is buying another big widescreen monitor. I would rather get the 24 inch though, which I definitely cannot afford; the 20 inch is still not quite big enough to fully enjoy for movies and such. And I really have no need for one, especially considering that I've used my laptop at a desk a total of about 6 times.

Honestly I think I'm doing pretty well though, all things considered. There are really only two things that I have an unusual desire for. Usually by this point in the summer, I would be somewhere around twice that. I don't know if I'm really getting any better, or if I've just amassed enough stuff to satisfy myself.

Needless to say I'm going to wait until I'm confident in my financial and living situation before I spend any money on anything that isn't gas for my car to drive to work.
It's kind of depressing that now I'm making like 5-6k in a summer I have to save it all. I could definitely use a nice bass or something like that. Maybe I should just drop out of school...

My apologies to those of you that don't care about my spending habits and/or technical mumo-jumbo.

I'm hoping that I get to take Manda to Midland for Canada day, and take her flying. Her Mom is cool with it, so it's now up to her Dad. I think it would be wonderful if it works out.

I'm also thinking about trying to organize a group trip to Midland to go boating to an island for a camp-out on the civic holiday in August. I realize that I say this every year, but it's somewhat in advance this time. Do I have friends that are realistically interested in and capable of doing such a thing?

///this just in -stop- Manda can come -stop-///

Everybody should come see my next show.
On top of seeing me, we're playing with Entire Cities, who are a cool band out of Toronto.
Also, it's all ages.
Thus, there is no reason not to come.

I must refrain from taking shitty, poorly taught, uninteresting classes in the future. I don't do very well in them.

Also, what a shitty fucking day. How am I to be expected to write a good exam when I see -that- out the window?

Sometimes I have to wonder at myself.
I had this anthropology paper due last Friday. A simple thing, no thought required. Exactly the sort of thing I hate to write.
Due to the way our drop box system in humanities works, I could hand it in on, say, Sunday, and have it date-stamped as being given on Friday, and get a few extra days to procrastinate, and yet get full marks.
I was busy over most of the weekend, and made the choice to go see Eppiphane with Laurie on the nigh that I was free. Naturally, I didn't get it done.
So, on Monday, when I would have gotten a 1% penalty, I wrote most of the paper. Almost 3 pages were written, out of a 3-5 page paper. I needed to write about 2.5 more tiny paragraphs. But I fell asleep.
And every day since then, I have either done something cool, or fallen asleep.

...Today is the last day to hand in assignments, so I woke up and decided to finish the paper and hand it in.

It took me quite literally twenty minutes.

...wtf

Why couldn't I have done this a week ago?

On the bright side, all of yesterday when I wasn't doing anything, I was researching microphones and other musical electronic goodies.

I have determined that it will be possible to buy a Behringer rip-off of an SM58 new for like 35 dollars, or if I scrounge hard enough, maybe get a real Shure for cheap. Which are apparently common choices among guys who like to play with mics, rather than pickups, as I do. Contrary to my thought prior to yesterday, dynamic is much superior to condensors in this case, given problems with feedback, and isolation, and things.
So, anyway, I can buy a mic for somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 dollars, that will give good enough results. This is compared to the 150 dollar, clip on condensor that I was considering previously.

Mics have a problem in bass amplification though. Regardless of how awesome your mic, at some point, it will feedback. It is for this reason that pickups were invented. I don't particularly like the sound of pickups on a bass. But it would be useful to have one in some situations.

Therefore, I will buy a piezo film tab for 6 dollars, and wire it up to a 1 dollar input jack, and have a pickup that is 90% of what I could buy for 160-200 dollars.
These piezo pickups also require preamps. I have found a circuit that can be built for somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 dollars to serve exactly this purpose.

To recap, I will buy a 40 dollar mic that will do double duty as an all purpose mic once I get my recording gear set up.
I will build a pickup for 10 dollars, that will most likely have exactly the same piezo element as 200 dollar pickups do.
I will build a preamp for 15 dollars that will serve for any piezo system.

I will have every base covered in my amplification needs for like 70 bucks. It'll be awesome.

I jammed last night with a girl whom I will be playing with over the summer and hopefully into next year. Who most of you should know from Manda's lj, Kyrie.
It was a lot of fun. There was a Cajon player. Which is like a large box with a hole cut into the side, tuned to sound really nice. Ever so much better than a drummer.
Anyhow, you should come see us on the 19th. We're also playing at the jazz festival, which excites me greatly.

...I've not given up on the Slackjaw Sinners. But I have to admit I like Kyrie's music more.

Now to walk across campus to hand this damned paper in...