Train rides and malt loaf

I rode the train up to Glasgow today. A city whose rough around the edge's beauty matches my own. I listened to a lot of Buck 65 records. Gametight. Language Arts Pt 1.Vertex. Dirtbike Part 1. Dirtbike Part 1 really inspired me. Buck made three Dirtbikes. Each roughly an hour long. Each an uncut mix. No individual tracks. He put it on the internet for free. And each is the sound of a man simply having fun. Getting ideas down, trying shit and really just making straight forward hip hop. It sounds a lot like his older releases. I love it because its just unrestricted,undiluted creativity. No barriers. Just a guy making music in his house for his own amusement. Its funny that its also some of his best work.
     I love it when you get the chance to appreciate a piece of art that is straight from the mind of the artist. As pure as possible. Like reading On The Road for the first time. Or reading pretty much everything William Burroughs wrote. One song on Dirtbike part 1 is about a drunken degenerate type guy walking past a store on his way back from the bar. He ends up having weird sex with a mannequin and wakes up the next morning on the sidewalk in a compromising position. And the beat running through the whole song is ridiculous. Incredible. Not much music being made today satisfies quite the same as Buck 65's music. But I'll stop there cause anyone who knows me is already sick of me heaping praise on the man.
     On the train I soaked up a lot of the scenery. Beautiful Scottish countryside. I love it when your on a train going through the countryside, and you can't see a road or a house or anything anywhere in your field of vision, nowhere on the entire visible landscape, and then one lone farm appears in the middle of it. Seemingly as isolated as you can get, minus the train tracks of course. I always think 'I'd love to live there now.' Except when I was passing through Serbia a few years ago, then I thought that's interesting and beautiful in its own unique way but I'm content on this train. This sinister train.
     I saw a guide dog on the train and another guide dog while I was waiting for my connecting train. One was a black labrador, the other was a golden retriever. Both were gorgeous. I think when I see guide dogs though, that I might stare too much. I think it might weird some people out. Onlookers or other passengers. Mostly,friends travelling with the blind person who owns the dog. They always give me a second or third glance, like they think I might make some attempt to steal the dog. Which is ludicrous. Sure, I might contemplate that in my head sometimes but I'd never act on it. I'm not a maniac.
     I've recently gained an unhealthy obsession with malt loaf. I know malt loaf is healthy for you but surely not in the quantities I've been consuming?
    I also watched The Social Network last night. Finally. I thought it was great. Like every critic in the world said, it is fantastically written. Practically a verbal assault. The acting was good too. And of course David Finchers directing. He has really come into his own since Zodiac. I loved The Game, and Seven and Fightclub, but with Zodiac he really seemed to hit a balance of great storytelling, virtuoso camera work and honesty. I have to say though the part of the film that stood out the most for me was Trent Reznors score for the film. It was perfect. Sinister, understated and beautiful.
    I do have to wonder though, why Michael Cera has recently taken so much criticism for supposedly playing the same character; lovable geek. While Jesse Eisenberg has, so far, managed to evade similar criticism. Even though he has played virtually the same character in every film I've seen him in. Squid and the Whale, Adventureland, Zombieland, The Social Network. Upper class, preppy,smart,sarcastic,fast talking,emotionally damaged geeks. Albeit with varying degrees of severity. Some are simply meaner than others, ie. The Social Network. Don' get me wrong, I have enjoyed his films and he does have a certain charm, a charm that is purposefully strained almost to breaking point in The Social Network,and to great effect. I just don't understand how Cera is criticised, and Eisenberg isn't. Even though Jesse Eisenberg is often referred,probably unflattering for both actors, as the serious mans Michael Cera.
      I guess I'm curious more so with why Cera is criticised, than why Eisenberg isn't. I enjoy the films of both actors. Though, again, anyone who knows me is aware of my love of all things Michael Cera. Any doubters, really should watch Youth in Revolt. A brutally under appreciated (especially in North America) gem of a film.
      Anyway, I had a wisdom tooth removed Friday morning and it hurts like holy hell today so I'm going to go try and relax.
    I guess today's tips would be: try and find Buck 65's Dirtbike Parts 1,2 and 3 online. They're out there somewhere for free, and watch Youth in Revolt. Oh, and if you were stupid like me and somehow made it to the age of 31 and a half without trying malt loaf, for frigs sake, go buy some.
   

Sweden Stories (part one): Songs and Sunrises

We rode the train from Stockholm up to Ostersund City, the site of Tomas and Cecilia's wedding extravaganza. Stockholm is on the bottom of the country and Ostersund is in the middle, and the train ride was roughly seven hours. We departed just before midnight and arrived early the next morning. We grabbed our seats, our barely reclinable,fairly uncomfortable seats, after an uncertain thirty minutes waiting on the platform, wondering if we had somehow made a mistake and missed our train.
     We sat in our seats, trying to relax and prepare ourselves for the journey ahead. We got our books out and our ipods and our water and then sat in that awkward silence you always find sitting on a train with its engine turned off. Everybody around us sat in the same silence. We talked in that hushed whisper you always seem to use in these social situations. A dude sat across from me, in the seats across the aisle, looked kind of like Iggy Pop, and Nic, a bit louder than she had intended, whispered to Ryan, "Hey,that guy looks like Iggy Pops brother." I'm not sure if the dude heard her, but I heard her and I tried laughing as quietly as I could.
     The light on the train was murky and strange. The interior of the car had a vaguely 1970's kind of look going on. Still a far cry from the trains running from Budapest to Greece though. I can tell you that.
     Once we set off, we all tried to relax and stretch out a bit. Books were read, little conversations were had, windows were stared out of, eventually Ryan and Nic closed their eyes and tried to sleep. I'm terrible for sleeping on trains, or planes or cars and though I have less experience on them, I'd imagine boats too. So I read for a bit longer and stared out a bit more. Then I turned to my i-pod Clarence the second. The recently and tragically deceased Clarence the Second.
     I put on my headphones and searched for music that would be appropriate for an overnight train journey through the Swedish countryside,such as the one I was on. I was feeling something quiet. Something soundscapey, if that's a word? Something beautiful. Maybe something melancholy.
     Very quickly I was drawn to a few albums to which I am always drawn when on long quiet beautiful journeys and a few new records as well.
      For the next six or seven hours this is what I listened to, not necessarily in this order:
      - All three discs of Joanna Newsoms newest record Have One On Me, and Joanna Newsoms previous record Ys.
      - Explosions In The Sky's albums All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone, and The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place.
      - Mum's albums Finally We Are No One, Yesterday was Dramatic Today Is Okay, and Summer Make Good.
       - Arvo Part's beautiful album Alina.
       - Brian Eno's album Music For Airports.
       - Manitoba's debut record Start Breaking My Heart
       - Boards of Canada's album Twoism.

    Now I realize that's roughly ten hours of music I've claimed on a seven hour train ride. So I must have skipped a bit here and there, though I have no recollection of doing so. I also feel like I've left out a few things that escape my memory. Who knows, maybe this was a magic train journey, where having become so enraptured with the stunning natural beauty of the Swedish countryside, seven hours turned into twelve!
     This time of the year in Sweden, the sun never really sets. In Stockholm it got to a kind of dark dusk for three or four hours before brightening again. When you walked out of a club at 3am you found yourself standing in a weird half light, and sleepiness abandoned you and you just wanted to keep going. Maybe run down the main street kicking garbage cans and ringing door bells. Maybe try and run over a construction site like you were on the Japanese game show Ninja Warrior. And maybe Ryan would slip and hurt his ankle. Or maybe not.
      Ostersund being much farther north, the night stayed even brighter. This made the last half of the journey to Ostersund kind of strange. I remember sitting looking out the window, with the new Joanna Newsom record on my headphones, as the sunrise began somewhere around 2 or 3am and it seemed to sit just on the horizon,clinging to the side of the earth, for the rest of the journey. I remember listening to the uplifting crashing drums of Explosions In The Sky as the sky carried the same light in it hours later. A never ending sunrise. Everything bathed in deep reds and oranges and yellows. The trees and forests and fields of Sweden silhouetted against an always rising sun. It was something to behold.

Suggested listening for anyone riding the overnight train from Stockholm to Ostersund:
1.) Mum - Finally We Are No One. Yesterday Was Dramatic Today Is Okay. Summer Make Good.
2.) Brian Eno - Music For Airports. Thursday Afternoon.
3.) Explosions In The Sky - The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place. Suddenly I Miss Everyone.
4.) Arvo Part - Alina
5.) Joanna Newsom - Ys. Have One On Me.
6.) Boards of Canada - Twoism. Hi-Scores.
7.) Manitoba - Start breaking My Heart.
8.) Caribou (formerly Manitoba) - Swim.

I would suggest though, if you do happen to find yourself sat across from a gentleman who may or may not be Iggy Pop's brother, that you tell your friends discretely. Then sit back and enjoy the great hair, tight jean, weathered face combination.

Slowly makin head way...

Hey everybody, I'm only a year behind on my pictures now! We're all the way up to Morocco now, well, Bilbao,Spain actually. That last one of the giant green dog was taken outside the Guggenheim. So we just have Paris and London left, and our European Odyssey comes to end! Then we only have the last of my time in Barrow and the hundreds of pictures I've taken since we arrived back in Toronto last June!
But hey, we have all the time in the world. We'll get there. They say patience is a virtue, and if anyone is still checking in, reading the tripe I write here, then you were obviously blessed with an abundance of it, so we're alright, and I thank you.
And just so you know, there are some great photos to come. With a varied cast of characters that include Nic, Dave, Tom, Ryan Mack and a host of others. I got some sweet shots of randoms too. Always entertaining.
As for me, I'm alright. Just back from our trek across Canada, and my first visit home in thirteen years. It was wonderful. And I miss it deep down in my bones. We rode the train coast to coast in a roundabout kind of way. Halifax to Toronto then Vancouver to Toronto. The second part of the journey being much more enjoyable than the first. Oddly enough a 27 hour train ride isn't that much fun when you have severe diarrhea. Who knew? Incidentally I don't have many pictures of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario.
What else? Ummm? Seattle was nice but full of transients, Victoria was as beautiful as ever and Vancouver wasn't as nice as I remembered it. My Canadiens fell into their old patterns and choked in the play offs, Liverpool lost a heart breaker to Chelsea, I'm back at work dealing with the scum of Toronto on a daily basis, I think I've lost a few pounds, I just got the beautiful new Liverpool shirt for my birthday from Nic's very thoughtful and generous brother Mark. It fits like a glove. I recently discovered a cd by this bluesman called Johnny Shines that blew my mind. I'm itchin to put together some new mixed cd's for various friends. Its finally summertime in Toronto. I love early summer in Toronto. Ummmm? Oh yeah, and I finally finished Dave Eggers masterpiece What is the What. It should be put on the curriculum in every school in the western world.
Uhhh? Yeah, I've run out time and of things to say so I'll leave it at that.

Hope your all healthy and happy.

Talk soon.

Zurich,Switzerland! And the train ride from Venice, and the train ride to Barcelona,Spain!