True Patriot Love

Happy Canada Day, my friends.

Having skimmed through my usual blog roll earlier this evening, I thought it necessary to at least brush upon the fact that it's Canada Day. The only thing I've missed mentioning while on tour is the passing of Michael Jackson, but that topic deserves some planning, which I'll get to.

But really, etiquette and tact aside: I love this fucking country.

For starters, I should mention that I've never really understood the large amount of pride that one puts into it's own nation. You'll never see me defending Canada in fatigues, nor will you see the red maple leaf stained permanently on my arm. I've always thought that priding oneself on the soil you were born on was more of an elementary idea, and that goes for every nation. There's not a country on this planet that I'd pronounce any pride from. However, I know that I enjoy living here.

I won't go on about how much I love the Rockies or Double-Double's, but rather what is contained within our borders, figuratively speaking. Our culture (and trust me, we have one) is such an incredibly fragile thing. It really only hangs by a few, strong threads. Our passive nature as a nation really allows us to legitimately lollygag around almost any situation, and I love that. The manners, the courtesy, the respect for one another: it's all quite remarkable.

It's only when you step outside of this nation that you realize how unique our culture really is. And you need not travel too far: minutes south of any Canadian border lies an accent you'd swear was as foreign to you as China. Having traveled across this country many times, under very different circumstances, I can tell you that Canadian culture is not too hard to find. All you really need is an empty stomach (to crave the food), a vehicle and destination (for the sights), some knowledge of the French language (because you're supposed to), and an old couple to talk to (because that's where the straight Canadian goods lie, largely).

I could just as easily go on about how many problems we have in this country, but I'll leave that for another day. Because who likes to get shit on when it's their birthday?

And besides, I got to see Joel Plaskett play last night for free in St. Johns, New Brunswick, so how hard can life here be?

I really want to revise this, but I'm tired from driving across the country. I'm going to bed, and wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy Birthday Canada.

DEL

As previously mentioned, I had a show in Scarborough, last week? I'm not sure exactly. My days are becoming so full that I can't tell what day it is anymore, but that's good.

The show went exactly how I thought it would go. I'd show up, hang my single piece (which I'm almost certain was the largest there), walk around for a while kissing babies, then bugger off for a while to enjoy the sun. That day, now looking back, was actually a lot of fun. Dan and I don't really get to just hang out much anymore, so it was fun to kick it together just like old times. The only thing we did all day was crack jokes, and I wish I was exaggerating about that. Later that night we met with some friends and didn't feel like laughing anymore.

I had my wall space good and ready to go. As usual, I was a horrible self-promoter. So bad in fact that I wrote my contact information on what I thought were business cards they provided, which in fact were raffle tickets. hahahah, holy shit. This funny gay couple (who were all over East and DP) were saddened by the fact that I couldn't hang the piece higher on the display. They had a point, but I wasn't too shook by it.

After seeing the light cast by the bulb in the top left corner of this piece I became really attached to that sun spot. I've considered roughing one in.

The free coffee, tea and cookies didn't quite get rid of my hangover, but definitely helped the conversations flow a bit faster.

This character, seen above in the tight red sweats, gold bling, and a child's Raptors jersey, absolutely needs to be mentioned.
The man's name was Ian Moo Young, and I'm pretty sure he was absolutely off his rocker. He showed up to the show with a cart full of shit, including a mop, bottles of liquor, and a big red rug. These would all be included in his wacky display later in the day.
At the beginning of the day I became jealous when seeing him speak to other exhibitors. I just wanted him to, you know, flirt with me a little.

Moo indeed was off his rocker. After nearly being thrown out for calling a photographer a "shit" and "an asshole", he fled to East and DP to hide from the women running the event. At this point, Moo went on and on for almost two hours about all kinds of things. I can only really skim the surface when talking about what he said, so I'll try. These are some of his accomplishments:

a) He trained several of the top tennis players in the world, and wants to one day, win the Wimbledon. He said he still schools world-ranking youngsters.

b) At one point, he was one of the top filmmakers in Britain, and directed more than one hundred commercials for many corporations throughout the UK.

c) Was good friends with Princess Diana, and that the only reason they never hooked up was because they were both in relationships at the wrong times. And since this was the case, somebody he called The Duke of Devonshire wanted him dead, which leads to the next point.

d) He's killed people. After being chased into a cave by assassins at night, somewhere in the Southern Pacific, he proceeded to kill one man by throwing his machete at him. He killed the other two assassins by spreading a bad of pigs blood (which he seemed to have on him at the time) on the ground the attract the local tigers. Every time he mentioned someone dying, he let out the creepiest laugh I've ever heard.

e) He's dated supermodels and is the eye of any woman he meets. He planned on asking a girl he met at the show if she wanted to be in his next film. I'm just going to assume she said no.

Needless to say, Moo was nuts, and I'm sure only 1% of everything he said was true. Although, his work was interesting and some of the motifs presented were intriguing. Just stuff about how we're all mermaids, and then something about foot fetishes. Whatever.

Either way, the day was an over all success, and it's always fun to drive on the Don Valley Parkway.

triple-step-stairs

It's been a hectic few days, I guess?

My pneumonia is nearly cleared up, which is good, because I'm really tired of babying about it.

Meme came over yesterday while I was painting. We decided to drink wine all afternoon and listen to Portishead. Later, we had a show in Hamilton at The Casbah. Getting there was a story in itself. In classic fashion, we left late and took a cab to Union Station. Thanks to my pro GO Train skills, we got to the ticket office promptly. Once there (and within two minutes of our departure), I had a few quick questions for the boothman. He began pulling out maps and schedules and tinkered away on his computer to re-answer all my questions, and all I could think of was "Duuuude just give me the tickets and let us out of here." Needless to say, Darce and I ran to the bus and made it on within, lets say, 15 seconds.
Once there, we chilled with the guys from Hollerado (hilarious road stories) and knocked out a solid set to a great crowd in a tiny room that smelt like burnt coffee.

Show notables:
- My mom came, and it was her birthday yesterday. That was super awesome of her.
- I experienced a mild case of slidey-drums, which happens to me a lot at small clubs for some reason. That's when you hit a drum and it slides further, and further away each time.
- Super thanks to Cory and Arshea for bringing the gear. Arshea I hope you liked my perscription drugs as a thanks. You rule.
- The Casbah didn't give us free beer? I'm pretty sure that hasn't happened at a venue in over a year.

Once the show was over, the guys wanted to stay the night at a friends. I said hell no because I was epically tired from the show and the traveling and decided to come back home solo. Oh, and I also almost missed that bus by about ten seconds. I sat at the front which is my favorite seat on the bus, which I recommend to everyone traveling by Greyhound.

Aside from all the music mumbo-jumbo, I've been painting as much as possible lately. I have a show in Scarborough at the end of May, and then another big show at Vdara for the month of June. I'll also be in Europe for two weeks in April, which will cut down on a lot of potential canvas time. I figured it out the other day: In order to produce as much quality work as possible for both these shows (and I want them to be the best I've ever created), I'll have to paint for at least three hours, every day, until the beginning of May. Cheers to that.

Okay, I'll cut this here because I'm thinking of bigger things to write about, and I really don't want good topics to be buried under talk of GO Trains.