First off, the Alex P. Keaton is fucking closing? What the hell is this about? For those of you that read this and know what's going on, please inform me. That was one of the last good bars in London, not to mention places to eat. I'll miss the Duck Quesadillas with Cranberry Sauce and Barnyard Sliders with Deep-Fried Pickles the most. Having performed there on many occasions and seen many great performances from the audience, I can truly say I'll miss this venue (even though I've always hated the non-existent stage, cramped quarters, and truly terrible acoustics). Farewell Alex. P Keaton. You satisfied my dark beer love for so many nights.
Last night, after an epic six-man/woman jam at the Glasgow house, a bunch of us went out for beers. Dan was telling me that there was something happening in the upstairs section of the bar, so we investigated. This happening turned out to be a party for the deaf. We payed for the cover, received a complimentary chocolate bar (for some reason), and grabbed a drink. To be honest, this turned out to be more interesting than our friends who were waiting for us downstairs. The music was extra-loud and full of bass, which we could only assume was to serve the purpose of vibrations. The image itself was quite incredible: a sea of people from all backgrounds and ages, enjoying a drink, conversing all through the use of hands and body language. That's the kind of stuff that makes me tick, in the good way. I'm actually somewhat glad the demographic was hearing impaired, as I was chewing Dans ear off about how we are all singular beings, or some drunken bullshit like that.
My brother is currently taking a sushi-making course in London. This is oh so funny to me. He is literally going to master the art of sushi making and move to Michigan for the summer to make sushi at a seafood restaurant. To me, this is going to be another one of those things that I'll look back on and say, "Remember when Bike was a sushi chef in the States for that whole summer?" This is just as random as the fact that he lived in Japan, was valedictorian twice, played football at the Skydome, starred in a school play, and almost died after passing out in a snow bank. Just pile that story on top of the rest. Oh Bike, so hilarious.
Speaking of which, we were eating sushi at Echo this afternoon and decided to share a few stories with Blair about our drive together through the Australian desert. One of the most memorable stories was the time we decided to take a shortcut that would end up saving us nearly 4 hours. This shortcut turned out to be an incredibly dangerous sand road that would take us within reaching distance of "nowhere". It was so bumpy and our van was so shitty that we honestly feared for our lives. I compared the road to something you would see in Mario Kart, and that it wouldn't be surprising to see a red turtle shell flying at you. Once the drive was over everything within the van had a layer of red dirt, including us. We washed our faces later that night and the sinks turned red.
I scored some more free books from Glen yesterday, including:
LIFE World Library - China
The World of the American Indian
The Adventures of Robin Hood - Charles Vivian
The Moon is Down - Steinbeck
Civilisation - Kenneth Clark
Style and Structure
By Any Means Necessary - Malcolm X
Wilderness Canada
Canada - The Founders and the Guardians
The Taming of the Shrew
Knots - R.D. Laing
Son of the Morning Star - Evan S. Connell
Arms and the Man - Bernard Shaw
Astronomy Today
Most of these books have a lot of pictures, which I'll usually look at in the studio when I'm either taking a break from painting or letting something dry, except for that one Malcolm X book, which was a weird call on my part, but it was free!
Dan turned me onto a program called Mojo, which is awesome. Basically, you can seamlessly share songs with people through your iTunes account. You just add whomever you'd like to share with, sign on, and bam! You're free to take any of their music from the comfort of your home. However, you cannot share songs purchased from iTunes, but that only makes sense. I wouldn't want anyone to have tracks that I paid for, not that I buy much music online anyway, because I think that is silly when you can have tangible copies for just as much. I'd love to share my music with anyone who contacts me, so just drop a line. Here's a link for the download: http://deusty.com/software/mac.php
be well.
