you musn't give your heart to a wild thing

MUGMUGMUG

Happy 200th Post!

++ playlist
MIDLAKE: the courage of others.
MICAH SCHNABEL: when the stage lights go dim.
THE CURE: disintegration.
DEFEATER: trvaels.
SMOKING POPES: destination failure.
BRENDAN RIVERA: body of land.

++ watching
MADMEN: season three.
GREYS ANATOMY: season six.
30 ROCK: season four.
THE DARJEELING LIMITED w/ HOTEL CHEVALIER.

"let's go make fun of the vegans and their crazy lifestyle"

i just came across these photos from our stop in ottawa this fall. i was lucky enough to reconnect with my acting-childhood-punk-rock-big-sister mandi lunan. mandi has been living in ottawa for a few years, and has recently launched her very own vegan bakery under the moniker auntie loo's treats. my friend and fellow vegan / adored photographer / show promoter / jaded record store owner / avid tweeter / zine interview rejecter (i'm holding you to that) shawn scallen picked me up and took me by mandi's bakery, where we mealed hard on some chinese take out and these delicious chocolate brownies with peanut butter icing. fresh and hot out of the oven!



and while i'm reppin' my vegan pals new endeavors, i may as well take this opportunity to direct you to my pal ross' new blog WWW.VEGANEATSBLOG.COM! we made a bitchin' brunch on new years day.

and if you don't know the quote referenced in the title, please watch this:

you down with ODB? yeah you know me!

the other day i had a chat with my pal dani brown about top 5's, and you can read about it here

check it out!

tonight it's like he's stuck between stations

i'm having a rough/weird day off in amarillo texas, but nothing cheers me up more than the hold steady.
i walked across the freeway to best buy to pick up their new dvd/live cd "a positive rage".

gotta stay positive.

À bout de souffle

"Hélas, hélas, hélas ! J'aime une fille qui a une très jolie nuque, de très jolis seins, une très jolie voix, de très jolis poignets, un très joli front, de très jolis genoux... mais qui est lâche!"

i'm going to love this movie

it's probably going to ruin me, as well.

man, we make our own movies

cameron in canada

one of the best parts about making music is the people you meet along the way. a lot of times, people are fake, and have some sort of motive as to why they want to befriend you. it's pretty great when the opposite of that is true, when you meet people who you can be friends outside of business, regardless of working together. a few years ago we made our record "discovering the waterfront" with producer cameron webb. since then, we've gone on to make a record without him, and are now back working on a new record with him again. all in all, it's safe to say that through the years we have stuck together as friends, and that plays a huge role in cameron working on our new album. not only does he care about our music, and get us as musicians, he cares about and gets us as people. while cameron has temporarily relocated to canada to work on our new record, i've been logging some hang time with him to keep his downtime busy and exciting.

a couple weekends ago, cam brought sergio downtown to hang out. sergio was the assistant engineer on the record while tracking drums, and only came up for the first week of tracking, and wanted to spend some time in toronto before heading home. unfortunately it was the first of many very cold days to come, so i had to limit to taking them places that were indoors.

we started off with breakfast at sadie's diner, one of my personal favourites, an all vegetarian punk rock, old style diner that specializes in breakfast and lunch (but now serves dinner too!).

their unique decor also features a wicked collection of pezz dispensers!
next we hit up queen west, most specifically rotate this!, but quickly curbed that idea to head for warmer shopping climates.

we popped over to the eaton center, which they both seemed to enjoy!
after the mall we headed over and grabbed a coffee at manic, and popped in at my favourite late night hang out, sneaky dees. then we decided to catch the new bond film, and finished off the day with dinner at fresh. i think the guys had a good time, but like i said, i wish it was warmer so i could show them some cooler spots.

another after studio get together that i've taken part in with cameron was catching our friends RISE AGAINST at the hamilton convention center. it was great to see all those guys again, and cameron seemed to really hit it off with everyone. THURSDAY was also on the bill, and it's always nice to see those fellas.

the other day cameron refreshed my memory on the rules, and challenged me to a match of racquetball at his hotel. it's been more than ten years since i've played, and i certainly got schooled. i'm definitely going to challenge a rematch, and hopefully i'll remember to take photos.

christmas time is here (da na na na naaaaa)

the other night antonella and i got together and ended up watching cinematic family film masterpiece, home alone 2: lost in new york. at first, i immediately thought of tyson, who without a doubt is getting mistaken for kevin mcallister on the streets of manhattan as we speak. anyways, home alone 2 is a fantastic film (far superior to it's original and predecessor in my opinion), and is definitely one of my top 10 christmas movies of all time. with that, i figured i would briefly share with you the other 9 titles rounding out that list.

NATIONAL LAMPOONS CHRISTMAS VACATION.
this movie is hilarious, is all about christmas, and has chevy chase in it, what more do you need? the scene with the christmas lights reminds me of the house across the street from my old elementary school that used to light up brighter than the rest of the entire city for a month or so around christmas.






EDWARD SCISSORHANDS.
definitely the only* stand out film by tim burton (in my opinion), i can't stand that one that inspired millions in hot topic profits and fall out boy tattoos, and don't even get me started on the re-make of the classic, and a personal favourite of mine, charlie and the chocolate factory. this movie is okay for me though, actually, it's more than okay, it's pretty great. it's quirky, heart warming, sad, loveable and promotes treating people as equals, all things i love. it's pretty hard to not cry at the end of this one, so make sure you're nice and warm by the fire/heater or under a blanket when you watch this one...wouldn't want those tears freezing in the icy months. also, if you didn't know already, i love winona ryder; she is a total babe.
*okay, so maybe beatlejuice is pretty good too, i should probably break that one out soon.

DIE HARD.
alright, so i'll be the first to admit, i'm mostly a sucker for cheesy, heart warming love stories, especially around the holidays, but seriously, what guy doesn't want to see bruce willis throw the sheriff of nottingham out of a building on christmas eve?








MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET.
here we go, a classic, straight up, no denying this one. there's just something about christmas in new york city, and a young girl regaining her hopes and dreams and the belief in santa claus. a real heart warmer for the frosty season. heck, i'll even take the 1994 remake with that little girl from mrs. doubtfire and the dude from the practice.






ELF.
awww, such a good movie! it's no surprise that will ferrel is the funniest man in the universe, and this movie was a great stepping stone in obtaining that role. i saw this movie in theaters years ago and loved every second of it. it has the classic christmas spirit vibes of miracle on 34th, the (not quite as poor tasted) humour of vacation, and a megababe comparable to that of winona. seriously, if i had my way in life, zooey deschanel would be my celebrity girlfriend, and we would make lots of babies. that scene where she is singing "baby, it's cold outside" in the shower, and will ferrel hears her and joins in for that beautiful duet, ahh! it kills me every time! this movie is so good that it's goodness even outweighed all the times my mom said "santa? i know him!" the christmas after she saw it.

A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS.
for some reason i have always leveled with that poor little dude charlie. he always tried so hard at everything, and always seemed to come up short, and somehow get laughed at or blamed for everything. good grief! after several days of inner conflict, charlie finds himself what seems like aimlessly searching for the meaning of christmas, while his friends and the rest of his town gets caught up in the commercialism and hustle and bustle of the season. in the end, charlie not only comes together with his friends, but he makes a great little jesus speech too! besides, without this movie, the world wouldn't have that terrific "christmas time is here" song to hum along to while feeling utterly defeated by life.



LOVE ACTUALLY.
for me, british comedy can get pretty tiring, fast. on the contrary, love actually is amazing front to back. it has all the elements of a great christmas movie, and an allstar cast to boot, featuring a short cameo by one of my all time favourite superbabes, canadian heart throb elisha cuthbert, not to mention keira knightley and all the other supreme babes packed into the several intertwining storylines. all holidays aside is probably one of my all time top 5 favourite rom-com's, and has proven itself to be a winner on recent long european bus rides. and yes, i'll go ahead and say it, hugh grant is ACTUALLY FUNNY in this one.

A CHRISTMAS STORY.
here's the obvious one, a christmas movie list topper defaut, the best of the best, the ultimate classic. christmas time is nothing without this movie. my 5th grade teacher mr. ryan used to reference this movie every day for about a month leading up to the christmas break, and then on that shortened last day before school let out for a couple weeks, we would push our desks back and sit on the floor and watch it (incase no one got his jokes that whole time). we all know that TBS usually plays this movie back to back for an entire day, and most years i try to watch it as many times in a row without shooting myself in the head. speaking of which, this movie also introduced the top 5 things you don't want to do around christmas:
5. swear in front of your parents, resulting in getting your mouth washed out with soap. yuck!
4. realize that your epicly anticipated favourite radio show secret decoder ring is really just an ad for ovaltine .
3. get kicked down the slide by santa claus. (this part still haunts me to this day)
2. get your tongue stuck to a pole.
1. shoot your eye out.

other highlights include the pictured bunny pj's and the younger brother who hides under the sink after ralphy gets into a fight, and repeatedly screams "i wanna play santa!" on christmas morning. golden.

A MUPPET FAMILY CHRISTMAS.
here it is folks, number one with a bullet. my all time favourite christmas movie! it's christmas time, and the whole muppet gang is headed for a weekend in the country at fozzy's moms house. after spoiling her vacation to the beach, and crashing the old dude from fraggle rock's subleased quiet weekend away, they receive more visitors! who you ask? why it's the sesame street gang! more hilarity ensues when the swedish chef tries to cook big bird for dinner, and our hearts get warmed numerous times including when kermit and robin stumble upon fraggle rock and get a special gift from friends down under. seriously, this movie is a must see. it seems to have been replaced by the christmas carol in the muppet's catalog, and i can't believe it's no longer available to purchase, and doubt it still plays on tv like it used to. i recently downloaded a shitty quality digital copy that i will continue to watch and enjoy annually as the years pass! what a movie!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

movies, movies!

hi there,

i'm not going to lie, i did some slacking when it came to photographing the pacific northwest. i arrived in seattle and headed off into the city to shop and meet gregers, and realized that my camera batteries were dead. but no worries; coffee was drank, vegan food savored, bro's came, and sweet hangs were hung, all in epic proportions. i will try to put together an update with the few photos i managed to snag. i should probably take a photo of the last of my dozen vegan "voodoo doughnuts" from portland.

anyways, while we were in boise, i popped into the record exchange, a fine outlet for records, films, and memorabilia in new and used formats. i managed to snag a hefty pile of used dvds, billybuster new releases if you will:



(from right to left, top to bottom)
DAZED AND CONFUSED.
SESAME STREET PRESENTS: FOLLOW THAT BIRD
NATIONAL LAMPOONS ANIMAL HOUSE
BULLY
AMERICAN BEAUTY
10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU
STAND BY ME
REALITY BITES
THE NOTEBOOK
WAKING LIFE
MISERY
AMERICAN GRAFFITI
THE GREAT OUTDOORS
BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE
THE TRUMAN SHOW
HEATHERS
PIEBALD: KILLA BROS AND KILLA BEES

here's a few observations that i've made about the ones i've watched so far.
HEATHERS - a lot of awful bands have referenced this terrific dark comedy.
ANIMAL HOUSE - john belushi really looks like alexisonfire/black lungs wade mcneil.
DAZED AND CONFUSED - you really don't need to smoke weed to love this movie.
10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU - heath ledger will be dearly missed.
FOLLOW THAT BIRD - feel good movie of the century!

with love and trust and friends and hammers

oh hello there.
it's been a while, i know, and i'm sorry, but i'm back! prepare yourself for this epic update where i will try to recap my summer.

i took some photos for a couple bands, which is something i used to do a lot, but hadn't done in quite a while. you can look at them:
EATING GLASS: here.
ANNELIESE: here & here.

something that has been a staple in my summer life for the majority of the past decade, whether it be for one day or 40, is warped tour. this year they moved it to the lot at arrow hall instead of all the way up in barrie. patrick and i drove up mostly to see and hang with set your goals, a day to remember and against me! aside from the couple of hours of torrential rain, it was a pretty good day, and i back arrow hall! patrick talks about this day here.













this summer has had no shortage of good pals, and good food, but the one thing that i thought i'd be doing more is BBQin'! here's a couple shots from an afternoon on the porch with toronto's man of the people.




if you listen to hardcore, and live anywhere near toronto that isn't directly under a rock, then you must know about STUCK IN THE CITY: an awesome new diy hardcore community that my friends scott, greg and erik have been building. going to shows at their spot resonates the vibes and attitude that were accustom to the hardcore community when i started going to shows, and it's great to see these guys rekindling that spirit. if you don't know, now you know.

here's some shots of some pals hanging at dee's after SITC's shipwreck show.








courtney moved in with SBD and JD, which led to a party, which led to these photos of kylehutton.net & HLS.



rainy days + coffee + long talks + andrea = good.


george and i went to see the dark knight. minds were blown. heath ledger rip ftw.


speaking of good foods and pals, one lovely sunday afternoon found funnyguy alex tindal and i engaging in the market's "pedestrian sunday" for some urb-herb (after being told that fressen had "run out of food?!)












good friends don't all have to come from home, either! superfriends and world travelers katiebrown and aileen popped into town for a few days, from their respective american coasts, to experience the FULLBLAST reunion shows. they spent a couple days with me in the city, and good times were had.




unfortunately i don't have any photos from the actual show, but you can read about it and it's total unreality here and here. (thanks to patrick and andrew s, respectively)

speaking of shows, we've played a few this summer. most of them have been outdoors, and in ontario and quebec, and involved us all piling into the van again like old times. here's some random shots from my cell phone from some of the trips to quebec.






after spending the day driving home from one of those quebec shows, i somehow ended up heading to grand bend for the cutting edge music festival with jason and stephanie from out east. i'm only really making mention of this for the sole purpose of showing you these two photos of bagshaw. (who, while very drunk, still has impeccable aim when it comes to throwing garbage at fat girls who are sitting on their boyfriends shoulders, thus blocking out view of the stage)



another stop on the weird outdoor summer festival shows tour brought us to saskatoon, for the saskatchewan exhibition. to make a long story short, we got delayed leaving toronto, and by the time we arrived for our layover in winnipeg, we had missed our connection to saskatoon. at first i got my hopes up about seeing beeps and fat mat, but was abruptly told we needed to get back on the plane we were on and head to regina, where we would then have to figure out how to get ourselves to saskatoon.

cue in matt means to the rescue!


wait, there he is!


being the a-team pal that he is, he offered to pick our stranded asses up and take us on a gorgeous drive through the prairies so that we would make it to play the show.





we somehow managed to talk him into playing a couple songs to warm up the crowd before we hit the stage, what a swell friend that guy is!





my team-a aussie mate jona stopped through town on tour, and i made sure to take him to all of the best vegan food spots through out the day. we ate a lot of food, we had a good conversation.



oh, it was my birthday right about now. i am twenty four. i have no photos.

apparently it hails in toronto in august? weeeeeeird.


tyson and bang getting ready for an epic guys night. team-a for sure!


PLAYLIST:
crime in stereo - the trouble stateside.
tegan and sara - the con.
fucked up - the chemistry of common life.
the national - boxer.
the gaslight anthem - '59 sound.