Pants

back to the 'burgh

2009-09-22T16:48:00.000+01:00

Back in Edinburgh for a bit. More to follow.
Office window

Yearly Hear Ye!

2009-08-12T20:45:00.003+01:00

From the sensory deprivation chamber that is my Ottawa office:
Hello out there in Interwebland!

We played in Ottawa a while back.

Then we played in Montreal the next night.

This was the stamp for the Ottawa show.

Retrospective

2008-09-30T22:28:00.004+01:00

Hi folks. I guess it's been almost a year since I put anything up on this thing. Not too much in the way of news. Just getting into the groove of university life again.

Here I am with some friends in Glasgow, after the International Association for the Study of Popular Music conference (Sept 2008). From left to right: former flatmate and almost-Dr Mary Fogarty, moi, almost-Dr Melissa Avdeef, someday-Dr Louie Sanchez, Dr Matt Brennan.

Here I am this past summer in Ottawa with my kinda-cousin Eirik (who visited from Norway) and my cousin Lauren (who lived in Montreal for the summer).

I was the Best Man at my friend Chad's wedding. He married Jill this past summer in Edmonton.

Dapper, eh?

I went to a Wig Party last New Year's Eve.

snowboard kids

2007-12-12T14:20:00.000Z

A decent snowfall meant that I ditched my marking duties and went snowboarding with Scott (roommate) and Liam. Here the idea was to ride down the roof of this shack. To do so, Liam had to climb the skinny, branchless tree, which bent ever so slightly at just the right height, setting him down gently on the roof. An admittedly cartoon-ish idea but, remarkably, it worked.

In other news, Chris and I played in Montreal a while back.

Celebrating Good Times

2007-12-05T15:45:00.000Z

Went back to Edinburgh for graduation. The symbolic act of being released into the world by the University consisted of being bopped on the head by a hat made from John Knox's trousers. Strange, no?

Here I am at the ceremony with Pat & Anna Devine. Note the white bow tie.

With Panos and Kim, the two other MMus graduates.

Out for dinner with a whole clan of Devines!

At Cammo Estate with my former flatmate Alison. Note her wellies.

At Cammo Estate with an old water tower in the background, looking towards the Pentland Hills.

The Champagne of Beers!

2007-11-24T01:35:00.000Z

I've been chastised for not posting enough pictures. Sorry for the delay. Part of the problem is that I've been spending a lot more time with the ol' SLR camera lately (after having completely ignored it for over a year). So until I get my film developed, this is all I've got.

News-wise, uni is okay. Twas pretty wild for a bit, but it's manageable now. Heading back to Edinburgh on Sunday to pick up my degree parchment. Should be fun. Back in Winnipeg on Dec14. Can't wait.

For now, I'm off to a 'dress like you dressed when you were 17' party. Should be amusing...

My roommate Scott's parents stopped by on their way from Maine to BC and were kind enough to drop of 30 of these wonderful, 'Premium Brewed' American beers -- all for the low, low price of $15 USD!

Ottapegger

2007-09-17T18:46:00.000+01:00

Hallo Fans! I'm in Ottawa now. I'd have posted some pictures of my new place and my adventures as an Ottawan, but I left my camera in the Uhaul. Oops. Fortunately, I tracked the truck down in New Brunswick and when the nice people had a look behind the seat, lo and behold, there was my little camera. Canada Post took it from there, and now I'm back in business.

My amigo Jeanette agreed to keep me company on the long drive. We checked into some small roadside motel after the first leg of the journey. Here's Jeaner limbering herself up with some calisthenics.

At a pre-Ottawa party with my brother Kamron, my good friend Bryan, and my brother from a different mother Matt.

Winnipeg Days

2007-08-23T17:49:00.000+01:00

I guess the biggest and best bit of blog-worthy news is that I finished my MMus. (!)

So I took a ride on a fire hydrant . . .

And went for a beer with my friend Sarah (Vancouver) . . .

And successfully tried out the Sri Lankan dhal curry recipe that Alison (flatmate) taught me . . .

And went out with my bandmates Greg and Jeremy, as well as their lovely wives (Amanda and Joelle) . . .

And went to a BBQ with Joe, Ian, Dev & co (friends I've played hockey with since we were 6 or something) . . .

And had nachos with Edmontonians Chad and his fiance Jill (I'm in the wedding party), Winnipeggers Nicole and her boyfriend Dean, and Ottawan Phil (that's his hand on the hot sauce, bottom right) . . .

And played guitar at my friend Mel's wedding.

Sheesh that's a lot of stuff. Jeanette pulled a daft face at the wedding.

I Hate Winnipeg

2007-08-09T17:24:00.000+01:00

I'm back in Winnipeg for a while. Bittersweet, I suppose.

My Last Supper in Edinburgh (visitor, Rosemary, Ben, me, Alison). We went for Indian food. Twas a busy night, and the service was slow. Alison had a plan, though: crack a smile, speak some Hindi -- voilà! In the end, we even got a free bottle of wine (to add to the considerable amount we'd already drunk waiting for the food). Pretty much the best last night in a place a guy could ask for. Made it almost impossible to leave.

Second last supper in Edinburgh. With Alison, Yohan, and his wife Vimani (spelt phoenetically). Delicious Sri Lankan curry.

En route to the 'Peg I met my old friend Jeanette in New York City. That's Lady Liberty in the background.

Looking at Times Square from the Empire State Building.

Jeanette looking at some Jackson Pollock.

Good ol' Andy. (photo: j)

Saw the lead singer of the Cardigans playing in a small club. Great. (photo: j)

Saw an outdoor movie: Fountianhead. (photo: j)

Carnegie Deli: This is a ridiculously humongous and meaty sandwich by anyone's standards -- especially a quasi-vegetarian like myself. (photo: j)

Jeanette on the Empire State Building.

Some Graffiti. (photo: j)

Jeanette's feet after walking around NYC for 18 hours in flip-flops.

Isle of Iona

2007-07-27T18:53:00.000+01:00

On the Hebridean Isle of Iona with Erica (Atlanta), Hanna & John (Darby and Cambridge-ish). Fabulous, fantastic folk. Thanks to John & Hanna, I now know that bananas always, always have 5 sides. Thanks to Erica, I remember gists and theme songs of amazing '80s kid's TV shows, was converted to shell-based sand (screw rock-based sand!), and can put my finger on why I didn't like the movie Running With Scissors; it was also good to meet someone else who's never broken a bone.

Staffa is a wee, unpopulated island about 5 nautical miles from Iona.

Crazy rocks on Staffa.

With Erica at Port Bahn on Iona. We dropped our stuff on the shell-based beach and climbed a hill. Fine and wonderful idea. Oceans have tides, though. Didn't think that one through carefully enough and ended up with some wet stuff. But we ended up with more fun times than soggy books, so I figure the gravitational pull of the moon lost that battle.

On Iona looking towards Mull.

Another bit of Staffa.

Music Festivals

2007-07-15T11:15:00.000+01:00

Things are busy these days. I'm having kittens over my dissertation, my cousin Eirik visits from Norway on Wednesday, and then I'm off to Iona on Saturday to do some research. Nevertheless, I managed to squeeze in a couple of music fests.

Wilco put on a lovely show at Indian Summer in Glasgow's lovely Victoria Park.

Here's our Indian Summer crew (from left): Jordan (Winnipeg, medical anthropology), a guy I'd just met, almost-Dr Mark (Ireland/Scotland, Smaller than Jesus), Jen (don't know much about this wonderful person, besides the fact that her and Mark are dating), Dr Matt (East Coast Canuck, Zoey van Goey)

This is T in the Park, another, substantially more crowded, music festival that I went to last weekend.

A nice photo of the last time us three flatmates will be together for a while (from left: me, Alison, Mary).

battered, deepfried & mysterious

2007-07-03T00:42:00.000+01:00

Chris & Erin came to visit. Yay! Here we are partying at my flat.

Chris and I played some rock 'n' roll at the party.

Here we are playing at Whistle Binkies.

More of the Whistle Binkies performance.

Battered, deepfried, and mysterious: Scottish cuisine at its finest.

Here I am on the Firth of Forth in North Berwick, probably thinking profound thoughts.

We went Highland hillwalking and found the Black Spout waterfall.

We also went to the wee-est whisky distillery in Scotland.

Chris, our hero, wards off cattle.

Still hillwalking. Chris is trying to push Erin into the thistles.

Chris and I frolicking in the Highlands.

Erin and I slaving away in my kitchen, while Chris (ever the helpful one) takes photos of all the hard work.

Jeg snakker ikke Norsk

2007-06-16T13:13:00.000+01:00

Back from my second trip to Norge. Started out in Bergen and then went up to the Arctic Circle - Tromsø, to be precise. It would take hours to write about all of the unforgettable sights that were seen, all the regal feasts that were eaten, and all the good times that were had, so I hope the pictures do most of the talking.

The midnight sun.

Sognefjord.

Beate, Ian, Guro, Eirik, and Borghild in Bergen's old town.

Great Uncle Ian Dobie.

A view from Stalheim (part of our Norway in a Nutshell trip).

With Ian at Stalheim.

A waterfall in the Sognefjord.

At the Flåm station.

Out for coffee with Borghild.

Looking over Tromsø at midnight.

First night in Tromsø. Edgar and I hiked to Rækoika at 1am.

Edgar and dog at Rækoika.

Fishing in the Kaldfjord under the midnight sun. I caught six very tasty fish.

Edgar and a friend in a traditional Norwegian cabin on the Kaldfjord.

Our boat on the Kaldfjord.

With Edgar at a modern art museum.

A sculpture of a fish drying rack.

Tromsdalen Kirke, aka The Arctic Cathedral (aka Ishavskatedralen) in Tromsø.

Edgar with Tromsø as a backdrop.

I ate whale meat for the first time, so Edgar thought a picture by a harpoon was apropos (Polarmuseet in background).

Bookworms Anonymous

2007-06-03T11:16:00.000+01:00

I participated in my first egghead conference this weekend. Loads of interesting music nerds from around Europe assembled in Edinburgh to sit quietly and listen to research presentations for hours on end. Here we are enjoying a post-conference pint at the Royal Oak, where we listened to an unamplified, unaccompanied old man singing traditional Scottish folk songs.

A fine Glaswegian beer.

From left: Derek (Australia), Laura (Belgium), Kim (New York City), moi

From left: my good friend Panos (Greece), two very nice Greek girls, and Derek again.

Chillin' with Bob Dylan

2007-05-17T10:26:00.000+01:00

Went to a wee party in Glasgow last night in honour of Dr Szu-Wei Chen (second from left, apron). Having just recently completed his PhD in popular music studies, you'd think that he might have at least a cursory knowledge of Bob Dylan. Nope. So the deal was that Wei would cook dinner and Matt (third from right, white shirt) would introduce him to Bob Dylan. The mix of Dylan lovers (Matt; Michael-John, far left) and Dylan haters (Mark, far right; Bill, far back) -- all of whom are serious music nerds -- made for a pretty peppy evening.

Brussels Sprouts

2007-05-06T15:22:00.000+01:00

Bonjour blog readers. I've just returned from a beer-tasting, chocolate-chomping, waffle-wolfing, and frite-eating mission in Belgium. The fries and chocolate were pretty good, and Brussels itself was really interesting, but it was definitely the beer that I found most staggering (pun!). Those Trappist monks know a thing or two about brew!

Here I am at a Brussels flea market, probably missing my old glasses.

Some people think I look like Rick Moranis . . . Personally, I don't see it.

The impressive La Grand Place de Bruxelles / De Grote Markt van Brussel.

Mannekin-Pis ("little boy piss") in his Gay Pride outfit.

Brussles has a great musical instrument museum. Here's an Ondes Martenot, one of the first electronic instruments (1928).

Apparently Marx partied at La Grand Place.

Beltane Fire Festival

2007-05-01T09:11:00.000+01:00

Here are some photos. Most are from the Beltane Fire Fest. Twelve-thousand people assemble up on Calton Hill here in Edinburgh to dance, drum, eat fire, and get pished. The Festival itself is a neopagan celebration of the death of winter. Or something.

Alison (flatmate) took this photo in a park at the foot of Arthur's Seat.

Stuff That's Done & Stuff To Come

2007-04-28T14:53:00.000+01:00

Done: After over a month of living the life of a book-bound anchorite, all of my essays are finally submitted. I've been celebrating these past few days. First, I went to see Cinematic Orchestra (the best jazz-electronica band ever). Then I went to see a funk band featuring trombonist Fred Wesley and The Funky Drummer, Clyde Stubblefield. Both are known for their work with James Brown. The Funky Drummer is revered for having performed the second most sampled break beat ever (the first being Amen break).

To come: I'm planning a trip to Brussels for next weekend. Then I have to write a paper/presentation for my first egghead convention (i.e. academic conference), which takes place in June.

"Women in Black started in 1988 when Israeli and Palestinian women stood together in vigil in Jerusalem to end the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. The international movement Women in Black was awarded the Millennium peace prize by the United Nations in 2001."

Bowls

2007-04-21T15:06:00.000+01:00

The back of my flat looks out onto this bowling green. Every morning, noon, and night since January there's been some ultra-dedicated club member out doting on this grassy square. And just as often I've stared out the window sipping my tea, wondering if they were ever actually planning on having a bowls match. Today, at long last, the season began.

A bowler inaction.

Extra! Extra!

2007-04-10T13:25:00.000+01:00

Fascinating updates, folks.

I got two new shoes because I wore a whole in the bottom of one old shoe.

This is my workspace. These days, I rarely leave this habitat.

Pethshire

2007-03-25T20:39:00.001+01:00

My good friends Greg & Amanda have come to visit. We've done an amazing amount of walking. Here's the main Highland highlight.

We started off in the Highland town of Pitlochry. From here it's a reasonably short treck to Moulin, where the hillwalking begins.

Greg & Amanda doing some x-treme hillwalking, with Ben Vrackie in the background.

Slàinte Mhath (slan·tchuh vah): a Scots-Gaelic toast

2007-03-17T11:16:00.000Z

Hard to believe that seminars finish up next week. Just like that. Over and done with.

We had a wee get-together on Friday. An isle of relaxation in a sea of busyness.

I was forced into wearing my kilt for the occasion.

I was doing some work in a pub one night and this guy turned up to play an open mic session. He was brilliant. One of his songs was about his one-year-old son: "His name is Johnny / Yeah, I tell you, he's bonnie / He eats, he drinks, he sleeps, he poos / Yeah, I tell you, he's front page news."

North Berwick & Glencoes

2007-03-06T15:32:00.000Z

Chad sutured a bunch of little pictures to make a couple of nice big ones. Click to embiggen.

Monday, Monday, Monday

2007-02-27T00:37:00.000Z

What better way to spend a Monday evening than at King Tut's Wah-Wah Hut in Glasgow watching the illustrious Mark Devine (cousin, drums) play with his effulgent band, The Twilight Sad?

Chalk & Cheese

2007-02-18T20:47:00.000Z

Chadwick is doing is utmost to sabotage my scholastic life here in Edinburgh: Real cask-conditioned ales have been drunk, the Highlands have been visited, Royal Miles have been walked, the Proclaimers have been heard, museums have been ambled through, my homemade vegetarian haggis pizza has been eaten, pounds and pence have been spent -- all this in two days! Stay tuned for our Glasgow trip, when I introduce Chad to oyster ice cream.

The first rotary printing press was invented in Edinburgh (ca. 1850). This is a picture of it.

Kyle & Chad squint into the sun at Loch Ness (alas, we didnae see Nessie).

In the Scottish Highlands: Glencoe mountain range. The water is highly reflective because of its brown colour. The brown colour is caused by decomposing Peatmosses. Interesting . . .

Edinburgh Waverley.

Reading Weak

2007-02-12T16:42:00.000Z

Some pictures of my Greek friend, Panagiotis, playing an open mic night at a local pub. He's helped me to understand why there are so many restaurants in Winnipeg called George's that serve Fat Boys. Apparently it was the Greek dream.

The evening started off fine . . .

But then, suddently, Panos' guitar attacked him! We were lucky to make it out alive.

Many Happy Returns

2007-02-04T21:33:00.000Z

From W. D. Cocker's "Many Happy Returns"

Maggie.--I doot Duncan's no' very gleg, but he means weel, puir chiel. Ye hae to speak oot plump an' plain wi' the likes o' him. Ye canna say yea thing an' mean anither.

Nancy.--Weel, but this was ma birthday, could he no' see that this was his chance? Yet he forgot' a boot it; he never as much as wished me many happy returns.

Maggie.--Weel, he kens noo; he looked rale taen aback when I said the jumper was for yer birthday.

Nancy.--Did he? Ay, I thocht he lookit kin' o' frichtit like. Puir Duncan. It's no' that I'm wantin' a present. But if I thocht he would rather no' gie me onything it would be a sair dooncome to my pride. I shouldna like him to be meengy.

Trip number 2 to North Berwick (pron. 'berrick'). We spent most of our time trying to read in a local pub, but the Scots were getting steamed and watching football, so we ended up just gawking at them. One gentleman noticed that I was reading about music. "Music," he slurred. "Iiiiiiii like Goooooooood music -- you know, Meatloaf." With this, "The amateur triumphed over the musicologist: his taste, not the history of music, governs his system of classification" (Antoine Hennion, Sociologist).

Kyle (looking lovely as ever) & Alison (flatmate).

More sunset in North Berwick. I'm not exactly great at sunset photos. It was better in person.

kitchen stories

2007-02-02T02:16:00.000Z

There are upsides and downsides to being unshackled from University Accommodation. A downside, for example, is that if your beautifully yellow, but apparently waterlogged kitchen ceiling decides, in the middle of the night, to surrender itself to your kitchen floor, there’s no one but yourself and your flatmate’s boyfriend to clean it up. Not even if you have a presentation to give in the morning.
We tried to tell the jokers down at the letting agency that our ceiling was leaking badly, but they took their sweet bureaucratic time to do anything about it, and now look at what’s happened . . .

Phat Phlat Photos and PhDs

2007-01-21T16:11:00.001Z

Thankfully, I moved this weekend. If you're reading this and don't yet have the address, email me and I'll get it to you.
Flatmates:
- Alison, PhD in parapsychology (remember Ghostbusters?). Interesting fact: A pigeon got into her old room over Christmas break, broke a bunch of stuff, shat all over her books, and died in her slippers. I call her the 'Pigeon Whisperer.'
- Mary, PhD on breakdancing, studying with Simon Frith, my same advisor. Interesting facts: Grew up in good ol' Brandon Manitoba before moving to Ontario; will be teaching me B-Boy moves.
So far we've taken three days to learn how to use the heat, but all the cold has easily been worth it.
We've got a spare room, if you're ever in Edinburgh.
Now I'll be getting back to my precious book learnin'.

Alison, Kyle & Mary in our kitchen (which looks out over a community lawn bowling pitch)

Mary, breakdancing in the kitchen

Alison & Kyle standing in front of our (somewhat transparent) stained glass bathroom door

Alison & Mary in our living room

Me in my (still bare) room

Hvordan sier du . . . på norsk? Unnskyld, jeg snakker ikke norsk.

2006-12-28T13:40:00.000Z

"A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life." This (out of context) quote, along with that cheesey Lennon Christmas song and the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood," was running in my head during my Nowegian Christmas extravaganza.
Bergen, Norway is the most splendiferously resplendent place I have ever been. Ever. And my extended family made this Christmas one of my most memorable. They taught me some norsk; took me on short hikes and gave me detailed explainations about the geology of Norway; took me downtown, to see Edvard Munch and Edvard Greig, and taught me about the history of Bryggen; fed me traditional Norwegian meals and toothsome home-baked sweets and bread; introduced me to Norwegian brown cheese, Christmas beer, Akevitt, new Norwegian free-jazz-electronica; were most generous in making me feel welcome (my most common phrase was "tusen takk," theirs, "værsågod"); and basically had me constantly resisting the temptation to kick my legs rhythmically in an excess of life. Skål (cheers) to them!

I spent 12 hours in Amsterdam en route. I hadn't slept the previous night, but it was good to see the city again

This is the view from the 'backyard' of the house I stayed at in Bergen

Christmas Eve is the big day in Norway. Left - Right: Svein-Petter, Guro, Borghild, Beate (my dad's cousin)

The rest of the fam-damily. Left - Right: Beate/Edgar's mum, Thorbjørn, Eirik, Edgar (my dad's cousin)

My Great Uncle Ian Dobi with a tea cozy on his head (Dec 25)

Bryggen i Bergen: the oldest part of Bergen, on the UNESCO list

Narrow alleys of Bryggen

The Dobi-Kviem house

Paris, France, Underpants

2006-12-23T02:52:00.000Z

Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain

Unlike in the movie, it's actually a dive

La Tour Eiffel

Dans le Musée D'Orsay

A bridge across the Seine

One Great City!

2006-12-18T21:05:00.000Z

Edinburgh at its finest.

Revenant: "40,000 ans de musique"

2006-12-15T00:01:00.000Z

Richard Taruskin is one of the biggest names in ('traditional') musicology. So it's notable that on page 2 of the introductory chapter to his 4252-page History of Western Music (2005), he's dealing with bombs that have been dropped by one of the preeminent scholars of popular music, Robert Walser. Walser's critical acumen is precise and powerful; he cuts straight through the ribs of the debate, piercing its heart: the subject of Taruskin’s tome – ‘classical’ music – is extremely diverse, so much so that it only makes sense as an “invented tradition.” In the name of present (elitist) interests, this tradition "construct[s] a cohesive past to establish or legitimize present-day institutions or social relations.” Ouch.

So how does Taruskin justify one more – “potentially the last” – stab at a comprehensive examination of the impossibly heterogeneous body of Western art-music? In his own words, “it is the basic claim of this multivolumed book – its number-one postulate – that the literate tradition of Western music is coherent at least insofar as it has a completed shape. It’s beginnings are known and explicable, and its end is now foreseeable (and also explicable).”

And that’s when it hit me. The sober black cover, the delicate gold lettering, the fresh and un-turned pages, the carefully-preserved smell, the somber tone – the book is as much a tomb as it is a tome. A funeral. Ashes to ashes: One part history, one part eulogy.

So: A living 'popular'-music scholar is editing some dying 'classical' music.
The appropriately titled "En me Revenant": Allmayne, ff. 8v-9r. In Margaret Board’s Lute Book (ca. 1620-1630), owned by Robert Spencer. Fascimilie: Robert Spencer, ed., The Board Lute Book. Leeds: Boethius, 1976.

The tedium of the 4:4 beat

2006-12-04T21:31:00.000Z

" . . . on the one occasion when Derrida publicly attempted to associate words with music, he was, for the only time in his life according to his own account, booed off stage." - Dayan, Music Writing Literature, 2006.

I was saying 'booerns.'

Ze Germans set up a Christmas market in das Gartenhozen ein Princes Straße for the whole of December. I went there. I had mulled wine -- a recent addition to my "Most Favourite Things in the World" list.

Otherwise, very busy. Very tired. Positive feedback on my forays as a wannabe-contemplative into the bowels of academic sociomusicology -- my essays. There's even been some talk of what it would look like to take the training-wheels off my musicological bike. We'll see.

Photograph the Wheel: no charge. Ride the Wheel: £3. Both were worth it.

Round. And round.

Dogs and Cats Living Together -- Mass Hysteria!

2006-11-26T22:35:00.000Z

Some pictures from a Sunday afternoon excursion to North Berwick (pron. 'berrick'). The weather was as perfect as you could imagine for an impromptu trip to the seaside.

This week is the last week of seminars for the semester. Wild. Now I'm in a high-stress, ultra-serious paper-writing mode.

An anchor at North Berwick: Neil (USA, Cartography); Alison (USA, Parapsychology -- the discipline in which the Ghostbusting Dr Venkman [i.e. Bill Murray] had his PhD)

North Berwick: The Who-Can-Stick-Their-Feet-in-the-Water-Longest Competition. It was a draw.

Stamp vending machine. It was cooler in person.

"Freedom!"

2006-11-18T18:48:00.000Z

Saturday: Linlithgow (Palace), Stirling (Wallace Monument and Stirling Castle [no pictures]).
At the Linlithgow Palace there was a nice old cemetary. While there, Jayne-Leigh (see below), our resident forensic osteoarchaeologist, was kind enough to identify all the bits of human bone that had worked their way above ground over the last 300 years or so.

A plaque at Linlithgow Palace: Birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots (obviously)

Inside Linlithgow Palace looking out

The William Wallace Monument in Stirling

Overlooking the location of the 1297 Battle of Stirling Bridge, towards Loch Lomond (from left): David (USA, Law, Republican); Rosemary (Vancouver, Social Policy, worrier); me (hansome); Jayne-Leigh (USA, Forensic Osteoarchaeology, winner of the Showcase Showdown on The Price Is Right/Kisser of Bob Barker. No joke.)

William Wallace up on his monumental Monument, wavin' his sword in the air like he just don't care

Shock, Outrage, Moustaches on the Mona Lisa

2006-11-12T21:03:00.000Z

9000 average sized green and yellow balloons + gigantic blue balloons + fans in fuzzy bunny costumes + roadies in super hero outfits + hundreds of thousands of bits of confetti + one large inflatable martian with dancing martians on the left side + one large inflatable Santa Claus with dancing Santa Clauses on the right side + a lead singer crowd surfing in an inflatable hamster bubble + crazy lazers + good rock music = the Flaming Lips concert in Glasgow at the SECC on Friday night. Pictures of the concert will be posted soon-ish.
Other highlights included missing the last train, missing the bus because there were too many people, and barely getting on the extra bus that was sent.
Went to a good pub on Saturday. Met a Scottish lad who, whenever he's asked to take pictures of tourists at touristy spots, purposefully crops their heads out of the photo. Pretty funny, if you ask me. Also met an American girl who's friend is married to one of the guys in Hüsker Dü.

Here's a nice bridge over the River Clyde in Glasgow:

C'est L'Halloween -- Hey!

2006-10-31T00:02:00.000Z

I bailed on going to the Sound Archives in London last week because I was too busy. As it turns out, the department might set up funding for me to go there and do research for my smaller, pre-dissertation project anyways.
Saturday: Witnessed a face-pounding, glass-breaking, table-overturning, eye-gouging, high-heel-stomping fight between two groups of people in a lounge-ish pub (for those of you who know, think Cafe 22 with hint more pub). Even the DJ got in on it.
Other than that, my brain has been wrapped around the philosophy of listening, the politics of memory, and why records were black. Oh, I was also around for some pumpkin carving. This one I (cleverly) refer to as a 'punk-in' on account of its spikey doo. We made three types of punk-in seeds: salt 'n' peppa, spicy curry, and cinnamon/sugar.

Saturday AM

2006-10-21T17:22:00.000+01:00

Friday: Had a post-SPAN-meeting pint with the singer from the Bluebells (a band from the early '80s with one wonderous hit).
Saturday: This little boy went to a nice market; this little boy bought the best -- THE BEST -- peanut butter ever. Seriously.

Famous Alumnus: University of Edinburgh's David Hume

VWs

An Anti-Musicology of the Pop Song

2006-10-16T23:14:00.000+01:00

Hallo (Norsk for 'Hello' -- Norsk is Norsk for Norwegian). In case you're wondering, I'm heading to Norway over Christmas, so I'm brushing up on my language skills. My most useful phrase will be "Snakker du engelsk?"
I'll be posting some more pictures sometime next week, after I attend my first SPAN (Scottish Pop Academics Network) meeting at Glasgow Caledonian on Friday, and after I visit the Sound Archives at the British Library in London on Monday. For now, these'll have to do.

A beautiful Scottish woman singing beautiful Scottish music in a beautiful Scottish cabaret: Camera Obscura

Meet The Tiny, from Sverige. They're extremely good. Note that Mr Swedish man is playing a saw

Portobello: A beach near/in Edinburgh

From left to right: Sanna (Finland), Nick (Little Rock), Alison (with one L from Seattle with two Ts)

Me and my new guitar

Keeping it Riel

2006-10-01T22:03:00.000+01:00

Some things I've done in the past week or so. I also did a lot of research, but those pictures didnae turn out.

1. The Falkirk Wheel: For just £84.5 million, you too can lift a 300 tonne combination of water and boat 115 feet in the air with the amount of energy it takes to boil your electric kettle 8 times -- or 8 kettles once.

2. Patrick and Anna Devine, along with a not-so-flatteringly posed Kyle Devine, in Kilsyth.

3. With Alison from -- memorise this funny place name -- Seattle. We're on top of Arthur's Seat.

4. A view of our way up Arthur's seat. There was no path. It was dangerous.

Isle of Arran

2006-09-24T11:32:00.000+01:00

I awoke very early on Saturday along with Rosemary (Vancouver) and Sannä (Finland) to catch a bus that tours the Highlands. The bus tour ended up being sold out, so we ended up throwing a dart at the train schedule. It hit on the Isle of Arran – Scotland in miniature, they call it – which is just off the southwest coast. Beautiful. On the island we went hiking, visited a cheese factory, a marvelous brewery, and the Brodick Castle. A local girl told me I had a nice accent.

We spent some time in Glasgow both on the way there and the way home. A word of caution: Don’t take the last possible train from Glasgow Central to Edinburgh Waverly at midnight on a Saturday night unless you want to encounter an inebriated lad wearing a David Hasselhoff speedo over his pants who uses a microphone made of a rose to enquire as to what your favorite song is, and then proceeds to coax the entire train car – literally, everyone from the prepubescent to the surprisingly old – into belting out said song at the top of their lungs in ragged unison. “Hey Jude” was deafening.

1. Edinburgh Castle

2. Glasgow Cathedral -- one of the only Scottish churches to survive the Reformation

3. I like the ground

4. Glasgow Cathedral

5. Kyle and Rosemary in Brodick on the Isle of Arran

6. 13th-century Brodick Castle

7. The coast of Arran looking toward Brodick -- we'd just finished a bit of a swim, having got caught on an island created by the tide. (What Winnipeger worth his/her spit considers the tide?) "Don't thank me, thank the gravitational pull of the moon."

A Week in Edinburgh: Words and Pictographs

2006-09-18T17:02:00.000+01:00

Irn-Bru; haggis in a can; vegetarian haggis (but no tofu); ceilidh; overcast; soaked by motorists; first fist fight (bystander); beer that drinks like a meal; £-Stretcher; when Kyle met Simon; two is the loneliest number (of musicology students); castle; National Gallery of Scotland; Tesco; Van Gogh; cact-us; accent accident; sleep off the year; closes and wynds; dollars and cents vs. pounds and pence; recycling: ?; Camera Obscura (October); three-point turns on busy two-way streets; The Walkmen; of all the Scotch tape-less places; moving?

1. Out my window - street level (west)

2. Out my window - southwest

3. Mainz - after I spent two mapless hours looking for it, it's closed on Mondays

4. Out my window - the Castle at night

5. Out my window - the music building has racing stripes

6. Snakes on Chris/Erin's wall

7. Kyle on a plane

Montreal in a few words and some pictures

2006-09-10T15:20:00.000+01:00

danse contact; serpents a bord; poutine; live yeast beer; unkept (the city as unshaven armpits – not necessarily bad. In fact, strangely attractive); braless; freer on the surface but every bit as scared and conservative and lonely - underneath; staying fashionable; couche-tard; smoked meat; a new tastiest meal (squash, potato, and carrot in yellow curry replaces the pumpkin soup and green tea ice cream that I had ten years ago in Japan)