January 30, 2004 HOME!!!
I made it. It took me 40 minutes to drag my luggage through the foot of snow to my waiting cab (it couldn't make it up the hill to the house), and I was sore for a day after (damn textbooks), and I had to wait for almost an hour to get a cab to drive me to the bus depot in Prince George, and I thought I forgot my housekeys in Rupert (luckily I was wrong), but I made it! I left at 7:30am on Wednesday and got back yesterday at noon.
I went to write my exams this morning. I arrived to find that they weren't on the computer as being booked, but the kind lady printed off a copy of my Eastern Philosophy final for me and let me write. Write I did. Three hours and eight pages later, I was done. Then the exam lady came in and told me that the reason she didn't have my name in her computer was because my exams were actually booked for tomorrow. Oops. She offered to let me write my second final (music history), but I opted to let my writer's cramp have time to heal...
It healed well enough over a couple of glasses of Pronto's finest red. Now I'm getting pumped to hit the exam room again tomorrow at 1pm. I actually really like exams -- it's the one time where there's no possible way I can distract myself from my work, so I really get into it and generally find it quite enjoyable. I think I did well. Just one more and two more essays that I managed to put off a couple more days...
Yay!
Frozen Nipples 2
Okay, Rachelle, at least you can freeze your nipples. I'm still stuck at home just looking out the window wondering what it's like to be outside. Then I think to myself, nah, I don't want to go out there.
This is aweful weather, I want to be back in Moab where it is plus 40, now we are talkin. Well I am going to watch Terminater 3 now on my projector, so you all take care. Have a good day and stay warm.
Kim
January 29, 2004 Frozen Nipples
Everything is frozen. It is very hard to type. I feel as though the people who live here should be getting extra benefits like they do in the Arctic. This is nuts! I walked home last night from a hair raising game of X-Box Hockey with Kim, and my face turned to ice! Where is our agent? I want a tour scheduled to California right now!
I play tonight at The Druid on Jasper Ave. and 116 st. for all of you Edmontonians. I am doing a song writing show with Chris Wynters of Captain Tractor. We will be indulging in big pints of Guiness I suppose and talking about the old days when winters weren't so cold. When we could walk to school with only a thing and some sunglasses. Ahh, times, they are a changin'.
Metallica is sold out. Anybody have a free ticket?
January 29, 2004
Well, now that I can get up and do things for myself, I figured it's time to check in. I had surgery beginning of January. Yes three tumors. Very exciting and scary at the same time. It's going to be a little while before I can hit those drums again. I plan on starting to get back into shape around March. Our CD single should be coming out soon and I can't wait to record our next album. It's really tough not being able to play. Just a small thank you to all you fans that keep looking at the Website, and talking to us. Sorry about the lack of touring right now. But very soon we are going to get back on track. I think we are going to have a great summer of touring and looking forward to meeting some new faces as well as seeing some old faces that we haven't seen in a long time.
I am going to go and rest now. Till next time. Bye
Kim Gryba
January 27, 2004 The Chuck
It is now -48 with the windchill! I walked a little ways yesterday after my gig, and my elbows froze. I think that there wasn't enough down feathers in the elbow parts. I will check that from now on.
The Druid was really fun. I played a 40 minute solo set after Chris Wynters from Captain Tractor. Because of the cold temperatures I couldn't risk walking outside with my guitar so i ended up using his. Ouch! He had on super big strings and my fingers were only used to small gauge. I ended up bleeding all over his nice, wooden face. It was purely rock n' roll. Strangley enough, the crowd was super sweet and they actually cared more about the music than about the beer. I played my new Ronnie James Dio riff and the guys beside me asked for some Black Sabbath. So that's my goal for Thursday. On this day, I am playing a songwriter circle at the same place with Chris at 9 pm. It should be good so tell your friends.
January 28, 2004
I'm coming home. Just a twelve-hour train, three hour layover and twelve-hour bus ride away. It's been snowing all day. I tried to go out for a latte, but when the car started sliding sideways down the hill that I needed to get up, I decided it would be a stay at home and drink tea day instead. I called for a taxi for tomorrow morning and the dispatcher told me that I may have to walk a couple blocks to catch it. I guess even their 4x4 is getting stuck. Cool. Too bad I didn't bring my snowboard, I could just walk up to the top of my street and enjoy fresh powder all the way down.
January 25, 2004 EDMONCHUCK
Brrrrrrr. The heater in my house is broken and it is -25 degrees celcius outside! I will be sleeping in my -15 sleeping bag tonight.
I really miss playing rock n' roll. I think I have never been happier than when I am on stage playing to a full room or field of music loving people. i think my favorite outdoor gig this summer was opening for "Blue Rodeo" in Comox Valley. There were 5000 people in the audience and a lot of them knew words to our songs. This was because we had played the Music Fest the year before. Greg Keelor and the rest of Blue Rodeo were right behind us, grooving to the music. I have never experienced a rush like that. Not even from mountain biking. I can't wait until we do that for the whole year. Until then I shall work my ass off. Now back to the biography of Alison Hargreaves. She soloed Everest without support and supplimentary oxygen. She also soloed the 6 major peaks of the Alps as well as hundreds of other imortant routes. I am leaving for a mountain trip in Jasper in three weeks. I need all the inspiration I can get. One of my biggest inspirations is our drummer, Kim Gryba.
January 25th, 2004
It's going to be a beautiful day in Prince Rupert. The clouds have broken and the blue sky is starting to peek out -- I think the sun may have a chance today. Thank you.
January 22/23 2004
I just erased my whole entry by accident. Lucky I'm used to starting anew...
I wish I could go see Daisy's performance at C'est What? -- she's doing my favourite song. I think it's Rachelle's favourite too. Oh, guess what Rachelle -- my cd skips on that track too now, so I guess you won't be borrowing it...
I'm taking a quick break from my essay writing to do some recreational diary writing. I've been listening to Jeff Buckley as I write on Hispanic immigration in the U.S. It's great -- I've developed a new passion for the plight immigrants thanks to mixing intense music with essay writing.
When "Lover, You Should've Come Over" came on as I wrote, I took a T.O. and listened. Then I listened again. Then I turned off the lamp, folded my computer and listened again. My favourite part is when he sings "It's never over, she's a tear that hangs inside my soul forever." [sigh...]
Listening to him is great for putting my life in perspective, for remembering what's real, what's important... what burns me in a good way. Well -- not always in a good way... it reminds me of times I have been deeply moved, of times I've felt wonderful, or horribly broken. In other words, it does exactly what a great piece of music was meant to do.
Back to it "It's never over..."
yea.
January 21, 2004
It was raining while I skate skiied around Gold Bar Park. I think the temperature was at -10 degrees celsius but the rain was constantly coming down. It made long icicles form all over my jacket and the trees. I love Canada!
Daisy is off to Toronto to perform at C'est What for the Jeff Buckley Tribute. That will be a very spiritual experience. Anyone who has not yet heard Jeff Buckley's stuff, check out his "Grace" album. It has moved all of our band to tears at some point in time. His dynamic voice and poetic guitar make each song a detailed story. I am exhausted after listening to that recording.
Well, I must go and hit the hay so that tomorrow won't be such a blur. tschuss.
January 20, 2004
Hello Cleveland.
Carolyn, I am glad you are getting all of your schoolwork done. When you get back to Edmonchuck I will take you out for a night on the town. I forgot to tell you about my winery tour. It was the San Sebastian Winery in St. Augustine. I learned about making Port in a wooden barrell that has been previously soaked in whiskey for 15 years! It is a complicated process but the end result is unbelievably tasty. We have to tour Itay!
Today was a wet, chilly one. I have been listening to a number of albums, trying to pick out some favorable guitar tones. Ritchie Blackmore has a really vintage, tubey tone on his Rainbow album. the slide guitar is killer. Big Sugar, 500 lbs. is another great tone album. I think it was recorded live off the floor so it has that raw feel. Painting Daisies is currently scheduled to record their next album in April. I am excited to play with some gear to get the perfect sound. Another killer record that everyone should have is ACDC "Powerage". The riffs are killer and the whole album is a good lesson in "less means more". I find myself going back to the classic stuff over and over again rather than dip into the modern music.
January 20, 2004
Ok... only four more essays to go (out of 10).
I miss the caffine boosts from my favourite Edmonton cafe.
The espresso here isn't so great, and it's not as fun listening to the locals swap hunting stories as it was listening to the old men yell at each other as they played cards.
Luckily, the herons, bald eagles, cedar trees and deer make up for the crappy coffee. The people too... at first I thought they weren't as nice as Edmontonians, but I was wrong. I've run into a few of my students around town, and they are positive and friendly. The ladies at my neighbourhood grocery talk my ear off in heavy accents, Karen and Mark next door have invited me over for dinner, school kids strike up friendly conversations and tell me about their pets when I'm out walking dogs... pretty nice.
Too bad I have to spend so much time holed up in my basement infront of a computer.
Back to it...
January 18, 2004 Orlando, Florida
So I got sucked into this vacation via the internet. This company called
"Vacation Station" promises you a 3 night/5 DAY (emphasis on the day part even
though you have to check out by 11 am on the last day) stay at a resort in
Orlando and then a 2 night/ 3 DAY stay in Daytona Beach. When you get there, you
actually stay at $40/ night hotels but get to use the resorts amenities. I was
suckered into it in a moment of weakness and had to pay the price financially
and mentally in the end. "Please have your credit card ready..."
The coolest part about the trip was not this sucker's paradise, but the Atlantic
coast where I rented a car and broke free from the credit card chains of Disney
and Universal. Once happily camping on the beach, I say dolphins, Right whales,
blue fish, and various bird species. I drove north to St. Augustine, which is
the oldest settlement in North America. It was inhabited by the Tomokwa (sp?)
Indians and then discovered by Ponce De Leon of Spain. The Indians were over 7
feet tall and the little spanish were only 4 feet something. The city itself was
beautiful with a winery, a battle post, a castle like look out, and many shops.
My final destiny was Cape Canaveral. Wow, the Apollo/Saturn V is HUGE! I did a
tour of the area, checking out the launching pads, the various rockets used
throughout the last 40 years, the construction zone, and the Kennedy Space
Science Centre. Very overwhelming and I highly recommend it. Unlike Disney, it
is quite affordable ($29 /person).
So, now I am home and am loving our cold weather. i missed my guitars SO MUCH
and my amp and my bed. Time to get back to where I once belonged.
January 18 2004
I always try to live life to the fullest. I feel like the time I have now is a gift -- that it is borrowed time that never should have been mine -- so I shall make sure to use it to rejoice wherever and wherever I can.
To rejoice, to experience, to make sure to love always and not spend it on bullshit. I try to understand, to appreciate all the diverse and wonderful people I meet. I try to love myself so that I'll be able to share love with everyone else, because I find that you can't really give of yourself if you spend your time focused on everyone else. Distractions from what is important will cause a person to loose grounding, to neglect to feel awe for all that is here, natural and not, for all that we've built and for the destruction we've wrought.
Sometimes my thoughts rhyme. The words come and I let them go. I think that's how I feel the flow of life, 'cause it's something I know will bring some relief when life stops me up. It's something that I can use as a crutch... and it's wonderful to know that it's to hold only me, I don't have to let other people's judgment put a stop to my free-dom. The words are not mine, but are mine to use, as a pen is a tool that fulfills it's use, as a man or a women is a tool for destiny to reveal it's desires in our most basic needs -- in expression of the self -- it's something I've felt since such a young age, but I was afraid... I was afraid to follow the dreams I had, for they seemed so selfish and selfish meant bad. Now I see, though, that it's being true to yourself, following those deep aspirations I felt. It is sharing all that you have to share, its knowing your life's function, being aware.
Will it be realized, my dream of dreams, my desire to feel raw emotion, my desire to feel free. It's the self that holds, it 's the self that harms, it's the self that heals and the self that lets go... Yea, I know... but can the self get these frekin' courses done?
'till next time
January 16 2003
I did find my ideal playmate. I went for a great walk with Bear -- well, great until we caused another dog to get hit by a car. Bear was a sweet, well-behaved puppy. He attracted a lot of attention from other dogs, for some reason more than usual. Our walk in the pouring rain went without incident -- lots of stopping to get pets from school kids. Just a block outside of the SPCA on the way back, a huge unleashed orange dog spotted Bear and became intensely interested. He stood in the centre of a lane of traffic, literally stopping cars as he stared us down. He started walking up towards us on the opposite side of the road. Just as a car was passing, he suddenly leap out. The car hit him. He ran away, so he wasn't hurt too badly. The dirver of the car that hit him and I searched for him to no avail.
What would have happened if he wasn't hit by the car? Would I have been carrying a mauled Bear to the SPCA?
Yesterday I ran by myself. I've decided that I'm going to be my own playmate for a while...
Ms. Last Minute does it yet again...
Yes, yes, ya'll: it's off to Toronto to participate in "For the Love of Buckley" tribute at C'est What? I just got word of it 2 days ago - I'm going, I've made it happen, thank you Westjet. This means I have been attending every open stage in Edmonton to practice "Hallelujah and Lover You Should Have Come Over" - i'm doing a medley and the challenge is to get these 2 songs to mesh. There are some funky-ass chords too. C#m7dim5 is alright but the F#dim is a challenge because it occurs after c9 and Em - I'll have to move my capo twice in the song as well. Too awesome. If any of you are in the area, come down to check it out as it runs for 3 nights. I'll bring a camera and post some pics.
January 13 2004
"I'll never love Blue-Eyes Again"
Me again...
I don't know about this dog-walking thing. There doesn't seem to be much walking involved...
Last week I feel in love with a Husky cross named Umbro. All weekend I dreamed of how much fun we'd have running by the ocean. When the SPCA reopened today, I went to find my dream puppy.
He was gone.
It's probably for the best -- I was already devising methods of bringing him home with me (quite a task, especially as I live on the 27th floor of a no-pets-allowed apartment building).
I spotted another dog in cell 4 that looked like he'd be nice enough. I went to grab a leash and collar, but he had gone out to the yard when I returned.
I settled on Blue-Eyes, a hyperactive bitch from CB9.
She was jumping up on the gate, and it was a challenge to get in without letting her out. I eventually did it, but once inside decided that I really didn't want to deal with a crazy jumpy dog. Unfortunately, the prospects of getting out of the cage without her escaping were slim. I had no choice. "Besides," I thought, "she obviously needs to burn off some energy..."
As I led her past the front desk, one of the staff commented "Oh, Blue Eyes is getting another walk -- she was just out. Don't let her pull."
Don't let her pull. I had to hold that 45lb dog's leash with both hands... even running at a full sprint she pulled so hard that she was choking herself -- gasping for air the whole time. The only time she stopped pulling was when, for some reason, she decided to start jumping instead. First she jumped against the rock walls lining the sidewalk, then, looking at me with crazed eyes that bespoke the twisted thoughts of an obviously oxygen-starved doggie brain, she started jumping at me. Weird. She'd look at me, assess that I really, despite holding the leash, had no control over the situation, and then jump up and thrust her springloaded doggie body against mine.
After a few jumps, she (thankfully) returned to the pulling/gasping for air routine. At least I could find some metaphorical parallels between common situations of human existance and the futile, utterly self-detrimental pulling thing.
Patience brings the perfect playmate, I hope. I'll try again tomorrow.
January 11 2004
Hey, I forgot to mention... anyone from the workshop that has questions (or anyone else for that matter), post them on our message board and I'll answer them as soon as I can.
January 10 2004
I just got back from my performance workshop. I was planning on talking to the students for a while and then heading home (especially since I seem to be quite sick), but ended up staying all night to listen to them sing, and put in my two bits about their performances. It was pretty fun and a lot of the girls had great voices. They were all pretty nervous, especially since, as one girl put it, "someone famous is watching". I'm famous? Cool -- as long as I am still allowed to be nice...
And on a completely different subject... I'm glad to have found some playmates at the SPCA. I didn't get to walk a dog today 'cause I was in bed, but yesterday I had the pleasure of taking out Beau, a massive Rotty-Shepherd cross. I couldn't resist his puppydog eyes -- they convinced me to get over my fear of big dogs (does anyone remember the butt-biting incident in Abbotsford?) and give him some freedom. Freedom he took.
After the walk was over, I filled in a little report sheet: "time out", "time in", "how did he/she behave?".
Unfortunately, I had to write Beau up as a forcefully determined poo sniffer...
I don't hold it against him -- who am I to judge him for his choice of leisure activity?
January 8, 2004
Life lesson no. 2: Beware the Sake
Today was not a very productive day. I went out for lunch, and despite my best intentions indulged in the Sake. Two and a half hours later I pulled myself out of the restaurant, went home, wrote an impassioned conclusion to my still unfinished essay (at least it has a conclusion...), resisted the urge to make some similarly impassioned phone calls (never a good idea), and fell asleep on the couch.
Tomorrow... I'm staying home. Well, almost. I'm volunteering to walk dogs at the SPCA, so I'll do that then stay home. Unless I need to go out. Like for... um... groceries? Why is avoiding homework so easy, and why is getting down and doing it so hard?
January 7 2004
Ok -- Kimmy is doing well. I don't want to say what happened 'cause that's her business and I'm not sure that she'd want to share with everyone, but I just want to let everyone know she's going to be okay.
Rachelle has taken a vacation, Daisy will soon be following suit. Sounds like a good time to escape Edmonton -- apparently the temperature was down to -38 with windchill. Funny -- I almost wish I was there to feel it. I like winter. My childhood was all about -40, so I guess the cold temperatures bring back good memories.
I'm having a good time on the coast. I've been walking and running in the wet snow (nice & cushiony), studying, and enjoying the space. I treated myself to a lunch out today -- sushi. It was great, soon degenerating into a sake fueled philosophical discussion with the table next to me. Finally putting that education to work!
I'm going to be speaking at a performance workshop up here. My neighbors are musicians, and asked if I'd be up to it when I went over to say "hello". I think it will be fun, and a nice break from studying.
Bye for now...
Life Lesson with Carolyn
Life lesson no. 1: Beware of the shellfish
uuuuuuugggggggghhhhhhhhhh..........
Was it my rock 'n roll "living on the edge" mentality that made me do it?
I bought some oysters at Safeway and ate them raw.
uuuuuuggggggghhhhhh.......
How I pay for my errors!
Crawling back to bed now...
January 3, 2004
I wonder where my bandmates are...
I'm running out of material here...
Now that people can comment on these entries, I feel a little more self-conscious. I'll get over it.
There's not much to report in the world of PD, so I'm forced to pull you a bit into my personal world (although not to the extent of accepting offers for dates from our fans -- sorry!).
I'm learning some music history, giving some time to understand where the roots of what I do (and by extension who I am) lay. My background is obviously very different than the artists I'm learning about, such as Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. I have options other than being a musician for my life. Many options. Still, like those I read about, I wish to give myself to performance. I wrote previously about how I feel more at home on a stage than anywhere else... perhaps that is partially due to my not investing time in making a home elsewhere... but when you perform you have a home no matter where you are. I like being on stage and opening myself, sharing my emotion... I can relate to my audience in that way. It is more difficult to communicate via playing than singing, but the music has its own way of getting emotion across. Even if there is no audience, I perform as a means of letting my soul out... make up the words and the tune and say what I feel inside but can't get out. It helps me understand my emotions... helps me sort through all those tangled feelings and cleanse myself. Guess it's appropriate that lots of these audience-free performances are done in the shower...
January 2, 2004
I'M FREE!!! I'M FREE!!!
I've escaped the world by temporarily relocating to the BC coast. Here I shall hole up, away from the many distractions I've formed for myself in Edmonton, and get down to some serious work.
Well, perhaps I don't quite feel FREE yet... but freedom does seem obtainable... freedom from some of the burdens that I let pile upon myself.
Soon, having relieved myself of auxiliary stresses, I will be able to go back and concentrate on the MUSIC. Ahhhh...