Friday, July 31, 2009: Into Harold
The flight to NYC was at 8:00 am so the Wyndham Massive headed out at around 6:30 am. I saw the off then was all alone. I had to see Dr. Zak at 10:30 am so I had some tea and a swim before walking over to his office. Afterwards I went to grocery shopping and bought some food for the weekend. Then I caught the bus back over to Wyndham Manor.
It was a lovely day so I swam some more, ate lunch then hung out by the pool until the afternoon. As tonight was Harold practice I got my gear together and headed over to the GO Station and caught the 5:30 pm train to the City. I got to Harold Station and then walked on to Chez Jeff. There was some showers in the afternoon but over all it was nice.
Much playing and many breaks later I caught the 11:30 pm GO back out to the Wyndham Zone. I regretted taking the later train as it was full of drunken morons. I got a taxi back to Wyndham and took a midnight swim which was much colder than I had anticipated. This resulted in a shorter swim that I'd originally intended.
Morning clouds
Afternoon pool
Afternoon showers
Arriving at Harold Station
A rare photo of Harold Station during the day
Thursday, July 30, 2009: One Year Later
The Wyndham Massive is off to NYC for a special event so I will be house sitting the Manor and the ghosts for a few days. I took the GO Train out this afternoon and Jayne picked me up from the station. It was Paul's Birthday so we went back to Wyndham and had a dinner by the pool. The McW's were also over and stayed for the dinner and ice cream cake. The weather was very cooperative today.
Today also marks my being back in Canada for one year. It feels like it has been a lot longer though.
Beside the pool
Also beside the pool
The pool
Wednesday, July 29, 2009: The Mod
Today I began transfering old 4 track tapes onto lappy. I have borrowed Chris C's old Tascam 4 Track machine as mine is not functioning properly. As the Tascam has 4 direct outs I am importing each track as a seperate channel in to Reaper so that I can mix them accordingly. The oldest tape is from the summer of 1985 and features Jason Farrar on... clarinet!
I had some Thai food for lunch and later Chris C came by. Tonight Jason's band The Black Heath Hounds had their CD release gig at The Mod which is a hop skip and a jump from SsW and just across the street from "Sit in Bangkok". Chris and I walked down to that at around 8:00 pm and managed to get good seats for the show. I didnt get a chance to talk to Jason unfortunately.
Afterwards Chris and I went to the Dip and had a pizza. It was a nice night out and in a way being out with Chris that late felt sort of like 1988.
A view of the stage from the pathway to the men's room
Our view with red lights
Our view with blue lights
Double Chris
Ghost Chris
Tuesday, July 28, 2009: Meeting Clayton
I caught the 12:30 train back into the City today. I did some laundry and some mixing when I got back to SsW.
This evening I met up with my old friend Clayton Hill who is in town for a few days with the band Triumph, who he's currently drumming for. I went to high school with Clayton in Campbell River and he was one of my better friends in BC when I was there. I haven't seen him in many many years.
We met up around College and Clinton then walked down to my favorite Thai restaurant "Sit in Bangkok" for some food and chat. I was a great evening and although there was a great deal of catching up to do, in some ways it was like we had just seen each other last week.
We hung out until around 8:30 pm then he had to head back to his hotel. I went back to SsW.
Afternoon sky
Monday, July 27, 2009: Extended Stay
I have stayed an additional day at Wyndham. The day included some watching of TV including the all important Shopping Channel. Jayne's friend Connie was modeling on it and much to our amusement the item she was modeling for was some kind of 'tan' application device that's technology had been stolen from those spongey shoe shine things.
There was some games of "Life" as well and later in the afternoon I went with Jayne and Sweet William to Dr. Zak's then picked up some groceries. Dinner was had, followed by "Raiders of the Lost Arc" on DVD.
Evening sky
Sunday, July 26, 2009: Knox Rains
I woke up early and got myself together for Knox. As it is summer season there isn't any choir and there is only one service in the morning. As the service is at 9:30 am we went to for breakfast earlier than normal. Sweet William is just back from a week long Presby Youth Retreat so he and the other participants put on a little presentation about what happened. It was quite entertaining. There was some post service treats which were to be had outside except a big storm blew in and forced the fellowshipping back inside.
After service we went back to Wyndham for a small lunch then some napping occured. I played "Life" with Wee Fred and Sweet William. There were several games and several winners. We also watched some of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phinox" on DVD.
Dinner was had; tasty barbequed chicken and naan bread with salad. Then we finished watching the Harry Potter. I will go back to the City tomorrow.
Morning sky East
Morning sky West
Rains rolling in to Knox
More rains rolling in to Knox
The rain comes
The rain continues
The rain begins to pass
The Game of Life begins on the kitchen table
So many twists and turns! What's a badger to do?
Who's in the lead?
Saturday, July 25, 2009: Floods
I got up early and went up to the GFM for breakfast. It wasn't too busy. It was nice out during the walk over but by the time my breakfast was done it started to haze over. I got home around 11:00 am and packed my stuff to go out to Wyndham for the weekend.
Jayne drove in to the City and picked me up. This was fortunate for me as by 2:00 pm it was raining so hard there was much flooding throughout the City. We drove back out to Wyndham along the Lakeshore. It was extremely slow at points due to the water. Jayne noticed how awful the air smells now due to the garbage strike. It was nice to get back out the Wyndham and escape that stink.
We made a stop on the way in and I bought some new running shoes. My others that I got last summer are done. By the time we came out of the store the skies had cleared. We got back to Wyndham Manor and I dumped all my stuff in the Ghost Suite. I brought my Harold gear with me as I will be house sitting next weekend and it was easier to bring it now than on the GO Train.
Jayne and I made dinner and afterwards we took Sweet William and Wee Fred (not so wee now) to a very tasty ice cream parlour in town. We got our ice creams then took a stroll down on the lakeshore.
Lakeshore view South West
Another look South West
Looking North East
Friday, July 24, 2009: Harold Rain
I went up to GFM for breakfast this morning. The rains came around noon and it rained pretty hard for a while then cleared. My foot continues to be bad. At times it is almost unbearable. No running for a few more weeks I fear.
I met up with Bobo in the afternoon. I got home around 5:30 pm which just gave me enough time to sort my gear out before meeting the Mattmobile at 6:30 pm. There was a huge downpour at around 6:00 pm but it had finished by the time I was on my way to meet him. We picked up Phil then went over to Jeff's.
Practice was pretty good tonight. We've confirmed The Peace Theatre for a Aug 22nd show. I'm not sure if we're just going to wing it or actually play one of our sets. We went until about 10:45 or so. Phil and I got rides back to our areas with Matt.
The Xio and Kaoss
My ever expanding footprint of gear and cables
Phil's return to simplicity
Jeff's kit
Magic Eightball?
The street
The other way
There's a light
Thursday, July 23, 2009: Rain
I slept poorly last night. It rained all morning. The weather as of late has been cold and awful. I am not a fan of it. I got up to GFM at around 1:30 pm when the weather backed off. I had breakfast then met up with Bobo. We headed down to Bloor afterwards.
This evening I had dinner at "Sit in Bangkok" which was excellent as always. Afterwards I headed back to SsW and practiced guitar while watching Voyager. Later I did some recording.
Cat nap
Silly nonsense
Tea at Sit in Bangkok
Sunday, July 19, 2009: Chicken Cashew Nut
I had breakfast at "Sit in Bangkok" today. All that was missing was the ability to walk over to the Paragon. Oh well. I had chicken cashew nut and rice which was outstanding. That dish always reminds me of 2002 at the Evergreen after leaving Samui.
I managed to get the 4 channel rca plug to USB thing working with Reaper so I can back up my old Porta One 4 track tapes. Unfortunately my machine is messed up so I'll have to borrow Chris' at some point.
Some sky
Some more sky
Even more sky
Saturday, July 18, 2009: Stinky Saturday
I had breakfast at GFM this morning at around 10:30 am. It was rather busy. Afterwards I walked over to Long & McQuade and paid a bill. The walk over was nice except for passing by Christie Pits which is now the temporary dumping site due to the garbage strike. After all the fuss about seperating the various types of garbage into different containers here is all the garbage dumped in a hockey rink in a public park. The smell is awful. It is fortunate that it has been an unsually cool summer.
After going to L&M and poking about I walked back to SsW. Nathan was over so I ended up playing a five hour game of Axes & Allies with him and his Dad. Stephen smoked us even though we out numbered him.
GFM
My GFM view
Closed due to garbage
Closer closed
Stinky rink
The smell is awful
Afternoon sky
Friday, July 17, 2009: Ghost in the Harold
Didn't feel so great yesterday. I ended up staying in during the evening instead of going out to The Orbit Room.
Last night I had more weird dreams. This time I was in a house and was being followed around by a bear. I kept trying to keep it out by closing doors behind me but there were two little dogs that kept opening the doors and letting it in. Bizarre. I also had a dream about landing on the Moon.
This morning I went up to GFM for breakfast. I was there for a few hours before returning to SsW.
I had some food at around 5:00 pm then got my gear ready for Harold. I met the Mattmobile at 6:45 pm and we went on to pick up Phil before going to Jeff's. We arrived and went through the usual greetings and eatings and I set my expanded rig up, which now includes the Kraftwerg and the EH Stereo Memory Man. Phil's Enigma Box has gone back to just two pedals. I have switched from the small mixer to the 10 channel Edirol which has more channels and a smaller foot print.
There were plenty of ghosts in the machines tonight. The first wasn't so much a ghost as just a mistake on my part. After I had set up all my contraptions and tested them to make sure they worked I went and joined the Badgers on the back porch for a coffee. When we came back in my mixer no longer seemed willing to send a signal forward to Jeff's main mixer. Why? How could this be? Frustration and upset! The light was on... Then I discovered I had not plugged the thing in and it was running on what was left of the batteries I had put in for the June 23rd show. D'oh!
Phil's Enigma Box pedal board was visited by what sounded like the souls of a thousand angry crickets. The chirping began and grew to the point were it outlasted the song we were playing then continued on dispite Phil's efforts to switch it off. At first I thought I was responsible for the noise (as did the others I'm sure) but I stopped playing, turned off my channels and it continued. Eventually Phil exorcised the crickets by rebooting the Enigma Board by switching the power off.
Later on Jeff also had a ghostly visit that robbed him of all sound. He also had to perform a reboot by switching off the laptop that he has Battery loaded onto. I had some MFB Kraftwerg bugs and power issues but over all it was a productive night. At least the ghosts don't steal our food. Unlike the raccoons.
A view of the Kraftwerg with my rig
Another view
Wednesday, July 15, 2009: Weird Dreams
Weird dreams. In the dream I was out walking at night. I started to run, then lifted off and flew. I went by a window of a building and saw this fellow inside playing a GR 700.
Last night Chris C came by and we went over to "Sit in Bangkok" for some excellent Thai food. Afterwards we watched some DVDs of King Crimson live, and eventually watched the DVD that Jeff made me of an old Applicators gig from 1996.
Today was some what quiet. I did some running about and later did some recording.
I am not feeling 100%.
Sunlight before supper
Ivy has almost overgrown my window
It makes strange shadows
Tuesday, July 14, 2009: The Hot Season
My new video. Much thanks to Jeff for the assistance in the final rendering.
Sunday, July 12, 2009: Zombies & Sushi
The temperature dropped down to 11 degrees C or so last night. I woke up this morning at 7:00 am. I went up to the GFM for breakfast at around 9:30 am and hung out there for a bit.
This afternoon Nathan and Em came over so I joined Stephen and them in a Sunday afternoon board game. This week it was "Zombies" which was actually a great game. The objective is to be the first to the helicopter pad. After Em won we went down to College and got some Sushi. Chris called as he and Richard F were going to the prog-jam but I wasn't feeling up for a late night so I didn't go.
Afternoon clouds
More clouds
Saturday, July 11, 2009: Car Race Noise
I had a rather awful sleep last night. I would wake up ever hour or so. This sort of thing can be exausting in itself. I was up but felt rubbish so I didn't actually go out until the afternoon. I went up to the GFM and got some food then headed down to Bloor and searched for a new note book. I headed back down to College and did some shopping then went back to SsW.
There is some sort of car race going on down by the lake so the noise from that has drifted north to us. I recorded the sound for future sampling or sonic manipulation. I was still feeling sort of awful so I lay down for about an hour.
This evening I went to Sit in Bangkok for some tasty Thai food. Afterwards I headed back to SsW and did some recording. No Knox tomorrow.
Clouds rolling in
Recording the cars
Recording the cars some more
Friday, July 10, 2009: What Day Was This?
I had another rough night last night. Yesterday I was also feeling quite under the weather. I have been so off this week that it wasn't until I got a message from Phil saying "see you tonight" that I realized that it was already Friday.
I had to go down town and take care of some stuff with Bobo so I did that. Afterwards he drove me back up to mine and I made some dinner for myself. Then I packed my gear up and met Matt at the designated spot. He got me at 7:00 pm then we picked up Phil and were on our way.
Once at Jeff's we off loaded the gear and managed to catch the ice cream truck. I returned to setting up, which is a tricky thing when one is eating an icecream cone. I brought the MFB Kraftwerg but didn't set it up until later in the evening. It works really well in conjuction with the Xiosynth. I can do nice shimmery patches on the Xio then beef them up with the Kraftwerg. I also brought the Electro Harmonix Stereo Memory Man along and used that as the delay for the Kraftwerg. It sounded great.
Phil has brought back the Zoom G1 pedal to his rig. After several months of him telling us how he only required the two pedals in his Enigma Machine pedal board backgameon box (a Digitech multi-stomp of some sort and the Boss DD-20) adding a third pedal resulted not only in more fantasical sounds, it gave the other badgers plenty of opertunity to rib him about the new condo development. Such teasing is the badger way.
We went rather late this time (due no doubt to the additional pedals) around but the Mattmobile safely deposited both Phil and I back in our respective zones.
Waiting for the Mattmobile
Strange new devices sprout from Phil's simpler pedal board
The G1 this week... what will follow?
A rare focused photo of Jeff smiling and more pedals for moi
Part of Phil and me
Matt and the green mug
Matt and my crazy fingers
Breaktime sky
Someone's in the kitchen
The MFB Kraftwerg joins the fray
Tuesday, July 7, 2009: Shopping
I got up early today and went up to the GFM for breakfast. It was nice out earlier in the morning but by noon it had clouded over with all sorts of crazy clouds. I met up with Bobo. Later on we went over to Loblaws as he needed cat food and kitty litter and I needed just about everything.
I made some dinner when I got home then lay down for a bit as I was feeling off. I watched Voyager later on and practiced guitar. This evening I did some more recording.
State of the roads
While the city workers are on strike...
Clouds
Clouds and things
Clouds and Loblaws
Monday, July 6, 2009: Transformers Risk
Nathan and Em came over to SsW yesterday afternoon and hung out. We watched some Clone High and Venture Brothers then Stephen joined us in a game of "Life" which was pretty funny. I remember the game from the TV ads growing up but had never played it before. Afterwards we went for dinner at the place across from the Dip.
This morning I went up to the GFM for breakfast and hung out there for abit before coming back to SsW. I was feeling a little off so I crashed for an hour or so. Stephen had today off since he had worked on Canada Day. Nathan came by this afternoon to do laundry so he, Stephen and I played "Risk" the Transformer version, which had a different map and slightly different rules.
This evening I did some recording after reorganizing all my gear in my room. Things have been in a shambles since the Ambient Ping gig.
Recording
The Eletro Harmonix Stereo Memory Man and the Copilot FX Android Modulator
Saturday, July 4, 2009: Barbeque Daredevils
I went to Sit In Bangkok for lunch today. I find that the food sits with me better though the day than farang food does. Also I continue to be homesick. Anyways I ate up and had a tea then just hung out there for a bit. Afterwards I wandered back to SsW.
This afternoon I was invited to a barbeque up at James' so I headed up there and enjoyed some tasty food. Maury and his crew were about as were many friends of James'. It was a good visit and the food was outstanding.
At around 8:00 pm I walked down to the Subway and headed out to Pape then took the bus down Carlaw to Queen (which was bizarre given the my history in that area). I walked over to the Duke of York and saw my cousin Brian play with his band "The Radio Daredevils". They do a 60's pop show and cover all the classics. It was quite good. I could only stay for the first two sets before it was time to roll on home.
Baseball at the Christie Pits
What's that all piled up in the hockey rink?
It's the garbage from the garbage strike!
Brian and the Radio Daredevils
Friday, July 3, 2009: Birthday Bash
I am still unable to run due to ankle/foot problems. Very annoying.
I went up to the GFM for breakfast. The sky was all thunderheads and threatening of rain but it never really came. It sort of showered briefly but it wasn't a proper rain.
There was no Harold tonight. Instead I went over to Matt and Sarah's for Sarah's Birthday Party. I had to take the TTC over to Keele to catch the bus to their place. I haven't been to that station in well over ten years. And amazingly nearly twenty years ago I lived in that area. It was sort of bizarre to go back.
I caught the bus up to the area and found Matt and Sarah's. The Harold badgers were all gathered in the backyard and there were additional folk inside including Sarah, Sharon and Catherine. I hung inside for a bit but eventually hung out with Jeff and Phil and sometimes Matt outside. It was basically a Harold rehearsal without the bother of playing music. Later in the evening both a cake and pie were served. We stayed until about 1:00 am then I caught a ride East and then South with Sharon, Jeff, Catherine and Phil.
Morning Thunderheads
Evening sky and trees
Evening clouds
Evening lane and cloud
Matt and Phil smoke
Photo ghost of Jeff
Lights, chairs and candles
Cake and pie
Thursday, July 2, 2009: Big Chill
Brutal sleep last night. The weather also sucks. Cold, grey, and threatening rain. Blah. Where's the nice hot hot hot everyone except me usually bitches about this time of year?
Bobo and I ran about today. He dumped me off at SsW around 5:00 pm. I made myself some dinner then recorded for a bit. I watched Voyager and practiced guitar. Afterwards I was all ready to pack it in but Bobo showed up with his crew in the Bobomobile and we all walked over to the Big Chill for some tasty ice cream in home made waffle cones. Kelly treated, and both Treasure Kat and Ratboy tagged along.
We strolled about the area and ate our ice creams then headed back up towards SsW. They all headed off in the Bobomobile and I retired for the evening.
The Big Chill Ice Cream Parlor
Wednesday, July 1, 2009: Canada Day
This was the first Canada Day I've had in Canada since 1999. Which perhaps explains why I'd forgot it was a holiday today. I headed up to the GFM and remembered it was a holiday when I saw some guy trying in vain to get into a closed bank. When I got to the GFM the place was absolutely packed. I had breakfast and then headed back to SsW.
I felt rather home sick today so I went down to Sit in Bangkok for some Thai food. I sat, read and ate then had some tea. I hung out there for a bit then walked back to SsW. I really could have used a swim tonight.
Homesick for the SOL. Who'd have thought!? Sometimes I feel as far away from here as I did when I was in Bangkok. Perhaps there is no coming home.
Tea
