My Old Flame(s)

Flames 1 Canucks 2...1st period...Flames Power Play....

Let's call this the hodge-podge blog, like the potpourri category on Jeopardy (one day, one day....see below). First off, it's hockey season again, which of course, kicks ass. It kicks even more ass when your team is the Calgary Flames. There are no more excuses for the Flames. I'm sick of people saying that the Flames are a defensive team or they're nothing without Kippersoff or they have no goal scorers; well, have a look at your 2006/07 Calgary Flames ladies and gentlemen. On paper, they're ready for the Cup run.

Noam Chomsky once said:

"Sports is another crucial example of the indoctrination system . . . It offers people something to pay attention to that is of no importance . . . It keeps them from worrying about things that matter to their lives that they might have an idea of something about . . . People have the most exotic information and understanding about all sorts of arcane issues . . . It's a way of building up irrational attitudes of submission to authority, and group cohesion behind leadership elements, in fact its training in irrational jingoism . . . That's why energy is devoted to supporting them . . . and advertisers are willing to pay for them."

True. But Noam ain't Canadian. Hahaha.

First period's over...Canucks still leading 2 - 1....

In other sporting news. I'm injured. With 9 days till the marathon. Awesome. See the running blog for more details; I realize I've been neglecting it lately but I'll try to chronicle my journey over the next 9 days.

AND in other other sporting news, I bought some skates today with plans to play some drop in hockey at my local rink on Monday mornings. I played from age 5 in Calgary (you could be fined as a parent in Calgary if your son under 16 DIDN'T play hockey!!!) till high school. My brothers were both superstars in hockey and still light it up to this day in their leagues, but I was always more interested in music. I was pretty good and even grabbed a few best defenseman awards growing up, but after I broke my leg in grade 8, I couldn't seem to get back into the swing of things and music eventually took over as I got involved in the jazz band.
I have recently been feeling the bug to play again; probably the result of getting serious about running, working out, and health. My body is now capable of things I've always dreamed of. In fact, I'm an athlete. That felt weird. I've always been mildly athletic, but at 200 plus pounds and smoking a pack and a half a day, there is only so much the body is capable of. The active part of me is now rearing it's head. It really is an addiction and like most addictions, the body requires it's fix and will get it any way it knows. I also think that I've involved myself so much in individual sports (snowboarding, golf, running) that it would be nice to get involved in a team sport and get out in my community.

Second period...still 2 -1 Canucks...

Scratch that, 2 - 2 thanks to Andrei Zuyzin...

Playing hockey (along with being a contestant on Jeopardy) is "on the list". A lot of people talk about "a list" which I assume is a figure of speech of things that they want to do. About a year ago, I actually created a list. It has stupid and totally banal things that I've never done and it also has very serious life altering changes or goals that I want to achieve. My ex, Lauren encouraged me to do this and I didn't screw around with this list. I took it very seriously in the last year. It has really CHANGED MY LIFE. Here it is:

1
Have a lesson with Kurt Rosenwinkel

2
See a Great White Shark

3
Own a house in Vancouver

4
Win a Juno

5
Teach at a College/University
(In talking to my friends currently teaching at a university, I'm starting to rethink this one)

6
Play in NYC

7
Own a muscle car

8
Get a master's degree

9
Write a book

10
Go to Scotland

11
Go to Japan

12
Go to India

13
Go to Russia

14
Go on a road trip through the southern states

15
Go to Northern Canada
(Completed Dec 2 2006)

16
Own a Gibson L-5

17
Have kids

18
Get married

19
Record my CD
(Spring 2008)

20 Ride a horse

22
Write a hit song

23
Be debt free

24
Pay off Student Loan
2009

25
Pay off Lawyers
2010

26
Pay off car
2009

27
Learn how to fix an engine

28
Learn to fly-fish

29
Own a boat

30
Learn how to play crib

31
Be a contestant on Jeopardy

32
Be someone's phone a friend

33
Own a "real" piece of art

34
Start a rock band

36
Run a Marathon
Oct 8 2006

37
Run a half marathon
Completed

38
Do the Grouse Grind

39
Got to the Stanley Theater
Completed

40
Go to a gay bar

41
Read all the books in my collection as of Oct 10 2005

42
Break 170 Llbs
Completed

43
Break 160 Llbs
Completed

44
Get Abs
Completed

45
Play hockey (on ice)

46
Join a softball team

47
Organize a Soulstream vs Famous Players softball match

48
Break 80 in Golf

49
Hole in one

50
300 yard drive

51
Snowboard the Alps

52
Make 6 figures in one year

53
Open a teaching studio
Completed

54
Find out who killed JFK

55
Do an IQ test

56
Buy a laptop
Completed

57
Make a website
Completed

58
Visit the Grand Canyon

59
See the Vienna Opera House

60
Go to the Village Vanguard

61
Ride a gondola in Venice

62
Get a Tattoo

63
Write an instructional book
In Progress

64
Go to every starbucks in Vancouver
In Progress

65
Go to a Stanley Cup finals game

66
Go to the World Series

67
Go to Wimbledon

68
Go to the Masters

69
Learn another language

70
Own a vacation home

71
Get a GST number

72
Pay off my taxes
In Progress

73
Pay back my RRSPs
In Progress

74
Get my chipped tooth fixed

75
Get a season's pass to Cypress

76
Shoot a gun

77
Go to my niece and nephew's grad

78
Change the world
In Progress

79
Get a cat

80
Reconnect with high school friends
Completed

81
Learn how to make indian food

82
learn how to make sushi

83
Finish 10 Kurt Rosenwinkel transcriptions
In Progress

84
Play the Aria from the Goldberg Variations on the piano

85
Go to Cuba

86
Include Hal Crook and Chord work into practice schedule

87
Format transcriptions into the laptop
In Progress

88
Put FP tunes into laptop
In progress

89
Put SS tunes into laptop
In Progress

90
Put misc tunes into laptop

91
Go to a personal trainer

92
Get an STD test
Completed

93
Organize Philosophy
In Progress

94
Do Degree paperwork

95
Sing lead with a band
Completed

96
Quit Smoking
Completed

97
Backpack around Europe (Scandinavia)
Completed Aug 24 2006

98
Spend a month in mainland Europe

99
Live in NYC for 3 months

100
Write a big band chart

101
Tour my band and book
Fall 2008

102 Cross off at least 10 things a year from the list


So, big things like quitting smoking, having a website, and running a marathon have been huge milestones that I had no intention of being able to do a year ago. This list has really propelled my life and had nothing but positive impacts (I suppose going to every Starbucks in Vancouver isn't that great of an achievement, but as I mentioned, some are these are for pure fun).

3rd period....still 2 - 2

The Soulstream 9th anniversary was so much fun. The strings were so awesome. The place was packed both nights and we want to thank all of you who continue to support our crazy band week after week and year after year. Everyone played so well and there were a few extra special moments: the trumpet off between Vince Mai, Brad Turner, and (out of nowhere came) John Korsrud, Dave Say on his own riser and his battle with Karen Graves, Alvaro Rojas - the only person in the room to recognize Natural Science by Rush, and Russ Klyne and Kia Kadiri - playing and rapping faster than any human beings alive (they're truly a match made in shred heaven). Pictures of the anniversary can be found at clubzone.com on the home page for Vancouver clubs.

I'm gonna continue putting all these tunes into the laptop here and hopefully get closer to crossing that off the list. Friday nights are so much fun...

People People! We Got to Get Over, Before We Go Under

Things that sound good.

Don't drink Diet Pepsi. Smokers should pay more for health care. Don't buy SUV's. Eat organic. Knowing the name of the farmer who grew your vegetables will make them taste better. I don't listen to her cause she lipsyncs and doesn't write her own music. Buy nothing day. Capitalism is destyoing the world.

Hmmm...

Diet Pepsi. Has aspartame. That's bad, right??....is he really gonna defend aspartame? Well, I read a story recently that because diet pepsi is so hideously evil, a teacher crusaded for all of the aspertame related drinks pulled from the vending machine at a high school. The kids ended up drinking the non-aspertame drinks that had huge caloric content and the kids started to become obese. Haha.

"Two approved sugar substitutes, saccharin and aspartame, have been the subject of ongoing controversy that, in the case of saccharin, dates back more than 20 years.
Aspartame has come under fire in recent years from individuals who have used the Internet in an attempt to link the sweetener to brain tumors and other serious disorders. But FDA stands behind its original approval of aspartame, and subsequent evaluations have shown that the product is safe. A tiny segment of the population is sensitive to one of the sweetener's byproducts and should restrict intake. However, the agency continually monitors safety information on food ingredients such as aspartame and may take action to protect public health if it receives credible scientific evidence indicating a safety problem.
Other organizations give aspartame and the other approved sugar substitutes a thumbs up. For example, the American Heart Association endorses their use by diabetics and those on weight-loss diets. The American Diabetes Association calls sugar substitutes "free foods" because they make food taste sweet, but they have essentially no calories and do not raise blood sugar levels."

That's the FDA yo.

So either be fat or go against what the good doctors of the FDA and every other drug administration around the world say. I myself stay away from the pop altogether. Just thought it was another cause and effect thing that people get WAY too emotional about. F#cking drink diet pepsi people, it's fine.

Smokers should pay more for health care. Agreed. So should people who eat fatty foods. Heart disease is the number 2 killer. So my idea is a "fat tax" that goes on all fatty foods or if people eat meals higher than 1000 calories per sitting....that is IF we charge smokers more.

Don't drive SUV's. Oh my god, he isn't really is he??? Yup. What has more of a tax on the environment, a hummer or a toyota prius? If you said Prius you're right!!!! At this point anyways. Maybe in the future, we'll be able to manufacture hybrids and recycle them the same way we do with other cars (the hummer) that has less of a toll on the environment. I think we should all be on the bus, personally.

Eat organic. What's wrong with organic, Rob? It tastes better; I don't want any Franken-foods....what? Like corn? (one of the first franken-foods actually and a damn tasty one at that!!!). I don't want pesticides in my food Rob. What, even totally natural ones that are perfectly safe for you and because you don't want them it creates more wasted food and an ever increasing parasite problem for farmers so that it can be "certified organic"? Why did we invent pesticides in the first place, people? Now farmers throw away much of the yield because of infestation and charge my ass $5 for some bananas because of your elitist ass. Nice.

I saw this one on my starbucks cup (yes, my starbucks cup):

"I guarantee your fruits and vegetables will taste better when you know the farmer's name that grew them"

His name is Sandeep Bains. His family grows strawberries in a field off of 40th ave in Surrey. That did nothing for me and my strawberries. I'll take the Pepsi challenge with Sandeep's versus someone I don't know and I'm sure I wouldn't be able to tell.

She lipsyncs. Yeah that sucks, but the fact is that most bands have prerecorded tracks in concert. In fact, let's just say ALL OF THEM DO. Well, most anyway. Chances are you've seen your favorite band and they had pre roll tracks, but you probably didn't know. Most bands don't even play their own stuff in the studio. Hell, not even the Beatles did.

Buy nothing day. Let's say you get a cheque on the day before buy nothing day. You put it in the bank. Then you bought nothing the next day. Or did you? Well the fact is, I used your cheque when I took my loan out for my new car that day. The only true way buy nothing day could actually work is to have earn nothing day, but something tells me that wouldn't go over as well.

Capitalism is destroying the world. Hmm. Capitalism is not the problem people. The problem is the market. We are learning how to deal. Capitalism is the only system that truly provides checks and balances and reflects a true democracy. The problem (Enron, etc.) happens when the market is exploited and without regulation. Capitalism is young and we're learning how to set precedents as the problems arise. More regulation is key not less. The free hand is not the answer. Even Joel Bakan, author of the Corporation, admits that the problem doesn't lie in the system, but in the lack of regulation.

Think about this. A man moves to Canada from India. The rednecks scream "He's gonna take a job away from a Canadian!!!" Capitalism doesn't allow that. He himself is a consumer, so he's actually is creating jobs for others (the people who cloth him, feed him, educate him)....only capitalism has this balance. Why has this become such a bad word as of late. It's like saying freedom is a bad word. I suppose freedom can also be bad without regulation.


People I am a pinko, left wing, hippie but I try not to get caught up in emotional leftist rhetoric that's so easy to buy into. I do believe in the social safety net and paying my taxes and all of that awesome leftist stuff, but come on!!! Why do you think we are losing to people like Bush and Harper? We're so f#cking busy worrying about what level of f#cking organicness our vegetables are that THEY HAVE TAKEN OUR COUNTRY FROM US!!!!!!

The good people of Montreal are in my thoughts today. My heart goes out to all of you.

Norweigan Wood (This bird has flown)

I'm back in the comforts of the 'bucks at 64th and Granville today after getting back last night at 11 from a 23 hour transit from Hamar. I have now sworn to avoid any and all american airlines if I can help it. We flew United last night and it was the stinkiest, rudest, and most apathetic service I've ever experienced. Now, mind you we had been flying most of the day and we would've been grumpy in the best of circumstances, this was horrific. Anyways, let's back up....

I left Stockholm and made my way back to Copenhagen for another stay at the Danhostel Copenhagen City Hostel, where I'd been frowned on last time for my disregard of the check out policies and the check in girl reiterated the 9am check out and I assured her I was privy. I came into the room to find a 50 something American guy who introduced himself as Phil. Phil was from Modesto, CA and had basically been traveling for a couple years. He was a photographer who had sold the house and all and had been traveling all over the world. He explained that he was starting to run out of his money, so he was thinking about going back home and working again and he expounded this elaborate scheme of how he was going to make a half million.....OK dude. I'm sure there are people who do that all the time, but I just think, work your ass off and make money. If there is a get rich quick scheme, I don't want any part of it. I want to feel as if I've EARNED my money. That's why I never play the lottery....enough about Phil.

I had an early night in Copenhagen and woke up the next morning and made my way to the airport for my flight to Oslo. I arrived in Oslo and the airport is about 60 km from town, so hopped on the train and 40 minutes later I was there. Norway struck me as a little less english friendly. There wasn't as many fluently english speaking people it seemed and the Norwegian language was a little less accessible than Swedish or Danish. This was the first time I had to bail and ask for help when it came to transportation to the hostel. I had the vague instructions from my Lonely Planet book and the Oslo Haraldsheim hostel itself and I realized that I could take a tram, train, or bus, but I couldn't figure out where to start. I ended up at the tourist information desk (I had to take a number, which was refreshing to know that I wasn't the only one with Oslo negotiation problems) and they instructed me to take bus 31 to Synsenstressett. OK....So then I walk away figuring that I've ascertained all of the info that I need. But then things start occurring to me and I then go through a series of quests to answer them....here's how the next half an hour in my head went:

How much does the bus cost? A ticket. How much does a ticket cost? 20 Kr. Where do I buy the ticket? A ticket machine Where's the machine? Over there. Do they take visa? No. So now where can I buy a ticket with a visa? 7 - 11. Has my bus now left since I've figuring all of this out? Yes. When does the next bus come? Every 15 minutes. Do I buy a 24 hr ticket or just one? 24 hour, the hostel isn't downtown. Do I show the driver the ticket? No. What are all those people doing? Validating their ticket in the machine on the bus. Should I do the same? Yes. Did I stamp it in the right place? Hopefully. The next station is Synsen, is this my stop? No, Synsenstressett is. Which way is north? Guess....that way.....nope that way....nope.....that way......wow Norway is sure hilly....is this Haraldsheim street.....nope.....is this a street.....yup.....where IS this place.....oh jesus, thank god.....I'm here.

Oh to be a traveller.

Oslo is an amazing city and it would take me a week to try and see everything. It was way more spread out than Copenhagen and even Stockholm. It is also THE MOST EXPENSIVE CITY IN THE WORLD!!!!! More than Tokyo or Dubai or London. A coffee is $7 Canadian. I was already on a budget so I had to be super savvy. I found a little pocketbook called Streetwise, which was basically a backpackers guide to Oslo and it literally saved my ass in this town. It got me cheap food, drinks, and attractions, the highlight being seeing all of the amazing works of Edvard Munch including The Scream. I was aware of the Scream but his other works are so amazing and I promised myself to add some Munch to my collection when I got home.

The next day I went back to the airport in Oslo, this time catching a train that only took 19 minutes and was super nice. When I got off the train and showed the trainmaster my Scanrail pass, he told me that the Scanrail didn't work for this train and that I had to pay. How much??? 160 Kr.....basically $30 Canadian to essentially take the skytrain.....AWESOME!

I met "Jaan" from the Hamar festival at the airport and we waited for the Soustreamers to arrive. They never showed on the Copenhagen flight they were supposed to. We waited for the next one. Nothing. Jaan suggested that we leave and that they could catch the train to Hamar. I assured him that they would rather get on a flight and go home if there was no one here for them. We waited a little longer. Sure enough, they showed. I was so excited to see them. I had been basically alone for a week without really seeing anyone I knew, so it was great. I think I also was now ready to experience Scandinavia with others and especially my musical brothers and sisters. They were obviously pretty beat and didn't quite share my enthusiasm, but I think they were happy.....if only not to have to get on another airplane.

Norway and especially where we were going looks a lot like BC. In fact it looks IDENTICAL to the interior. The landscapes basically dictate the industries, similar to here in BC: forestry, mining, and agriculture. We showed up at the hotel in Hamar which was about 6 km from the city center. The hotel was really nice, even by European standards, but any hotel was pretty much the Four Seasons for me after spending a week "roughing it" in the hostels. I decided to immediately go for a run into town. I figured that 6km there and 6 km back was the perfect afternoon jog. I left the hotel on the road to town with an immediate ascent for about 2 km. Then it started descending with no trace of the town in site. So, I just kept on.....and on....and further descending.....and descending.....and descending.....there was still no trace of the town in sight, although I figured I hadn't really hit 6 km yet, but I started to think, "jeez, I'm gonna have to go all this way back! And ascending!!!!" It seemed as if the town would never appear and at one point I thought of turning back. The machoness in me however would not let me turn around without being able to give the boys a description, no matter how brief, of the town. In other words, I couldn't go back with my tail between my legs; I said I was going into town and sure as hell, I WAS GOING INTO TOWN!!! I did and eventually made it back up the treacherous hills to the hotel. It was actually not too bad and I felt that it helped with the training (countdown to marathon....4 weeks).

The town of Hamar is a quaint beach community built into the side of a hill (refer to last paragraph). That's how the tourist info description began and it's pretty accurate. It's on the edge of lake Mjyosk?? I think, which is the largest lake in Norway. After my run, we organized and went into town to watch the DIO (yes, Ronnie James Dio of Black Sabbath fame) and Norwegian black metal band Satyricon. When we got there, Satyricon refused to go on because they weren't able to fly their banner because Dio's stuff was too far forward. Dio refused to move their stuff. Satyricon went home. I was expecting the crowd to go a little ballistic but they were surprisingly well behaved. There was a little electricity in the air though. This IS the home of Black Metal, which is probably the closest thing that one can get to Satanism. Norwegian bands like Mayhem are doing jail time for murder and mutilation of their fellow band members, although willing participants in these "sacrifices". Timmy and Darren did notice a weird "vibe" though and everyone kinda watched each others back a bit. Don't get me wrong, Oslo is a very multicultural place, but like most small towns, there is a bit of a hillbilly element...especially at a metal show.

We ended up at a little pub after and it was a great hang, even meeting some of the local musicians. We were then told that there was a concert going on over at the festival headquarters on the second floor that's worth checking out. We walked in a saw these guys in ties and suits playing weird keyboards and laptops and punk pick bass and drums and thought, "okay eurotrash whatever music".....but then we listened and these guys were GREAT! They were a Norwegian band called Wibutti. Turns out that Brad actually remembered that he owned a album of theirs that Dylan V. S. recommended.

The next day we had to play a corporate thing at the hotel at night, but otherwise, we had the day off. I went into Hamar and explored the town a bit. As usual, I went for a coffee. Now, my coffee is a Vanilla Americano with cream. Hard to find in Europe, so I usually settle for a Latte and sometimes I can get vanilla for it. I walked into this coffee shop in Hamar and I knew I was in the right place. Don't get me wrong, the coffee in Europe is amazing, but the barista skills are generally poor; not this place. When I got to the counter, this cute tattoo covered girl asks what I would like:

Vanilla Americano, Large, Take Away, extra hot water but with room for cream.

She looked at me as if to say, "Thank God, finally someone who's a fu^&in coffee drinker!!!"

She explained that she had lived in Anacortes, Washington for 7 years and knew by my order that I was not a Norwegian man. We hit it off instantly and I made a new friend thanks to a coffee order.

We played the corporate thing that night and it was funny. I guess this company had been getting a traditional Norwegian band for all of their past years conferences and Thomerik (the man) explained that we were the first modern band to ever play for them. Well, like I said, it was funny because they proceeded to polka dance to songs like Black Market and Sex Machine....classic.

We also met a couple of the Tower of Power guys, as they were playing the festival that night. Brad even knew the trumpet who was once a student of his while he was at North Texas State. They were really great and friendly as most great musicians are.

The next day was the festival gig. After my coffee at my favorite place, we had to play at 1 o clock and 6 o clock and although the crowds were not that great, the band was on FIRE!!!! Everyone came to cut these Norwegians a new....well, you get the picture. Not to brag, but it was awesome and those who were there will be talking about our performance for a while I suspect.

We were then brought out to a very old.....16th century.....maybe earlier.....house and ruins on the lake and served a candlelight dinner. It was so beautiful and so much fun hanging with my friends and colleagues. Darren even got naked and jumped in the lake. Seriously.

After that we went back to the festival and the little pub. When I got back to the hotel, I realized that this had been one of the best days of my life. It was perfect ending to my trip and the proper "exhale" of the last 4 years that I needed. I now realize the things I will do in this the next chapter of my life. I will always look back at these 10 days as an important part of my life. Okay, now I'm officially broke and I have to start paying down the visa. Off to the PNE.....