macbook photoshoot

tayler wanted to see my outfit for today. i'm thinking i might take this post down after she sees them though.



collar detail:


peter pan collar blouse - forever21
shelf tank (underneath) - american eagle
jeans - forever21
braided jersey belt - american apparel

perfect's back

no matter how poor the skills of the photographer are, sometimes the subject can just make the photo.

be your own pet broke up

so apparently i am over a month behind in this news. if i hadn't checked the written blurb about them when my lastfm module popped up the other day while i was listening to them i would have never figured it out (as you can tell i don't read too many music blogs).

here is the wikipedia stub on it:

On August 1, 2008, the band announced on their website that after finishing a small tour of England, they would be breaking up.[2] The band posted the following message on their website; "To all of our fans, we are sad to bring you the news that our upcoming shows in the UK are going to be our last as a band. We thank you for all your love and support these past few years. It's been a blast, but the time has come for the four of us to go our separate ways".[3] Jemina explained to NME why they broke up, She said that it wasn't really fun for them anymore, especially Jonas who was considering leaving the band. They didn't want to be in BYOP without Jonas, so they decided the best thing to do was to just call it a day. She also said that its better we split now 'while people still give a fuck' than drag it on and on when our hearts wern't in it anymore. She also quoted a Neil Young song (and Kurt Cobain's suicide note) when she said 'someone once said "its better to burn out than to fade away" and maybe thats what we're doing'. On the brightside though, she said that Jonas Stein and John Eatherly would continue in Turbo Fruits, Nathan Vasquez will sill be part of Deluxin and she was heading to Oslo and Norway to write songs for a Jemina Pearl solo record which she said would be 'a little more mature'.

i've written about BYOP before, actually expounded on my initial hatred of them and how i grew to appreciate them. while it's sad they're broken up i'm concerned about what kind of progress they could have made together anyway. soon they won't be bratty teenagers (hell, jemina is already 20) and that's mostly their charm anyway. you can't be 35 and singing about food fights, beating up 12 year-olds or killing your best friend for fun.

so RIP BYOP! i've included a link to the zipped self-titled debut full-length album at the end of this post.

photos/video from the june 5 show at st. andrew's hall, detroit, mi (i know the quality's terrible, my camera is dying):







adventure:




becky:




links:

wikipedia
official website
myspace
flickr album of june 5 performance
previous byop post




01. thresher's flail
02. bunk trunk skunk
03. bicycle, bicycle, you are my bicycle
04. wildcat!
05. adventure
06. fuuuuuun
07. stairway to heaven
08. bog
09. girls on tv
10. we will vacation, you will be my parasol
11. let's get sandy (big problem)
12. october, first account
13. love your shotgun
14. fill my pill
15. ouch

download

kate nash apr 30 2008 detroit mi.

jordan, angelica, her sister maranatha and i went to see cute as a button briton kate nash perform at st. andrew's hall on congress st. in detroit, mi. last wednesday. it was a beautiful day out; chicken schwarmas and an empty tunnel bus ride (with absolutely no security checks by customs - we didn't have to get off the bus/go inside!) complimented it well.

on the way to getting in line who did i happen to see chattering away on his cell phone but cribs frontman ryan jarman, who happens to be dating ms. nash herself. i was a little surprised and i kind of stared him down as we passed by. i like to think that the look i conveyed to him when we made brief eye contact was 'ryan jarman! i am a huge fan, and also probably the only person who knows who you are/likes you better than kate nash!'

the show openers were freaky faux-family the tratchenberg family slideshow. their songs were kind of funny but neither i nor the crowd were, as they say, 'feelin' it.' angelica did get quite into the song 'eggs' though. i just think the little girl looked miserable to be doing this; they said she was now 14 and had been doing it since she was 6. the novelty probably wore off around age 11 or 12, depending on her maturity level and when she became aware of what the hell she was actually doing.

before kate came on, motown classics were played but i can't for the life of me remember which song she actually came out to.

i keep reading that she is an arrogant person, but all she demonstrated at the show was a bit of shyness, nervous banter and generally seemed humble. the only time she got angry was when she explained that one of her songs was used in a pro-anorexia youtube video. she blamed the media for glorifying thin bodies and pretty blondes, while saying she wasn't a size zero and was quite proud of it. she also had some sort of inside joke with the band where she got everyone to say 'fuck swaz' or whatever she said.

she's a pretty engaging performer and i've not seen such enthusiastic piano-playing since... well, i can't remember the last time i saw piano-playing like that. she waited awhile to play her hits 'foundations' and 'mouthwash' and towards the end performed a punk-tinged song whose chours went, 'you don't have to suck to succeed.' she came out for one three-song chorus and no covers.

her merch was all cutesy stuff but nothing really interested me (the tote bag with a bee on it was cute and said, 'i can assure you i've been to an awful lot of kate nash gigs...' but if i bought that at this one gig that sort of makes me a retarded person until i see her again).

i would definently go see her again, for sure.


typical 'i'm bored in line' photo: shoes.

some of the tratchenberg family.











video i took of mouthwash that stops because i thought i was getting caught:




go to page to download:
kate nash - mouthwash
kate nash - hang me out to dry (live cold war kids cover)


seeing M.I.A. tomorrow night, so excited!

pictures of spring

aside from lillies, dutch crocuses might be my favourite flowers. i'm so jealous that it seems like everyone on my street has these growing in their gardens and on their grass unintentionally and we have none!



these are maple blossoms, i believe.


new growths between my driveway and the neighbour's.



it'll be a tulip, i think.

while i'm glad spring is here i still hate the unpredictable, slightly disappointing weather that can come with it. all last week was in the upper 70s but this week will drop down to the 40s and 50s.

so that makes my desire for summer to come intensify.

a sunny day in glasgow - best summer ever

follow the link to the download page.

spoon april 6 2008 mt. clemens, mi

i kind of forgot about this blog. i'll get better at this.

anyway, my friend joel and i (and eventually peggah and jessica showed up) went to mt. clemens, mi. to see white rabbits, the walkmen and spoon. this was basically my dream lineup, and getting in line early ensured the best spots: front and centre, right against the stage.

the venue itself (the emerald theatre) was just covered in camel cigarette ads and neon lights. this would never be allowed in ontario! i also hadn't been to a show in michigan in ages and wasn't used to everyone blowing smoke in my face. these weird hippie torontonians left because of the smoke i think. when joel and i were discussing a spoon album i pulled out my ipod to figure out which album it was and the hippie dude was really into the idea of going through the bands on it. no thanks, muddy mcgee.

anyway, there was no photography allowed, but i snuck my camera in. i couldn't get any decent shots in until spoon played, because for white rabbits and the walkmen the audience hadn't moved close enough together to offer me any crowd coverage to avoid the secutity 'spotters' posted at each end of the stage.

i was really, really impressed with white rabbits. i had heard of them last year but didn't really look into them until later on in 2007. they played at the siren fest at coney island, ny last summer but i missed them. i was at some other stage watching some other band i can't even remember.

i haven't seen the walkmen live since probably 2006. they played some new stuff, and surprised me with 'wake up.' some things never change though, like when walt plays the organ thing he looks like he's doing taxes and matt's drumming is still the same. but some things do change, like how none of hamilton's veins really popped out like they normally do, and paul maroon doesn't do his flirty little smiles anymore. still, they were good and i was pleased, very much so.

spoon. amazing. i was right infront of britt daniel which would have made for AWESOME photos if it were allowed.
britt daniel made eye contact with me (along with every other girl there) but i know ours was special, you guys! it was speciallll!
anyway, they played basically everything i wanted to hear ('i turn my camera on,' 'small stakes,' 'you got yr. cherry bomb,' and 'don't you evah'!) and (obviously) more. the crowd finally moved in closer to the stage and i would lean back occasionally and take photos really low. towards the end of the night when some of the white rabbits came out to clap along to 'the underdog' i almost got caught, but i like to think i covered it up quite smoothly: just pretended i was dancing and slipped the camera into my pocket.










some of the white rabbits came out for the encore song ('the underdog').

white rabbits - kid on my shoulders - fort nightly's awesome album opener.

the walkmen - this job is killing me - best song off of a hundred miles off.

spoon - don't you evah - great cover of 'don't you ever' by the brilliant, amazing, awesome natural history (both versions can be found on the don't you evah EP).

follow the links to the download page.


next week i'm seeing kate nash in detroit with angelica, and in may we're seeing M.I.A. at the fillmore.


i should also note that there's an SNL remembering chris farley special on NBC right now and it's come to mind that adam sandler was the jimmy fallon of the late 80s/early 90s, i.e. he laughed in every single sketch ever. the only difference is that adam sandler wasn't nearly as handsome, and jimmy fallon wasn't nearly as talented.