Monday, October 31, 2005

Buck 65


Last Monday night Jacco and I went to Amsterdam to see Buck 56 a little known Canadian band making waves in the indy scene the worl over they were playing at the Paradiso small zaal and after a great catch up, dinner and a few pints of the G stuff we headed over to the gig. There was only one person waiting on the doors Matt from the UK who was most enthusiastic about the gig and told us all the about the show he had scene in Rotterdam the week before. but that soon changed as we all climbed to the top of the old chapel. The mainly student and stoner crowd seemed well into it and ready for the show. It made me wonder because there was only two mics and a turn table on stage. I had heard that he had his girlfriend come up and sing with him some of the time but it was unexpected that there was no band to be seen.

He came on stage with what I thought to be a Dutch Navy uniform and began to scratch and rap.. really quite funny stuff and the crowd was well into it but after an hour I thought I had seen enough and so had Jacco so we headed home with the thoughts that although it was not a bad way to spend 10 euros it was not that new and special, and that most likely we had seen it all before. Still it was a great chance for me to take photos and have them published on line for the first time at On Stage.nl last week and get to spend the evening out with my friend Jacco which is always a good time.
This week's concert is Jasper Steverlinck who was or is the singer for Arid, a nice Jeff Buckly like Belgium band who I first saw open for the Counting Crows at the Paradiso a few years ago and who is playing at the Paard in Den Haag which is always nice cause then you can be home at a decent time.


Monday, October 24, 2005

My Mom


My wonderful Mom was born on this day in Victoria B.C. in 1945 to Barbara (ne. Wolley) and Hans Waelti, she was born under the zodiac sign scorpio and the chinese astro sign rooster. She is the second oldest of 5 siblings and today she turned 60, which is amazing when I think about it, to me neither she nor my father seem or act "old", they both have such a good outlook on life along with thier youthful appearances and other than when I go home it seems her and Dad have shrunk some in size, but I suppose that is just gravity baby.
This weekend they had a small birthday party for her, only 18 of her closest family and friends came... I am sure it was wonderful as events in my family home are, warm and full of people to talk to not to mention the endless flow of wine and good humour.

I just wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU MOMMY, I LOVE YOU!!

That's my baby brother and Dad...

Thursday, October 20, 2005

The Tao Of Sith

Don't you know that the Empire Always strikes back?

I am fairly certain I have mentioned it before but if you in anyway like either Star Wars or just amazing writing style, then check out this blog... The Darth Side

Lord Vader has missed his calling.... I have wasted so much time (at work) in the last days exchanging this brilliant prose via MSN with a friend of mine.. Laughing out loud inappropriately in my own open office plan (I am sure he fared no better) it is terribly distracting and yet I feel myself not being able to put the dark lord away, I am inexplicably pulled back to him ....... just a wee taste.....


Wait a moment. Do you even know the difference between the light side and dark side of the Force?

It must be understood that the Force is, above all, singular. The so-called "sides" arise from differing matters of perspective. (If you study the way of the Sith you will find that many of the truths we cling to depend entirely on one's point of view.)The opposite of the singular Force is the all-encompassing void of death. Time began with the Force, and will end in desolation. This is the way of things, and an inevitable consequence of the flow of events from the past into the future.
Without the inertia of the fall toward the abyss, the Force would have nowhere to go.For in the chaotic tumble toward doom the stuff of the worlds enact loops of complexity that change the grade from life to death, introducing valleys, peaks and cycles. Between creation and destruction comes a flutter of improbability, a brief sonnet of meaning against the noise of time.

Life!It is the causal contagion that ties every ounce of us together through the network of the Force, our actions resonating against our almost-actions and our non-actions in a web of fleeting possibility that spans this galaxy and beyond. The beat of a child's heart detonates supernovae, the beat of a bug's wing tilts the orbit of worlds.

We are all connected.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Great Saturdays

Don't you love it when you just have a great weekend, that you have the feeling that you have "done" something nice and perhaps cultural and got to know new friends along the way.
My weekend started out on Friday a little stressed and tired. I had a busy week and a few late nights. But after a nice relaxing evening and some much needed sleep I was fresh and ready to go to Amsterdam with a friend and enjoy a whole day out and about on the town.
Sadly it was not all fantastic because I seemed to have lost my discount rail card and got fined a hefty sum for it. But Anyway we got to Amsterdam and started the cultural experience with Foam. This gallery is mostly photographic exhibits of many diverse subjects. One was the World Press Photos from the beginning of the organization. As you can well imagine many of those photos are harsh and hard to take in as most are dealing with war, famine, strife, cultural clashes and other such harsh subjects, although I did see one about football which I guess when you think about it could also be related to war, strife and cultural clashes. But the other part of the exhibit that was upstairs was actually quite informative and interesting.
The next part of the gallery was Tian An Men square photos, exhibits and multi-media. Actually quite interesting. I like the photo of the guy walking his pet cabbage in the square, because apparently you are not allowed to have pets on the square and so many kids over there are trying to rebel against the system without getting arrested.
The next part of the gallery was connected to the World Press Photos - Things as they were. Also quite a mix of interesting articles, photographs and magazine clippings and covers. I quite liked the article and video about the Kennedy assassination, still very much a conspiracy! I love the use of the space in the building.
After a nice lunch on bagels we walked towards what I thought was the right direction of the Amsterdam History museum, in the end I caused a few detours but we made it. I wanted to go there because of the Seamans Tattoo exhibit I read about. But in those detours we got to window shop and enjoy the fantastic weather that was upon us. In my opinion the Tattoo part was a big disappointment with the exception of the actual tattoos of lost sailors kept in formaldehyde to help identify them if they were ever found dead.
The rest of the museum was quite amazing with many different areas to learn about the history of Amsterdam. I particularly like the areas concerning the people of Amsterdam and the area regarding the second world war and the occupation of Holland.
Dinner at Wagamammas and a couple of Guniness at Tig Bara, more drinks, talk and great company until the wee hours....
A great weekend indeed.

Sunday, October 02, 2005

Space is colder than the air in the mountains where I come from

Someone mentioned a while ago that I do not have a photo of myself on my blog, hmm and you know what? They were right. I guess I know what I look like and if anyone really wanted to know they might search my log name and might just find one or two out there amongst the other photos that I have taken that are scattered along this beautiful wide web.. I must admit for all of Blogger's great points the one thing I just cannot be arsed to figure out or download to my computer is their photo software so that I can add it to my profile, I was thrilled when they finally added the ability to add photos to the actual blogs. Besides this photo is as good as it gets. Well almost as good, my very talented friend Paul from Victoria took it and several several years ago after applying his other amazing talent of cutting hair. If anyone is in the need to get their hair cut and styled by a pro in Victoria, B.C. then talk to me.

On a toally different note I was cruising one of my favorite blogs www.matthewgood.net and decided to check out his wife's blog which is usually highly entertaining. http://jennifergood.net/ one of her entries from a few weeks ago make me really wonder what exactly she might have been thinking as she was walking home from Wendy's with food for her hubby. Someone had written words from several songs written by her husband on the sidewalk leading to their apartment and the walls surrounding it. Now as creative as that may seem can you even begin to imagine what that might feel like?

I am a HUGE fan of Mr. Good's lyrics/music and integrity, he writes in a way that touches me in my everyday life, his CD's have been on heavy rotation in my somewhat dusty and large collection of CD's and multimedia since I first bought them. I find that I can always find one I am in the mood to listen to, I always find solace and comfort in his songs blah blah blah, I could wax on and on about his songwriting and musical talents. Hell even in my last post I think I mentioned one of them. So anyway it was just an observation, and I might have also stopped and looked at the lyrics and followed them to the apartment and maybe even taken a photo because I would have connected to them in some way. I can imagine that Jennifer might have felt like looking over her shoulder or checking the street before she leaves the apartment. I am not sure how I would feel in that situation, being not married to a rock star or celebrity but I can imagine that it might just freak you out just a little.

My guess is that someone wanted to show Matt just how much his music means and it does not seem sinister nor nefarious, but what do I know.