Saturday, August 22, 2009

LAB Mixtapes: Episode 19

For once, this opening music from Champion out of Montreal isn't just an intro, it's the first track in this mix. The Canadian music scene is a strangely fertile place for electronic artists who plug in, tune in and drop the needle in the most inventive ways. Even if you've never listened to DJ driven tracks before, such as those by The Chemical Brothers or Daft Punk, I hope you'll find something to like in this trio. I will say that the last track by Holy F**k powered me through an eighty kilometer bike ride and continues to be my "motivation" soundtrack.

Episode 19
Runs 11:38mins

Links below open the iTunes Music Store:
1. Sergio's Trio - Champion
2. Melody Day - Caribou
3. Lovely Allen - Holy F**k

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Looking Up, Waaaay Up


image by Kaddy via Flickr

Last night I watched a strange collection of documentaries that was like Jean Cocteau meets Jacques Cousteau. Beautifully abstract at times but generally sort of obscure and dull. Bored by a film on the sex life of a cephalopod, which was surprisingly obscene, I decided to ignore it and go out onto the deck to take in some cushions that had been left outside.
...a film on the sex life of a cephalopod... was surprisingly obscene

It was a clear night and the sweeping search lights from the CNE grounds caught my eye. Quite a few stars were visible, a rarity for Toronto, so I thought to lay down on the deck chair and let my eyes adjust to the night sky. Only a few days ago, I stood outside in the cold of my parent's garden trying to see a meteor shower I'd read about. I did see a few shooting stars but no shower. I was sort of hoping to see something similar tonight. Instead I saw mostly the bellies and blinking lights of aircraft passing overhead. After a little while I noticed a small star that seemed to be moving. As I tracked it across the sky I realized I was probably following a satellite. Shortly after that, I spied another.

Momentarily, I was disappointed to have only seen artificial lights in the night, but it occurred to me then that it was really pretty impressive. Here I was surrounded by the summer sounds of cicadas, crickets and frogs (not to mention the traffic hum of the city) and miles above me were hunks of metal and circuitry – some filled with people – others merely filled with more metal and circuitry. We talk so much about achievements of man that are visible from space that we seem to forget the more remarkable achievements are visible from Earth looking out into space.

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Sunday, August 16, 2009

Tonight I had a headache so I took a couple of Advil and lay down with a warm wet cloth over my face. When I woke up, the room was completely dark and this seemed to dislodge an old memory like a loose tooth. I have this memory from when I was 4 or 5 that may or may not be entirely imagined. It hardly matters if it is real or not. The emotional memory of it is as real as anything I've ever felt.

It's a summer day and my brothers have decided to go swimming that afternoon in the pond behind our house. I'm told I can tag along. When I dig out my swimsuit I discover a tear and ask my mother to mend it. As soon as it is fixed I try them on. They're fine and like anyone else who was four or five, I spend the rest of the day running around in my swim trunks pretending to be Tarzan. Jumping from sofa to arm chair and back again is tiring business and I soon fall asleep on the chesterfield wrapped in my towel/cape.

When I awake the house is dark, lit only by the dusklight. I wander the house and no one is home. No one. Convinced that they've all gone swimming without me, I pull on my Road Runner sneakers (slip-on, loafer style Keds) and run through the field down to the pond. Now, I'm not exactly supposed to go to the pond alone but I figured everyone was looking for me so I'd better show up. The only trouble is I get to the pond and no one is there. No one. Maybe I had the wrong spot? I run along the shore thinking they can't be far but I'm wrong. There's no one. No one. By this time it's getting dark so I walk quickly in a panic home through the waist high grass. As I approach the house I see lights on in the kitchen. I'm sure I'm going to be in trouble for either missing the swim or not being home but when I walk into the kitchen no one even notices me. My parents had just come from a church meeting and were still gossiping about how two women from the Church gossip and my brothers (at least two of them) were arguing about a game of softball they had just come from playing in a nearby field (or maybe they were at the Stanley's? Of course, calling their loosely formed games a "game" was always a stretch. Someone threw a ball, someone hit a ball. Someone tried to catch a ball while someone else tried to find bases hidden in the grass.) when I ask my brother if they went swimming he just looks at me and says, "No, we were playing ball" and walks away. Then I ask my mother, "Did you go swimming?" and she says, "You can't go swimming now silly, it's dark out."

Then my question is quickly drowned out by the confusion and bustle that always seemed to rule our house in those days. I made my way down a dark stairway to our rec room and pulled out a book and sat on the floor and flipped through the pages. I don't remember the title but it was the story if a boy who overcomes his fear of the dark by catching fireflies in mason jars with his friends. I wished deeply that there would be a mason jar of fireflies for me but there never was. I fell asleep on that book and woke in my bed never knowing how I got there.

Posted via email from peterrogers's posterous

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Tuesday, August 11, 2009

I just happen to be in St. John's on the wettest day of the so-called summer. See illustrative photo.

Sent from my iPhone

Posted via email from peterrogers's posterous

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Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Seen in July

1st - Slumdog Millionaire
2nd - Of Time and the City
3rd - Happy Go Lucky
4th - The International
5th - Breaking Bad epi. 1-3
9th - The Chimes (play)
11th - Public Enemies
12th - The Search for John Gissing
13th - Valkyrie
20th - Saxondale epi 3-6
23rd - Eastbound & Down epi 1-3
26th - Wendy & Lucy
28th - The Hurt Locker
31st - The Great Buck Howard
        - Breaking Bad epi. 4,5

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