Cereal Challenge # 2

My experiment with sugary American breakfast cereal continues apace. Yesterday, I bought a box of Froot Loops!;considered by many to be Holy Grail of sugary American breakfast cereal. As I opened the plastic, I was greeted by a sweet chemical aroma (I'm getting.....Magic Marker). I left them to soak in the milk for a while, turning it a soft blue - not unlike the colour of fabric softener. They were, however, delicious. There was no headache or sugar rush, as you would expect with Reese Puffs. I was very mellow. Froot Loops! are the downers of the cereal world. I watched the Colbert Report and waited for the inevitable shooting pain, but it never arrived.

Next on my list is Lucky Charms. I don't really get the logic behind them though. Are kids so spoiled that they will only eat cereal with sweets in it? When I was growing up, I got Weetabix. No Gummie Bears or Twizzlers included. If I didn't eat them - I went to school hungry. Simple.

At some point in the near future, I will also go Coocoo for Coco.

Well, the snow has finally arrived with a vengeance. It's times like this that a Star Trek teleporter would be handy. I have yet to be asked by a Canadian what I think of the snow. My response would undoubtedly lead to the statement "YOU THINK THIS IS SNOW??? THIS IS NOTHING!!!" You've got to love that dependability. I have to go to the bank in this. I would rather not. At least not without a team of huskies and the necessary supplies to make camp if the ten minute walk overwhelms me. If I don't put up anything for a couple of days, send out a search party.

Preach....

So, I was on the lurk once again today when I spied the video to one of my favourite songs off one of my favourite albums to be released this year. In these times of economic turmoil, Stock Market P and the other 2 who may not speak without his permission, perfectly captured the zeitgeist with their latest video.

May I present: N.E.R.D - Sooner or Later





Also a message for someone who has been a little under the weather, recently....


4A

She loves loud punk rock,
Cats with personality,
And Nosferatu.

I rest my case.

So, back home I tend to have a lot of conversations with my boys about the state of hip-hop. DJ Merkin, in particular is of the opinion that hip-hop as we knew it when we were young is dead. I agree with him to an extent, but believe that there is a new generation of kids who make music with the same aesthetic that we knew and loved.

Charles Hamilton's Pink Lavalamp was released this past Monday for download and I feel vindicated by this pseudo-album's existence. Charles has only just turned 21, yet here he is hooking up the jazzy loops that were the preserve of the likes of Primo and The Chocolate Boy Wonder during our salad days. Indeed, the recent exchange of comments with Soulja Boy has in some ways set Mr. Hamilton as a champion of the underground (despite the fact both artists are signed to the same label). The album really gives me that De La Soul/ MF Doom feeling. Expect some fiercely introspective yet playful lyricism and beats that make you screw up your face just a little....

It would be cruel of me to offer such high praise and not share. May I present:

Charles Hamilton - Brighter Days.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/526361339ed834aa/

Regular service resumed.

Dearest blog,
It was never my intention to neglect you. I got a little caught up in the things that make you so fun to write. Nevertheless, I am here now. I have consorted with mysteriously beautiful women. I have drunk whiskey in darkened bars. I have taken the stinky dog for walks at the crack of dawn. Last night, after another solid day's work I decided to trek downtown and see my cousin, Punch. I went to see him support Vernon Reid's band MYID at Pepperjacks last Saturday, but my attention was a little divided to say the least....

Yesterday, however, we just hung out. We ate burgers, smoked and drank rum with orange and pomnegranate juice. We watched a Nina Simone performance on DVD. I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to Nina, and I think I learned a lot about her from that. She has the spirit of Jimi about her. She used her voice and her piano like he used his guitar. They both had unconventional techniques about their musicianship, but it was that difference that makes their work beautiful. I also started to see why Amy gets a pass for acting a bit off key. I have witnessed Lauryn Hill in full Nina Simone mode, turning up 45 minutes late for a show, rambling for extended periods, but playing some heeartbreakingly beautiful music occasionally. She was also heckled by a lone member of the audience. "Sing some songs, bitch!" I believe, was one of the comments. I came to find out after reading an interview last year, that the heckler was actually Amy Winehouse, who had taken her cousin to the gig as a birthday present. Small world, eh?

Nina was a rare genius. She admittted to being high on stage, but it was difficult to tell where the drug ended and Ms. Simone began. She was a virtuoso soul. Very bewitching to watch at work. The epic 10 minute version of Feelings, was beautiful to watch. Between her voice and the piano, it was like listening to someone navigate their entire emotional spectrum in a single sitting. At the end of it you feel tired on her behalf.

So Christmas is on it's way. I have yet to do any shopping. I'm not sweating it though. You're talking to the Xmas Eve Killer. I hit the mall, early doors - gangsta rap in headphones and I go for mines. The festive spirit is yet to truly embrace me this year. I've been a little busy, but a planned road trip to Niagara to look at the lights and lay up in a cheap hotel like an outlaw, drinking wine in the bathtub with Ms. Alana, may actually provide me with a little breathing space to get my jolly on.

In other news - Whiskey and Whimsy continues to evolve as Steve colours the artwork for the proposal. I know because he told me in an e-mail yesterday. He also said that Woolworths is shutting down.

Feelings - Nina Simone

This fish is freaking ready to blog!

(c) Ms. Alana.

Coming next: Life's little meteor strikes.

The Jam

Last night I crept into the big city once again. I had stayed relatively local all this week after recovering from my pet watching duties, but decided that I needed to stretch my legs once again.


The homegirl Erin put me up on a house that her man Oscar is staying in right now. It's entirely inhabited by musicians and every Friday and Saturday they throw the doors open and just jam. Normally the place is rammed by the time they really get going. I arrived there, a full drum-kit was set up in the lounge, and various instruments lay strewn about. A beautiful old piano rested against the far wall, its front panel removed so you could see all the hammers at work as it was played. The house was completely candlelit. Arty, the drummer led the band as they flipped through a whole mess of music; ideas seamlessly slipping in and out of the mainframe as the session continued. Tianna, a singer from Toronto who is moving into the house this week, handled the vocals and I jumped up and threw a few bars around - just to show them how Woking does.

I loved that it seeemed that they only lived in a house in order to keep the snow off their instruments. I could see these guys riding from city to city in a procession of camper vans.

At 10 o'clock, I had to break out, but next time, I'm planning on hanging around to do the damn thing...

Saturday, it's Saturday....

(From Garfield Minus Garfield - a look into the shattered psyche of his owner)




I was sitting at home yesterday, when I came to the conclusion that I am slowly turning into Jon Arbuckle from the Garfield cartoon strip. Hanging out with an overly energetic dog and a cat with issues (Usless fact: The cat is also a New Jersy Nets fan, she seemed particularly interested in Vince Carter whenever he appeared on TV when I was watching the game the other night). I had also just finished making lasagne. I had to get out. So, off to the Go Station I went. I caught the bus to Aldershot (Yes, they have one here, too) and rode the train into the city for the first time. There's a different perspective to be had from the train tracks - which is why so many hobo philosophers probably rode the railways back in the days. I finally reached town about 5ish - we really did take the scenic route - and headed over to Spadina to hang out.


After bumping into the guy who dressed as the priest of the God Of Rock at the Halloween Party I went to, I end up meeting two fellow devotees of Hunter S. Thompson - Shaun and Matt. Two good ol' boys from the Big Easy who spend their time travelling to exotic locations and getting top grade marijuana sent to them by courier service. Shaun also told me that, as a tribute to HST he had recently been to the Kentucky Derby and got twisted on Mint Juleps (If you don't know - read a book) Yesterday, they introduced me to two rather interesting strains. Shark's Breath - I'm guessing a cross between Great White Shark and Lamb's Breath - and Cherry Slider - may well be a cousin to Chocolat Thai and Brown Sugar - direct from Humboldt County. Matt was about to turn 39 - Many happy returns, sir - and so the guys were on a mission to paint the town red. Or Cherry.


As for me - I headed back to the sticks as I was planning on hitting a show at Pepperjacks. I dozed on the bus most of the way back, got home, ate lasagne, drank rum and then caught a bus downtown. It had snowed while I was out. It was pretty quiet in Hamilton last night. A lady by the name of Valerie Gore was the first act to play at PJ's. She had the vibe of an upbeat Beth Gibbons to her. I really enjoyed the show, as I sat at the bar, slurping down back to back Jamieson's and Coke. I stayed for most of the Shurelock Groove show, but decided to put myself out of my misery shortly before two. I was drunk and I'd have to walk the dog in less than 5 hours....