Published at February 28, 2006
in general.
I landed in London early Monday morning, made my way to the hotel then spent the rest of the day touring around London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Tower of London and the Tate modern. A nice day but old hat for me. Tuesday was when the real fun would begin. I elected to go on a tour of Salisbury and Stonehenge through a wonderful company called London Walks. They employ excellent guides and their policy is ‘just show up’. No pre-booking required.
Salisbury is a quaint town about a 1h train west of London. I learned many interesting things about this town that day, but have currently glossed over all the facts in my mind. One thing I do recall is that at 404ft Salisbury Cathedral has the tallest spire in all of Europe (Salisbury Cathedral at Wikipedia). It’s quite a lovely church. Having seen a small slice of varying church architecture in my travels I can say that I still enjoy the gothic design. I could spend hours (hour?) in them taking pictures if more of them allowed it. The artistry to build structures with such tall single span walls, held up by ornate arches and flying buttresses fascinates and perhaps even inspires me. The weather cleared revaling blue skys. A great morning. Continue reading ‘Behold, mighty Stonehenge’
Published at February 27, 2006
in general.
Sadly I was unable to make any posts from London. The price just wasn’t right, and my time was pressed. I tried one day to grab a sandwich and make a post, but the place didn’t have a toilet so I didn’t stay. In the spirit of keeping a record of my travels I will make a few posts after the fact highlighting the various interesting things I saw, things I thought — and of course captured through the lens of my camera. Perhaps one a night for the remainder of this week. I can say that it was a fantastic time and I took about 299 pictures (I don’t edit while on the road, so there are duplicates and garbage in that number). I visited smaller towns outside of London on day train exercusions. I saw the traditional sights and also wandered the side streets and alleys. I met up with old friends, and ran into fellow Waterloo Univeristy grads out of the blue. London is an all together unique city within this world we live. At times I feel I could live there, and at others I am completely content with my Toronto.
But I guess that is just the way of things.
Published at February 19, 2006
in general.
It’s been a big last 2 days. Got Tragically Hip tickets for the June show, was made a job offer that I accepted, and due to that job offer I decide I’d go to London England for the week before I start. I think what I like best about this decision is that I bought a plane ticket to London 48h before I planned to depart. With three friends living in London — and and forth coincidentally seems to be visiting London also this week — it looks to be an enjoyable trip. I think my plan at this point is to try and do a lot of the rock and roll London stuff (Abbey Road etc). Hopefully I’ll be able to locate inexpensive internet access to post from abroad and share some of the many photos I am likely to take. I’ve been to London before almost 3 years ago to the day. It was only a 3 day stop over during reading week before spending 5 or so days in Paris. More of the plan is to take in the vastness of the city that I missed last time.
It’s a little crazy for me to think that one month ago I spent one month in Peru and now I’m off to London. I truly do live a lucky life.
Summer must be just around the corner because The Tragically Hip have announced a concert in Toronto. The Tragically Hip will play Historic Fort York on June 24th, 2006 with The Weakerthans and The Sadies. Tickets are $55.50 and currently available for pre-sale through www.thehip.com (limited number). You have to be a member to get the pre-sale, but it is free to sign-up to the website. I haven’t seen The Hip live since their In Violet Light tour, but saw them every time they came to town before that. I figure I’m due, and with The Sadies and The Weakerthans playing it’s an easy call.
Published at February 17, 2006
in asides.
Finally some interesting news coming out of the Olympics in Torino. We’re all used to the athlete moments, and against all odds stories which is why this interesting blog on behind the scenes at NBC in Torino is a breath of fresh air. Has some great pictures of their data transmission racks, and some Q&A. It takes a lot to record an event of this size.
Published at February 16, 2006
in asides.
A feature that flickr has lacks is its ability to email me when someone comments or marks one of my photos as a favourite. With this tip from lifehacker you can use rssfwd to send an email when those events happen. Go to your recent activity, pick a time frame then grab the rss feed. I’ve set mine to ‘one day’. Not sure what the optimal rss feed would be.
Published at February 16, 2006
in asides.
TextPayMe looks to be the first worthwhile attempt at providing an easy way to send money to friends from your mobile phone. Via a simple sms message you can give your friend money for you half of the bill, or pay-up on the bet you just lost. Sadly it is currently only available the US. Get $5 for signing up and a free XBOX360 if you refer 36 friends (Tyler?). Wonder how long until our banks provide this service? [via lifehacker]
Published at February 15, 2006
in general.
This show came highly recommended from Tyler, and not one to miss the hype Tim and I made the trek down to the Mod Club on Saturday despite the 7pm show time. Right off the bat I would like to share my love/hate relationship with Mod Club. I think it’s a great venue and provides one of the best stock light shows in the city however they like to run concerts and club nights together. This means early shows and little or no encore since the band must be done by 10pm. Why must you hurt me Mod Club, why?
The Show. We arrived around 7:30pm just in time to catch the last few songs of Cuff The Duke front man playing solo acoustic. I have to believe that he called them up and asked if he could play a few tunes on a Saturday night. The 2nd band was dios (malos) from California. They are unique if nothing else. With a very poorly mixed set the front man (a very large front man) wore a balaclava for most of the show and practically threw his instruments around the stage. Their live show did not make me want to check out their album, and by the line at the merch table most people were of my mind. Continue reading ‘Matt Pond PA vs. The Mod Club’
As previously mentioned K-Os has collaborated with the CBC Radio Orchestra, and the documentary can be viewed on-line in flash. It’s interesting to see the process he takes in creating new music with the CBC Radio Orchestra, and how he still uses hip-hop as a safety blanket in his creation. Not saying its a bad thing, I’m just stealing an observation made by someone in the documentary. It is worth a watch.
The purpose of the experiment was to create a new song titled Burning To Shine.
Published at February 13, 2006
in general.
Another concert weekend has come and gone. It was a big one — and was almost even bigger. Caught The Trews on Friday night at The Opera House in a sold out show. The place was packed and since we were late arrivals (I can’t handle Oliver Black) it was near impossible to get anywhere close to the stage. It was a pleasant surprise to see a boom camera set up to record the show. I made note that they were HD cameras, so here’s hoping that source material will make it onto a HD channel. Because of the recording session the stage was lit up more then I’ve ever seen at the Opera House, and for the entire show. This should make for a great concert video with little grain. Sadly due to the recording they didn’t break into any of their stellar cover jams in between songs (Queen and the Rolling Stones). I suspect this is because they’d have to pay performance rights since they’d be on a DVD for sale.
The Trews never cease to impress, and lived up to my hype once again. With a sub $20 price tag it’s hard to find a reason not to check out their show each and every time they come near town.
(photo courtesy of becca)
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