...at home again. i'm sorting through scripts and enjoying a lazy monday morning. mondays really aren't so bad when you are unemployed. however, it's a day of working on personal projects, so i thought i'd finally update the blog. it doesn't seem to me like i'm on the internet any less often than the past, but i just stopped blogging when i got back to canada. that should change, my everyday life is interesting dammit! well, every once in a while anyways.

however, this is what my morning routine entailed not long ago:



Smoking a hookah and drinking some coffee at a Chinese Cafe in Shanghai at around 9am. We generally got up early when we were traveling, and today was no different. Our hostel/hotel, known as The Phoenix, had the best restaurant that I ate at in Shanghai served breakfast really early, so we had already eaten our morning dose of fried rice before that. However, coffee is not commonly served at restaurants (not dripped and brewed coffee anyhow), so every morning was usually an adventure in looking for somewhere to buy coffee. Some times benign (Starbucks), sometimes surreal and genuinely interesting. This morning we were walking around underneath the park (rather than through it) and we followed some signs to a recreated 1930s Shanghai street. This time period is romanticized a little bit, in movies it reminds you of prohibition-era Chicago, but it was unique. The recreation of the street looked kinda cool in the architecture and the cobblestone, however, the modernity of the stores shattered any illusion that you were seeing a glimpse into the past. However, I'm not one to care too much about these creative anachronisms, so we sat down on the "patio" of the cafe and smoked some Shisha and sipped coffee.

Spitting in China is much more common than in Western countries, as it is not considered rude to spit in front of people. So everywhere you go, there is a constant barrage of loud horking. However, it's generally not acceptable to spit indoors. Some people do however, and the way around it is to spit into the garbage can or spit on it and then step on it with your shoe. The above recreated street was not outside, you can see even in the picture that the sky is actually painted on the ceiling, however many Chinese men stood here smoking cigarettes, spitting on the 'road', and generally gawking at katherine. This was par for the course throughout China.

True story. Kinda makes me feel really bored, even though i'm doing lots of stuff, but perhaps only actually working 2 weeks in 2010 is starting to catch up to me.

That's all for now, I was supposed to be working on stuff this morning, and it's already 11.

Peace
rob

hello, it's been a while since i have posted on either this blog or our travel blog: annyong haseyo, so i thought i'd quickly post an update.

we've just got back from our month-long excursion in china, and i will say i didn't want to leave. despite the limited access to the internet, the real world of china is so enticing as to cause me strong desire to return the next chance i get. expect some more pics to go up over the next couple of days, though many are already viewable on our pics site here. i'll also try to upload some pics to facebook, but there are many, so that may take a little while.

we're in taebaek now, taking in the last week before we go as easy as possible, despite the constant headache of bureaucratic nonsense from the school finance department, i got $500 more than i expected, and kat owes $700...this doesn't make any sense, but things rarely do in the accounting department.

more headaches to go home to, hearing that SCN is being shut down is infuriating. this almost certainly will mean i will have to leave the province for work, and i plan on thanking dustin duncan myself when i return home.

beyond that, i am ready to come home. i have been traveling so much that i can never really feel comfortable and relaxed anywhere. this is causing a great lethargy, and i'm ready to really come home and rest. i look forward to hamburgers, perogies, jamming, understanding the language, concerts, movies, making movies, camping, canoeing, campfires, playstation and so on.

i expect the first few weeks will be not too intense, but i will have to find work soon, a place to live, a mode of transportation and so on, so there will still be some things to keep me busy, but i hope i can start working on some creative projects, something i have been starved for for a year.

all in all,
see you soon, or in some cases, see you again.
rob

And I'm pretty happy. Got Alice Cooper running through my head (thanks kat), but I'm actually starting to feel pretty good about it. We're only in Taebaek for another day, and spend the last night in our apartment, and will be out of the country on Monday. It's a great feeling to be liberated from these things, but that said, I am now unemployed and will have to begin that battle when I get back to Canada. I heard back from the first school I applied for, UBC, and was rejected. Two more to go, hopefully they aren't the same, though it's still quite possible.

The trip to SE Asia was pretty awesome. Many new firsts, and also many chances to go slower and take things in more. I look forward to China, we start in Shanghai on Monday, and after that is kinda up in the air. Some ideas, and some possibilities, but nothing completely concrete. We have to do China on a much smaller budget 'cause we kinda blew most of our money in SE Asia :(. That's okay, we'll work it out so that we don't come back in huge amounts of debt, as that would defeat the purpose.

Also, I have some pretty big personal news that I will announce hopefully in the next week, there are just a few more parties I'd like to inform first, so stay tuned.

YES! I DECLARE VICTORY OVER THE DEVIL THAT IS POOR ENGLISH SPEAKING IN KOREA. After two years of relentless conversation practice and torturous Scattergories, I declare that Korea now knows English! Maybe a few kids still say "shitty" instead of "city", and "bitches" instead of "beaches", but that's just minor detail, we won! Yer welcome.

*****

i have one more class, which is going to be a popcorn party, and i don't think that really counts. i've turned in my masters' application forms, with great sympathy and thanks to my family for putting up with me and doing everything they can to help me out. finished up my english camps (which were a joke) and thanks again to Theresa, Jaye, Andy, and Kat for helping me out with that too.

after three weeks of constant moving, now i am sitting at my desk every day wondering how the hell i'm gonna waste the next 50 hours or so. i've already packed up my desk and supplies, organized my notes for the next poor soul to teach at my school, and watched over 10 hours of Buffy the Vampire Slayer back to back. i could argue with my school to let me go home early, but then i'd do even less, perhaps getting lost in the Sims 3 or Unreal Tournament (i'm pretty much over my LOTRO addiction...for now). so i trudge to school every day to keep my image squeaky clean, and waste the day away.

vacation begins at the end of next week for me, and truly is the launching point for 2 months of travel and transition. but i've posted enough about my vacations in the previous posts to keep rambling on about it. really, i need to figure out what to do when i get back home. creatively and career-wise.

weyburn or regina...or toronto...maybe vancouver? if it turns out i get accepted to university, then there won't be any settling. just six months of floating and roaming until i end up wherever i end up. it sounds like regina is dead for movies right now, so there's a good chance we might end up sticking around weyburn for most of that time. i kinda envy mark bauche when he returned from the UK and essentially walked off of the airplane into his new apartment. i don't have the luxury of security when i return. this is to me a greater worry than from when we came over to korea, because the future was clear, for a year or two anyhow.

i fantasize about the idea of not working, just living out at nickel lake, spending the day writing/planning/working on film/music projects. in the evenings, fishing in a boat watching the sun go down and sleeping in a tent with no fly cover so i can watch the stars. just for a summer. kat is trying to convince me of this plan as we speak. i do, after all, have several major projects that need to be finished. the two biggest ones being the Kat has the Key record and my Reunion feature-length script. if it turns out i don't get in to film school, i'd like to produce the Blossoms script as well (one that's been in the works for over 5 years now). i've already had some new project offers, and i haven't even left korea yet. guy kurtz's band "kriticos" needs a promo video and music video. lots of work for little money, however, i need to get back on the wagon, so it could be a worthwhile experience.



although, the most important thing in my not-so-distant future that i hold above all else is a canoe trip. at least 2 weeks away from people. the idea of being the only soul for miles in any direction is more exciting than thailand, china, or any asian destination.

but right now, my only destination is bed. found some pics on kat's cell phone of one of our favourite 막걸리 (Rice wine) joints. It was called 주막걸리 or Ju Makgeoli and we spent many quiet evenings there before the rest of the Taebaek crowd arrived. unfortunately, it is now closed.

or just attract it? even though i'm pretty much finished teaching (3 hours and two weekends left), i still feel quite stretched thin. part of it is finishing up my grad studies applications (which are pretty much finished aside from a few straggling loose ends to tie up), part of it is the prospect of an uncertain future upon returning to canada, part of it from spending thousands of dollars on plane tickets for vacations. However, the reality is that the bulk of it is English Camp. so much work for so little gain.

but i can be somewhat optimistic, i bought a new digital compact camera, and the gaining of material possessions is always a little bit of a serotonin burst. with one hurdle in the way and two weekends of monotony yet hopefully minimal stress, i can also look forward to an exciting adventure through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. we have a pseudo-itinerary going, about 8 days in Thailand 5 days in Cambodia and 8 days in Vietnam. several days in the first part of the trip will be spent on a beach on an island called Ko Samet. i am so very excited for this, as it will be four or five days to unwind the intensity of Korea. we've been in wind-down mode for some time even though were busy, but to sit on a beach next to the ocean for four or five days will be beyond relaxing. nowhere to go, nothing needing to be done, no cares, no worries. four or five days of that can feel like a month.

i will post again next week, i promise, i just need to jump this hurdle and i can spend some time doing more social things without guilt, but until then, i bid you a brief adieu.

peace

Doing what she does best, sleeping in a sunbeam.



It has been a bad couple years for pets in our household. Although we have gained two new additions, we have lost both our pets from back home. Jane was diagnosed with kidney failure likely attributed to a lifetime of eating only dried food without enough water to keep hydrated. If you have a cat, do the research about their diets, cats aren't supposed to live off of dry food alone and it can lead to all sorts of disorders. A little surprising that a veterinarian wouldn't have mentioned that somewhere along the line until AFTER it was too late.

It's a sad thing, she was the smartest cat I've ever known.

Rest in peace Jane.

and to ten more.

That chair is reserved for me. This is my where my mind is, and the only thing preventing me from exploding with boredom.

Two more months of school.

Three weeks of South East Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam).

One or two weeks in Japan.

A month in China.

And then home again. Nothing will be the same, though. New job, new place to live, new car (maybe), new life. I've been contemplating the future a lot these days. My application for grad school is difficult and slow going, and i kinda expect that it's yet to cause some great stress.

"If there were no reward to reap/No loving embrace to see me through/This tedious path I've chosen here/I certainly would have walked away by now/and I still may..."

I'd be lying if I said that time was crawling along. It's not, it's flying by faster than I can blink. I am preparing for the small funeral that is our new old-life in the coming months where we once again liquidate most of our possessions, close all of our relationships (or at least put them on hiatus), and wish our home away. Our feet to be swept up into the river and over that new waterfall. The current is definitely picking up.

Looking forward to a good jam session again. I have an album to finish recording/mixing, and who knows what will come after that. Really, I just wanna plug in, crank the volume and squeal distorted feedback for an hour or two to remind me of why i picked up the guitar to begin with.

Oh, and pizza, delicious, O'Hanlon's pizza...with a pint of beer...Stella, or Keith's on tap...mmm...maybe i crave that more than a beach in Thailand, I don't know.

See you soon.

well, it's been a while since i've posted about music. what's kind of funny is that since i've been over in korea, i've been exposed to a much greater number of new bands and new albums than i ever had in canada. perhaps because i'm meeting a greater number of people with different origins, and different music tastes. or perhaps it's got something to do with the fact i have so much more time on my hands, i can listen to more music, and check out more bands. so i thought i'd spend some time talking and demonstrating some of the more bands i've recently been listening to.

mother mother

this is the band i've probably listened to the most in the last year. I thank my friend matt kincaide for introducing me to them. they are a smaller indie band out of vancouver that's fairly new, with two albums under their belt. they've played numerous shows around saskatchewan, for all of which i've been absent. i really dig the layered vocals, with three part harmonies for much of the time. two female vocalists and a male vocalist make for a really rounded out sound. i also really dig the lyrics, good imagery and metaphor.




silversun pickups

A newer band, don't know much about it. Reminds me a bit of the old mid-90s post-grungers, although many people will accuse it of being indie :). Their one single has over two bazillion hits on youtube.com so it has to be pretty popular somewhere anyway. Though I like the song 3 seed better. Decent band, mediocre album with some real gems in the rough. The album I'm referring to is Carnavas from 2006.





muse - the resistance

wicked new album. buy it, love it. this track is groovy as hell, catches you right from the outset. kinda like crossing queen with rage against the machine. yes, as blasphemous as it is, i said it.



the bull north

some home-grown talent. these guys have been around since linger's early days and released their first album only shortly after we did. hard to pin the genre on this one, definitely rock, and maybe some country influence. i don't have anything that i can stream, so i'll point you over to their Myspace to have a listen. I'd suggest listening to When I Come Down or The Pines.


them crooked vultures

the bombshell of 2009. josh homme, dave grohl, john paul jones, and some other guy. the first single is awesome, and you can get a free track off of itunes. it's not even out yet, and i'm pumped for it.



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other notables are old timers, the new pearl jam album's pretty good, as is the new alice in chains. however, weezer's new album raditude is just...nothing special. i love the band, but the formulaic and cheesy hooks have lost me entirely.

anyhow, i didn't really have swine flu, that was my Halloween costume, although there were still some people that night who wouldn't get too close to me because of katherine's convincing make-up. it was a blast, our friend Simon rented a condo at O2 resort in Taebaek, and we ripped it up.

counting down the days and months now otherwise. we have less than four months left of our contract, less than two months left of teaching (realistically only about 40 teaching days), and five months to the day that we'll be back in canada. i'm working my ass off getting my masters' application finished, even though i'm not totally decided that it will be my path.

until next time
keep fit and have fun.