check it out, wikipedia article on rhonda's blog about emo, you don't have to read the whole thing, but then again, you don't have to read this either, check it out at Rescue Regina. the following is a response/rant written late on xmas eve. in no way am i lashing out at anyone but those drama-queen emo kids. (i don't mean that, i say that as a jesting stab at them, because like anything, one can't generalize...but in this article, i'm going to :))

well, this'll date me, but when i first started getting into the band scene back in the late 90s, emo was unheard of. i understand the influences stretch way back to the mods and the new-wavers, influenced musically by the post-punkers, but that sort of music was still quite underground...i remember a conversation i had with dave roman when linger was still taking babysteps about this huge underground movement that was coming out of the states...bands like fugazi and jimmy eat world were developing great reputations, and then there was this other band, which was the first that i actually got my hands on (as in could buy at the record store) was "at the drive-in"...however despite their incredible ability, they were still staying largely under the radar...in regina bands like "built in shelbrook" and "pillar" were developing their sound, but they hadn't yet turned into the "sylvie" and the "ghosts of modern man" bands (each of which, by the way, will deny their emo influence and sound, though before it hit the surface, that was what they were)...

it truly wasn't until 2002ish (if my memory serves correctly) that jimmy-eat-world (not exclusively, but i remember that "in the middle" song was considered the breakthrough song of emo) came out with bastardized versions of "emo" (which in reality was an evolution from the pop-punk movement (blink-182, et al) which was in it's peak in the late-late nineties early-2000s)) that turned what was a genuinely new style of creating music that was emotional and melodic into what i like to refer to as CRAP. the death of at the drive in was the death of what i considered to be the legitimacy of the genre. it became twisted into a pop baby, which in turn has been twisted by every teenager to become what nu-metal became, and before that, "alternative" and before that "grunge"...popularized middle-of-the-road versions of musical genres that are comprised largely of copycats influenced by bands that never broke the mainstream...2002 was the birth of emo, regina went from a plethora of alt-rock/metal bands to a split of death metal and all the subgenres that it encompasses, and emo and all the invented sub-categorizations that the term itself encompasses...

so with the death of bands like linger, kerosene, growing silence, sparky, the music scene turned to heavier bands like dirtbred, into eternity, for which most of todays metal bands are heavily influenced by, and on the other end of the spectrum, about two or three dozen new emo bands that are mediocre at best, with the exceptions of the bigger names such as "ghosts of modern man" and "sylvie"...however that's where my local musical history comes to a shortfall, as i haven't seen a live show by a local band that has impressed me in about 3 years, so i haven't kept myself too up to date...

at the same time, my good friend and roommate doug slack is playing in a metal band called "once fallen" that everyone should go see play new years (i think they play early, i hope to hit up that show and the party)...

and though it says in the article that emo is gay-friendly, the music may be, but the emo-kids sure aren't...remember that emo is comprised nearly ENTIRELY of white teenage-twenty year old males, and most of the lyrics involve how some girl broke their heart...it's no coincidence at the rise of the gay-slurs in the same crowd is a product of this cultural-centrism...

i think i'm dipping into a lot of what that wikipedia article talked about, but i think regionally, regina has went a lot deeper into the trend, in bigger centres, one can still see the genuinely good punk, metal, and emo bands that are genuinely talented, but just below the radar, however, in regina, the few talented bands that you could go see that are local never play, as they are shoved out by the crappy bands who will be immensely popular for a few months and then shoved aside due to the feigning interest of a fickle audience (mainstream teenage boys and girls)...

anyhow, my rant on regina's music scene is over...i apologize to those of you who actually read it...

There's a trailer up at the tideland website, as well as clips from the film. Shot in Saskatchewan by Terry Gilliam, this film is based on a book that's incredibly shocking yet beautiful in its description and imagery. I only wish I had such a vivid imagination, I mean, I have a pretty vivid imagination but I don't really need to hide out from reality by projecting personalities onto doll's heads stuck on my fingers...well, maybe some days, but the doctor said those days are mostly over now that he's started me on medication.

Check it out:

"Lock the door, kill the lights,
No one's coming home tonight."

Not to my humble abode, anyhow. Weyburn is my destination, and though I unavoidably will end up back in Regina at some point, I plan on spending the better part of two weeks on a working vacation. Lots of stuff needed to be done, deadlines approaching, but I hope to spend my time in Weyburn out of my own skin, an opportunity to slow down a little bit, take back in the beauty of a lazy afternoon.

The work to get into Souris Valley is getting underway, results by the end of the week. I have an Arri-SR II booked out for the whole time, with 33 mins of film to blast through, I also have a silly little concept that I may need help for, details to come.

Plus, xmas is in less than a week now, always a fun time.

Packing, preparing, readying myself for potentially two weeks of drinking and outright debauchery amongst friends and family. I hope it's not cold out for the next two weeks, that would be ideal, but I guess I have my winter gear, it should go swell.

See you all soon.

What was it like to see
The face of your own stability
Suddenly look away
Leaving you with the dead and hopeless?

Eleven and she was gone.
Eleven is when we waved good-bye.
Eleven is standing still,
Waiting for me to free him
By coming home.

Moving me with a sound.
Opening me within a gesture.
Drawing me down and in,
Showing me where it all began,
Eleven.

It took so long to realize that
You hold the light that's been leading me back home.

Under a dead ohio sky,
Eleven has been and will be waiting,
Defending his light,
And wondering...
Where the hell have I been?
Sleeping, lost, and numb.
So glad that I have found you.
I am wide awake and heading home.

Hold your light,
Eleven.
Lead me through each gentle step by step
by inch by loaded memory.

I'll move to heal
As soon as pain allows so we can
Reunite and both move on together.

Hold your light,
Eleven. Lead me through each gentle step by step
By inch by loaded memory
'till one and one are one, eleven,
So glow, child, glow.

I'm heading back home.

jimmy

Started digging through my photographical collection, sorting, organizing, culling crappy pointless pictures. What killer excitement, except that i managed to pull out over 300 linger pictures, 150-200 souris valley pictures, dozens and dozens and dozens of obscure trees and nature pictures...i think i went through at least 2000 pictures, throwing away nearly half that...i still have to put all my negatives into sleeves, but the collection is within 6 hours of being organized, and i have nothing but time...

it's amazing what no job and no car can do for focus. as long as i'm not spending all day in a haze playing video games, i actually accomplish shit. to what purpose this organization is except to maybe start developing a rudimentary archiving system so that in ten years after 300 rolls of film have been shot, i can still look back through and see old pictures. I've determined that I may be spending too much time on it, as it's not time based...

picked up another 800' of black and white 16mm to shoot...adding to my present stash, that totals 33 minutes of grayscale goodness. i love black and white, stylistic and abstract, it's a beautiful medium. i'd like to use it in souris valley. i'm getting my sweet-talking suit on and preparing to pull some strings in the local community. documentary is an interesting venture. i'm curious and anxious, but it's still the building that draws me to it...

starting to reestablish ties with some of my colleagues who while working together, we were all most prolific...by coincidence (or not), we're all sitting around anxious to do work, and unemployed and free. i've been attending a writing group for about two weeks now, read the draft of the script i've been working on for nearly 18 months, which is n 85% completeness, but i got stuck on a part, but we talked it out, and i think i have a clear plan to finish, which would be great, as it would give me a project to work on to try and aquire grant money.

5 minute project has also progressed, we have a script, we're starting production. stay tuned.

i'll probably post a link to it when i finish, why not, it's pretty complex, but i think the imagery is going to be quite strong, and to me that's all i want to get out of this, is something beauteous in it's own wretchedness. but nay, no secrets to be revealed yet.

For fun

kat's a loser, she's throwing a FUBAR theme party...well, should be interesting, lots of drunkenness ensuing, likely some debauchery and rock and roll as well...i'd like another communal jam, but it may be toned down, bring your acoustics!

anyhow, you know the drill, open invitation, load up on guns, bring your friends...

here's to six more

...i'm unemployed, ranging from a 2-5 month forced vacation, i'm in for change whether i want it or not...nsi has a 5 minutes short film contest...desperately want to work on one...starting tonite on the ideas...

don't know what to do...

pining

well, once again, keeping busy on the creative front. i've been spending the last couple weeks participating greatly in the saskatchewan filmpool, volunteering to teach lighting, as well as mentor a budding young filmmaker, Jodi Sadowski. we're shooting her short film tomorrow, it's neat and interesting, very dark and demented, which'll be fun, we also have one shooting day on sunday to complete, but it's all good, i think it will go smooth, i haven't shot motion picture film in a great long time, and i hope i don't forget some crucial element...oh well, not thinking to hard about it...

ran into justin robson at the indifference concert last night, cool to see him, as i haven't in pretty close to two years ago...reminiscing is both joyful and saddening, and it makes me lament the past...what can i say, he's back in town looking to rock, and i think i'd like to rock with him, it would be a different aesthetic to what i'm playing now i think, but would be fun, we'll see how that goes...

and proudly i'd like to say i've received my 10-pin from the blood clinic this weekend, it no longer even really hurts, maybe for a second or two, but then the real pain is over...but your blood gets used to save people's lives...crash victims, people with terminal illnesses, children with cancer...the amount of pain they have to endure is so much worse than getting a needle for a few minutes...if you ever have heard the scream of a young child getting chemotherapy, knowing that they may need platelets to replace those destroyed by the chemicals which burn the skin around the I.V., that something as simple as donating a pint of blood is the least one can do, these kids have to do this unbearably often...not trying to guilt you, but it keeps me going every 56 days...