2002-10-12 - 2:14

Can I get a witness?

I find myself with Internet access here in Fredericton (for tonight, at least), hence the update.

The week at home was about what I expected, which is a good thing. Being in the sticks again reminds me why people think it odd that I function without a car. Even with only a few things that I wanted to do (get together with Liam, see my brother's house, etc.), I was stuck mooching rides from people and planning how to get around.

As expected, the week at home was just a chance to chill out. The Cat Power concert, which had been a decidng factor in the timing of my trip, turned out to be a spectacular flame-out. I'm going to have to recap this one after I get back to Ottawa, but . . . wow. Chan has made some great recordings--Moon Pix is a classic and all her albums contain moments of brilliance--but a performer she is not. It's a shame, since she sabotaged herself with a total lack of confidence, even though there was nothing wrong with how she was playing at the time. Ah well. It was, at least, interesting; and I got to hear "Metal Heart."

I think that I spent half of my time at home sleeping, which is a result of being fairly burnt out and sleep deprived going into my vacation. Lazing around, reading, and taking in free food isn't so bad, though.

It was really cool to hang out with Liam again. We hadn't gotten together since Christmas; and I think that the last concert we saw together was Cave's solo show in San Fran.

I also finally got to check out my brother's house; and I spent a day hanging out with him at the shop. Oh, I also got to hear Buck's next batch of songs, keeping myself one release ahead of the stores.

All in all, not a bad week at home and certainly a good break from work.

I took the early bus to Fredericton today, a trip that forced me to rescind my long-standing claim that New Brunswick is just a place that you pass through on your way to somewhere good.

Since it was the Friday before the long weekend, the bus was packed with univesity students heading home. (I suspect that I was the only one in sight with a receding hairline and a mortgage. Lousy kids! Heh.)

The highlight of that crowd came while one girl was playing music videos on her laptop. A girl behind her was apparently scandalized by the latest Christina Aguilera video, but the force of her protest was somewhat mitigated by the fact that she had the entire video memorized. ("Ooh, watch this-this is the part where she turns around and blah blah blah. Isn't that terrible?" Then again, the same girl also carried on a conversation about the Backstreet Boys that did more than offer them as an example of an object of such self-evidently deserved contempt that any disgust need not be explained.

So, I derived five minutes of mirth from those around me and consumed the other seven hours, twenty-five minutes of my trip with the aid of a discman and a window seat facing a rather autumnal countryside.

The remainder of my day in Fredericton was cool, even if I did have to wait to get back into my hotel, after briefly venturing outside. Silly royalty. And silly RCMP. And silly bagpipers. Ehh . . . but what're you gonna do?

Tomorrow is the wedding, which should be a lot of fun. If nothing else, it provides a much-anticipated oportunity to break out my Misfits dress socks. Since Aaron gave me those, I've been eagerly awaiting a wedding, funeral, or court appearance; and one has finaly come to pass. "Now it's Marge's turn to shine!"

J.