Under the Sea We Off the Hook, or Why I Want to be a Hermit Crab

We got no troubles / life is the bubbles
Under the sea!

I have a pet theory, one that I dreamed up during moments of great reflection –usually while sitting on the toilet or waiting for traffic lights to change.  My theory is that this world is the spiritual equivalent of a rock tumbler.  The rough, jagged gemstones are new souls: immature, wild and unaware of the damage they do to others. 

Through the love and hardship of a thousand lifetimes the rough edges are worn smooth and we emerge from the other end as wiser, kinder old souls - polished gems - and we make our exit.  I haven’t gotten as far as figuring out where the stones come from or go to but if you’re looking for hints I always recommend the “Three B’s” - Bible/Bhagavad Gita/Battlefield Earth.

The reason I mention this is because I recently moved apartments and with the hassle involved in moving this middle-class circus from one fairground to another I have decided that in my next life I want to be a Hermit Crab. 

Interview: Committing 'Curious Crimes'

This is the third and final interview I conducted for the Victoria-based music website What's Up Victoria!  

2009 was a big year for the Sunday Buckets – the Victoria-based funk rock band released their debut album, In Case You Hear This, were subsequently chosen by local radio station The Zone 91.3 FM as October’s “Band of the Month” and played a number of gigs around the city to promote the new release.  Now the band - brothers Kale & Jarrett Penny, Eric Frazer, Nick McRae, Chris Taylor & Adam Sutherland - are readying their second album, Curious Crimes, for its debut at Sugar Nightclub on Sunday, May 22. 

Curious Crimes, produced by former Armchair Cynics guitarist Adam Sutherland, was recorded in early 2010 but had its release postponed.  One reason for the delay, Jarrett explains, was that the group needed more time to promote their first album – no easy task in a market dominated by major labels.  Kale jokes, “We called the first album In Case You Hear This for a reason.”  Another reason came when the group parted ways with drummer Spencer Moyes: “We lost [Spencer] shortly after recording [Curious Crimes],” says Kale.  “He...decided to go in a different direction.”  Sutherland took Moyes’ spot behind the kit and though the group is actively seeking a drummer they’re in no hurry to see him go.

Of their sophomore release, Jarrett says “[Curious Crimes] is about being in your early 20s and...having a little too much fun every now and again.”  The brothers estimate that about half of the new material was written at the same time as In Case You Hear This, but say that as the band’s identity emerged the album began to evolve.  “The themes became more concrete,” says Kale.  “We had an idea of what we wanted to sound like and what kind of music we wanted to play.” 

When asked about their musical influences, Kale laughs and says, “I’m addicted to Kanye West right now, which is a bit embarrassing.”  “When we were writing [Curious Crimes] it was all Kings of Leon,” Jarrett says, “but lately we’ve been influenced by...local bands like Said the Whale and Aiden Knight.”

Curious Crimes comes out on Sunday, May 22 with a CD release party at Sugar Nightclub.  “We’re really excited,” says Jarrett.  “Opening for us is a band called Carmanah.  We saw them at Song & Surf up in Port Renfrew...they’re awesome.”  DJs Nigel, Tedder & Primitive will also be on hand, with Gordon Blunt, of Bluntfaktory, handling visuals: “When you walk into Sugar it’s not going to look like Sugar,” says Jarrett.  “It’ll look like our place for the night.”

The group is hoping that the new album will provoke a response from the music community and open doors into larger markets.  In the meantime they are looking forward to playing the Tall Trees Music Festival in Port Renfrew, where island favourites Jets Overhead and Vince Vaccaro will be headlining. 

As far as a follow-up to Crimes the band is in no rush.  “We’ll take our time writing this next one,” says Kale.  “Not to say it will be about being in your early 30s.”


Official website for the Sunday Buckets

Interview: Girls Like the Guitar

This is the second of three interviews I conducted for the Victoria-based music website What's Up Victoria!  The site has gone offline so I'm posting the interviews here..

Like so many people with natural talent Winnipeg native John Bakowski makes it all sound easy:  “I just picked up the guitar when I was fifteen-sixteen....I was bored on a Saturday.”  After four years of practicing 2-3 hours a day Bakowski makes it look easy too - when I first saw him outside Victoria’s Bedford Regency Hotel he was playing the Counting Crows’ “Mrs. Jones”, complete with vocals, and hitting every note.

Bakowski has been in Victoria six years and has been busking for the last two, playing covers of rock favourites to passersby.  This year he plans on upgrading from his spot on Government Street:  “I just applied for my Inner Harbour license...[I’m hoping] to find out soon,” he says.  John smiles nervously then, the only sign of uncertainty I see from the laid-back 20-year-old. 

When he’s not playing “Hotel California” to eager tourists Bakowski works part-time in a local eatery.  Like many young musicians he wants to break into the industry and play music full-time: “I’m the kind of person who wants to be on everyone’s T.V., in everyone’s house....and” he says, a mischievous grin on his face, “girls like the guitar.” 

This is all too apparent when partway into “House of the Rising Sun” a pretty young blonde in yoga pants joins in.   She doesn’t know all the words but then, when you look like that, you don’t need to.  After the song she trades smiles with John then walks away and turning to me he says humbly, “I think that had more to do with you taking pictures.”  The hell it did. 

A smile and a guitar go a long way in this world and as I take my leave of John, just as he launches into a tastefully edited version of Sublime’s “What I Got”, I can’t help but envy him just a little bit.  

Interview: Now You See It...

This is the first of three interviews I conducted for the Victoria-based music website What's Up Victoria!  The site has gone offline so I'll be posting the interviews here..

Jordan Blaikie, better known as Jordano the Great, has been working his magic on Victoria's Inner Harbour for eight years now. A former Ashtanga yoga instructor and lapsed devotee of the raw food diet, Blaikie has always had a fondness for the mystical arts.  “As a kid...I saw David Copperfield on TV and I was amazed,” he says.  “Any magic show that was on I couldn’t wait to see.”

One of five children born to a Brentwood-based chiropractor, Blaikie, 31, was born in Ontario but spent his formative years in the state of California.  In addition to being “Jordano the Great” Blaikie also writes articles online under the name “Liver Flush Man”, giving tips on how to do exactly that.  “I’m...a liver flush expert,” he says, “I’ve done over 120 of them in a 2 year period.”

Blaikie was the second among his siblings to find themselves in the business of illusion.  “[My] older sister... got into magic quite a while back,” he says.  “She took classes from Tony Eng.”  Eng, who died of cancer in 2008, was the owner of local Tony’s Trick & Joke Shop (now Murray’s) and a legend in the North American magician community.  After Jordan’s sister put down the wand for good she passed the tricks and knowledge she had learned from Eng onto Jordan and he took them to the Inner Harbour. 

“Being on the street like that...makes you a good magician,” says Blaikie. “If you’re practicing at home ...that’s good too but nothing beats a live audience.”  His act includes magical standards like coin tricks along with ventures into new territory such as “Black Light Magic”, something Blaikie claims is new to the magic world.  Gesturing to his table he says, “This is all made with fluorescents...they glow under black light.” Recently he began demonstrating his skills at the Sunset Room, Victoria’s after-hours rave venue.  “You have got to be that much better,” he says.  “If you flash anything...it glows in the black light...and [audiences] see it.”

 

As he launches into his grand finale, a complex version of the classic Cups & Balls routine, or shell game, Jordano the Great tells me to keep my eye on the ball.  My eyes struggle to keep up with the shuffling cups until finally he comes to a halt and invites me to point out where I think the ball ended up.   I, of course, choose the wrong one, and that pleases him no end.  “Every magician wants to trick people,” he says.  “They just don’t want to get caught.”


Check out Jordano's website, Tricky Magic Productions.

You're a Champion, Eagle-Eye

Two cooks, a thief.  Not pictured:  his wife, her lover.

For those of you new to the site Largely the Truth was nominated for "Best Blog" & "Funniest Tweet" in the inaugural West Coast Social Media Awards.  The awards dinner was just over a week ago and wouldn't you know, out of 18 nominees Largely the Truth placed in the top 5 for Best Blog.  That's no small thing when your website consists of one guy shoehorning dick jokes into restaurant reviews.

As for Funniest Tweet?  See above, baby.  At first I was chagrined by the fact that my reviews & articles take hours to write yet I won an award for jokes that I cast off like cigarette butts, but then I remembered the words of my mother:  "Shut up and say thank you!"

So thank you very much to everyone who voted!

Oh, and the winning "tweet"?


"It's like The Omega Man out here except instead of vampires I keep running into feral packs of douchebags."


If you're on the Twitter you can follow me by clicking here

Now let's get back to work.  Any new restaurants I should be visiting?