Saturday, July 26, 2008

Mushroom Studio

this is katie bethune leaman's beautiful mushroom studio. she graciously let me do a mini-residency here at the sculpture park near St. James' cathedral. i know it's gross to show a bunch of photos of oneself but who else is gonna do it? fountainhead style. besides, this is all about the mushroom which is so special. it felt heavenly to sit inside and do some work.
all photos by: T. Marcel Bois. Thank you, Ted.
i'm very concerned about the polar bears. Sea Of Tea, for you.
working hard or hardly lurking? doodling 'babe, you've got the love/i like'. guess who.
Majeur de Poseur




ps happy birthday, grandpa. i'm glad your heart surgery went well, pig's valve and all.
i'm listening to jimi hendrix
also...the MUSHROOM studo..in vancouver there lives the famous Mushroom Studios where HEART recorded all their dope albums.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Mushroom Studio




yeah i know

i think, perhaps, i may have seen one of the best live show spectacles of my life. this is coming from a lady who's first teenage CONCERT was The Who. Here i sit in neutral TO ruminating..feeling slightly the way i felt when i had to leave that Who concert on (yes) a Magic Bus tour. Driving away from the *magic* in 1989. It couldn't get lamer. Back to the future, i got to see RICK WHITE (Elevator To Hell, Elevator Through, Elevator, eric's trip) perform NIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN (prior to that a sweet treat solo performance by *rick* who is one of the most amazing looking people on the planet. i would consider taking the time to do a drawing of him - he's that interesting looking. i would care that much about the subject matter to sit down and re-teach myself how to draw which is what i do every single time i sit down to draw) and Tara joined him to do a POPPY FAMILY cover 'BLOOD FROM BONE'. i almost passed out. but the main squeeze is $100 or One Hundred Dollars

Influences:
  • Gordon Lightfoot
  • George Jones
  • The Sadies
  • Dolly Parton
  • Don Williams
  • Doug Paisley


Led by a new young Lady of Rock for real - Simone Schmidt. she's got the joplin, i swear it. But a Joplin that is contained and in control. You can see that in the live show (it doesn't translate so much in the quiet acoustic recordings). She has everyone in the room in the palm of her hand. totally commanding, totally in charge. a killer voice, a killer delivery, killer ALL.
It is always good to see all band members completely in the pocket during a live show - as opposed to a band ruined by tour.

After they blew all of our minds (her band of several men - including a pedal steel guitarist doing things i've never dreamed could from...a pedal steel guitar is a good indicator of the band sound we're talking about here) with their set - $100 took a 15 minute break and came back with all star-studded out-of-handness: introducing various TO musicians from the house of all sorts. One maniac singer (??) showed up at the last minute (still taking his bag off his back) to do his tune and kicked all the bottles and glasses on stage GG Allin style breaking enroute into our psychic space..shards everywhere (which reminds me - i was so into the show i was chewing on a straw and chipped off a piece of second to front tooth. yes. that good)...the Awesome just didn't stop. How do i explain it? A cover of seger's NIGHT MOVES, four ladies all in black evening wear singing back-up, 9, 10 musicians on stage...but the NIGHT MOVES. I was almost in tears, shards of glass from ducts. almost. And i sure as certain called out, "BRAVO" several times over, hands clapping like an entertained queen at an opera.

i couldn't stay for the party any longer. I made my choice. I made my choice awhile back. almost a year ago. I rode katie's bike home because it's beauty sleep i choose. the party isn't worth it.
it knocks years off of your life. i have too much work to do. so much so that it will span several more decades.

remember this for yourself, if you like.

PS i spent my afternoon in the mushroom studio (by katie leaman) more on this! it's outstanding. I get to sit inside her mushroom studio near St. James' cathedral on King Street. I did some art and some craft - made some gold circles, used some silver pencil crayons, wrote the words 'hey baby, you've got the love i like'...wrote the words "I'm free!" (which is how i felt riding the bike past all the businessmen on King Street today and for once in my life i did not feel guilty about this), worked over some collages ('a shadow of your former self'). that's how i roll. i usually close the book and maybe 15% of my art sees the light of day.

xo smooch.
PS i found an old Family Ties episode with Crispin Glover ! Yah! jackpot...he plays one of alex's buddies. I love that show. It's hilarious. Especially the dad - and of course, APKeaton/MJFox's excellent comedy (physical at times, even).
and this is a favourite with "Cousin Kenneth" played by Joshua Miller - the kid from River's Edge...also a Crispin Hellion Glover vehicle. Yay coinky dinks...

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

One Fell Swoop



photograph: ahlers

i've been in transit for the past few weeks. packing up my sheet again and again and now i'm in sunny Toronto for the summer. what luck!

I went to the TO Outdoor Art Exhibition the other day and i took a picture of...more garbage. What's going on? I've been taking pictures of garbage and dumps for the past year now. I am tapping into the collective consciousness.

I am having a great time here. more soon.

but i would like to leave you with this phone message that daniel barrow found online and emailed to shary boyle who sent it to me. It's called 'Douchebag Phone Message'. A lady was approached on the streets of TO by this creep and was no doubt harassed into giving him her number. She uploaded these two messages online. How could she not?

It is the largest display of deluded male egomania I've ever heard - and i've heard alot! Years and years of endless droning self-promoting talking about what he's doing what he's done what he's gonna do talking talking.

But to get back on track - this guy believes he is the greatest guy in town.

http://my.break.com/content/view.aspx?ContentID=527579

basement studio with monster hiding in the corner

basement studio with monster hiding in the corner

Ahlers

going on about Random Avenue, friends, art (maybe), rock (sometimes), movies, current events, childhood memories & other things like bunnies