bob wiseman

airplane on the highway from the re-release party

2009-10-03T08:47:00.000-07:00

it really stands out in my mind as the most brilliant moment to have a memory made real again. i love these guys and love the way we met and knew each other in our 20s. dave's intro, not heard here, was like the coolest present ever.

magali's birthday

2009-09-17T08:45:00.000-07:00

well i just had to show up somewhere else first. the royal conservatory. what a fantabulous pleasure to collaborate with the madawaska quartet. from the first meeting at their studio in the east end to rehearsing at array to easily doing this show. good signs and they asked me to collaborate/ write for them. oh thank you oogly moogli or whatever current god is in charge of fate.

looking at raw

2007-12-04T22:33:00.001-08:00

almost raw kinda
close but no cigar
moreso than ever

misc

2007-11-19T05:48:00.000-08:00

bean is dying
manfred is fixing the leaky doors
michael is drilling the exhaust for the new laundry room
cbc is liking my archive idea
marty has maybe a movie for me and a show to score
gordie is in barcelona
green smoothies are the rule
magali got the $100 volvo
must pay my gst
filter the tenants furnace
fear of plumbing for the new laundry room

not to self: always tell them put me on early

2007-11-01T18:59:00.001-07:00

arrived early to play pontiac quarterly only to discover i am on last. perhaps liz who organized this evening of performance thought it was special or something for me to be last? people often think of it as the best spot. but i hate being last. it is the worst of all spots. if it is a weekday then people are leaving before the performance ends, walking out on you or before you and if it is a weekend they are drunk or fucked up by the end of the night. oh well.

allesandria

2007-10-20T23:02:00.000-07:00

sports bar
monestary with unknown roommate
london hotel
older guy with orange dye and impossible ponytail at the front desk, boots!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn53HYP1PZw

2007-10-17T12:11:00.000-07:00

this is the last song i played in munich and the feistness factor on drums took it to another level.

a lesson learned in endings for the bob. interesting that when i returned for technically the last show it kinda already happened in munich. this must be another example of why they didn't teach kabala to teenagers.

geneve

2007-10-16T10:37:00.000-07:00

i am so smart sometimes. like once in a lifetime.
good last show but even better was the 2cnd last last show and it was more meaningful
to treat it as such. so nice of leslie to accompany me that night and now it is the
stuff of youtubeness. they all dug the little gifts and brooke and afie didn't find theirs at first and thought i neglected to get them something. HA!.

i played "man of misery" last night to the massive geneva crowd. i knew it was probably suicide. i was right! but the italian audiences have been impressed so i thought maybe we should test it. damn it is soooooooooo tough to play anything with someone in front of you looking back expressing how unimpressed and maybe annoyed they are with you.

prior to pulling out "misery" i think it was a fab show. tech difficulties off the top made it funny. i really thought i might have to can the video. but their english appreciation was especially hugh . such a damn relief and right from jump all dressed up was good. bryden really into the casio. in the middle of who am i i realized he wouldn't know there now are two verses in the 2cnd verse. funny moment of knowing a train crash will happen before my eyes in a moment and not be able to stop it.

jesus

2007-10-15T11:20:00.000-07:00

wow. laundry in ferrara. lukas and paulina.
bicycles. medival art. historical teenage performance with flags being thrown way high. perfect dinner.

@ paolini's grave

2007-10-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

the sudden trumpet in ferrara before my show started. young trainees for earing flourescent light earings in toronto later in life.

it is so strange how we line up and pay lots of money to see some acts that ultimately are of equal talent as people who are broke and playing for free. it is surreal actually

damn fine yellow potatoes guido. wow a city of jessie dembs.

the men from cameroon in the parking lot.
the volume guido mixed me at.
the cow rings in more noses than usual.
talking to magali on the street everyone staring at the man talking into his computer.
guido's place in the country.
expecting child.
was her name monica?
strange that she and i could kinda speak french to each other!

gigi

2007-10-13T11:09:00.000-07:00

udine, secret of secrets. that restaurant with the older waitress all catharine o'hara and what fab food. gigi! you rule. consuella.

too bad afterwards i bumped into a guy among the crowd of smokers spilling a bit of his beer and getting insulted for being "english" but finally someone reminds me of the north american world i am more familiar with.

the woman at the B&B and her computer and the police warning about the internet. crazy.

pistoia

2007-10-12T11:05:00.000-07:00

one cannot park in these places. i parked so far away and tried to find the place on foot with gps. then moved to three more parking spots. finally the good one by the grocery where i bought grapes and roasted eggplant from an older woman. when i just buy vegetables i think they think i am too poor to buy meat?

monica and franco(?) great couple. stayed at her mother's place with monica. the cat got out!

the people after the show so great. all directing me to passolinni's grave and talking video. i am definitely returning to this country.

frosinone

2007-10-11T03:25:00.000-07:00

back to frosinone and it is so easy because i already know the hotel and max.
revealed she only wanted misery and it went over great. sadly max started to improvise with effects in all dressed up. bruno. thanks for lending me your guitar and the
guy who came to try and repair enricos. thanks man. more talk with sylvio tomorrow about driving to pistoia through back roads and only then did i understand he doesn't own this place.

professor

2007-10-11T03:17:00.000-07:00

professor wiseman arrives in cosenza and madly tries to utilize the translation skills of removed-from-thornhill laura the wife of fabio the promoter of b-side along with his palls who loves the hidden cameras. a Q & A from the stage. sadly i learned that night that it is DUMB to show my english films here in italy and afterwards i translated not only hand language and iguanasaurus but the answering messages.

but the next day i discovered crokete du potat. damn

2007-10-10T03:20:00.000-07:00

driving to frosinone where some stranger(s) is going to feed me and crash me?
i don't exactly believe it. but the tom tom (gps) at least seems to work. and so do the many many toll fees on the italian highways.

some mix ups happen but eventually i find it and they are celebrating the anniversary of che guevera. sanish dude is playing guitar and singing in his best imitation of english "love" by john lennon. it was kinda charming though ridiculous. ah johnny i understand what you wanted to do but anyway massimilla(?) (max) doesn't speak english but he makes me a salad and bows to me like we are in medival japan. salad was great! then he brings out pasta with little red chillies. right on max. then he brings me a pizza with no cheese. max. you can stop. then franco(?) sits down and asks when i want to go to the hotel?

the hotel! damn groovy furniture and sylvio's perfect english left me certain he was an america living in italy but no. a couple days later i realize sylvio maybe is looking for some action.

oi pt 2

2007-10-09T03:06:00.000-07:00

so my young lawyers insist on helping me get my luggage of the train and accopany me to the hertz ca rental only to discovered it has moved and would have been totally impracticle to try and get to without them helping me. an aspect of our exchange which would prove itself maybe 4 more times. once at the office the representative knows nothng about my g.p.s. reservation and insists he needs my email attachment printed which i cannot do. eventually we persuade him to transfer it to a second hard drive so he can print it and then i watch the lawyers be lawyers even if they do not win the case it is fun that they are doing it for free and on my behalf.

so they lose but we find out where i coud buy a tom tom and on y va. the clerk at the electronics store so cute. so easy for him to sell since i determined in advance i am buying this gadget.

backk to the car to say good-bye etc. but wait the gps doesn't seem to work! so they come back with me to the store which is open until 7:30. i did tell them many times to leave and not worry though secretly i was grateful to them for staying. marco returns with me while mika(?) waits in the car and we get roberto to go over running the gps system again for me, the child. he makes it all work and i am reassured. we say ciao and i drive to the suburbs to get enrico's HORRIBLE FUCKING guitar

but wait! i then return to milan tolocate anna the woman via couchsurfers who will crash me. the address she gives me is to a swank apartment where they are having a party...for me! so sad to reveal i am a stinking vegan and ruin their canneloni but damn fine beautiful gregarious lot. jacob, the three dudes from napoli "can you tune a guitar? please tune it. will it stay that way now? i bought my girlfriend a stratocaster!" and the impish one who's thesis was about the lighting in 8 and a half and said passolini was a genuius.

and then this woman anna with whom i had a great conversation with back at her place where her two roommates are not as fond of having strangers sleep over as she is. but
damn interesting day and night. her music collection eclectic and interesting and similar insights about religion and government and life. her the only child and not leaving because of that to move around the world. left her with copies of the 10th victim and dersu which she told me were stories by sci fi guy and tergenev. damn

oi veyzmere pt 1

2007-10-08T11:00:00.000-07:00

i knew in advance traveling with baggage for two people would present some possibly extreme tests still one can never really be prepared for handling so much damn stress. commencing with not being able to flag a cab with anne marie who never uses them anyways hence doesn't really know whether it is reliable in the am then deciding to try the subway though we would have to cross some stairs which would be impossible with my bags without the kindness of strangers. strangely a subway repair dude helped me carry my bag down the stairs probably because this woman asked him on my behalf.

ok. so we make it by subway in time and i even get to buy a couple tins of corn niblets and beans with a 70's pop bottle peel off lid. damn smart. and i get all my shit onto the train. of course with the help of another person ane marie. now i take up more than my fair share of the compartment and the other people enter, an older beautiful italian woman, another even older italian woman, a spanish woman who can speak italian it seems (and german). soon it is a gaggle of italian the whole 6 hours.

it is tough to muster the courage to reveal you are a stranger who cannot speak the language. anyway eventually i make the admission and the spanish woman has pity and helps me appreciate that i have to change trains at 3 in verona and the beautifull older woman who speaks no english tells me she is doing the same and in an impromtu sign language beckons me to follow her later.

i kinda admire the guts or nerve of the older british woman who later stuck her head into our cabin and tried to get help. the same older italian woman also0 made this new older british woman know that she should just follow her when we got to verona. meanwhile a couple younger guys boarded. chubby reading the internet magazine and skinny male model jock dude. it is such a wonderful altered staste to experience people who are of another language. sure you are alone and maybe afraid but it is also about as close as we ever come to experiencing going to mars or saturn while living this life.

so anyway it is a fucking mess trying to move my bags once we get to verona because naturally other people are boarding while i'm trying to remove my shit and i require two trips to get my shit off. suddenly chubby internet dude removes my bag. he helps me without me asking and it was really a sign of what was to come in italy.

the old english lady and the old italian lady take the stairs which i cannot and we say goodbye because it seems like there is only 10 minutes before the connecting train should arrive and i need an elevator. anyway i get to the platform and (thank the gods) the train is late so i meet again with the old ladies and we try to talk. it is weird that the english lady and i talk and exclude the italian woman because we do not speak the language but i do not want her to feel neglected because we really owe her for her sensitivity. i start to practice my downloaded torrent iotalian recordings.

io no parlo italiano
scuzi
lay cappiche liglese?
io canadese

so the train arrives. i am so scared of the density i just experinced getting off in verona. but lo and behold there are only 4 people on this car i will be taking now to milan.

to be cont'd

bratwurst

2007-10-07T10:53:00.000-07:00

anne marie in munich took me through the english garden with nudists and families and great flowers and some trio playing avaynu shalom alechim (here?) and then octoberfest which is the CNE not too unique exceot that the drunkeness essentially doesn't also display too much beligerance. wow the subway ride to octoberfest and all those crazy dresses and leiterhosen and the density of people! i had enough of a meat-in-my-face experience to lat a few decades.

end of easy

2007-10-06T08:45:00.000-07:00

so easy this rock life. food always there, place to sleep. just play the songs for 30 minutes or 90 as he case may be.

now off to the unknown doing it alone adventure.

the köln concert

2007-10-05T14:46:00.001-07:00

i owe this feist lady big time for the generosity of bringing me along on this trip.
tonight in köln again remarkable and special and methinks i will have a drummer playing "you don't love me" tomorrow in our last show together in münchen!

fun day with the german promoters helping translate my hand language film. filming probably for the last time the scene for "she spoke a foreign language" and people dancing against woody brick background.

stockholm

2007-10-02T11:38:00.000-07:00

stockholm. pinch me. this can't be as good as it seems. what an amazing listening group! nothing like that ever on this scale. maybe at fat alberts on some strange night when you dream of doing it in front of a big crowd but...

the cirkus! and earlier shot jessie with big screen shadows of brando, bertolucci. damn it will be so good. the woman from the crew shooting me in front of doorways. hope it works.

vega

2007-10-01T12:54:00.000-07:00

copenhagan. steve kado missed it. damn. but at least he was there afterwards with martha. so many cds sold that night. the two women who wanted feist posters @ the end. the cook who made such great food, blue potatoes but threw it all out before i could get leftovers into the tupperware. so sad. the security guard, haze, who translated hand language. that was so good. vindication of my efforts.

berlin U R 2 cool

2007-09-30T14:41:00.001-07:00

shooting "who am i" with jay, afie pushing me with the "b" styrofoam, jessie doing the batman and marlin brando shadows, brydan soloing off the top in "who am i" leslie shooting the fortune teller part with brook's disco ball lights, killer! beautiful crowd here in berlin and so many cds disappeared. could not be a better night.

glasgow

2007-09-27T16:16:00.000-07:00

i loved glasgow. the guy who helped out, andy, the promoter simon and the woman who told me about the other woman who is opening for the new pornographers. hanging out with diane selling merch and being approached by so many people from the audience who were moved and encouraging for my return. a nice shot in the arm after feeling slanted by a guy from gottingen street.

groovy stores down the street and a wonderful day off afterwards at the botanical gardens where i dreamt up how i might make "who am i" into a video with leslie and band?

dublin

2007-09-25T04:47:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt19w9DJwwE

dublin oh dublin. eileen o'toole. maxed out crowd. playing the encore with leslie. brydan actually asking me. sea lion and let it die. piano key flying off. the guys liam, call me george, mike tatoos, myspace, jim bryson(no way), went to sleep! had no sleep the night before after london in the hotel room with brendan.

nottingham

2007-09-23T16:38:00.001-07:00

nottingham. yesireebob. this is what i was hoping to experience from this tour. what a surprise. i hope i can return here in may and get a few of these generous folks to return too.

got out the geffen song with the new john travolta moment. must change the executive too. and the bowie-jackson-garth part. but it was ok to use it and spill more yuks into the show. really fun to see the feists at the side and seeming to really get it and dig it. danny who ran the place seemed very cool too. helping set up the video projector. at the end of the night he offered to hook me up with a booker who used to book ron. i should touch base with ron.

aaron riches lives here. too bad i didn't know in time.

excellent late night falafel.

robbie bridges

2007-09-22T07:15:00.000-07:00

robbie the tour manager is a fine choice though he resents his doppelganger.

london off

2007-09-21T10:15:00.000-07:00

the day off in london doing laundry. the nice couple that helped me. the machine that said if i lost my money go fuck mys;ef. the arab/ african market. pakoras. maybe that is why i farted all night in my bunk? sorry feist band.

2007-09-20T16:24:00.000-07:00

amsterdam show. umimpressed with me. makes me think i have to pull out the david geffen song. be more of a funny guy. i wish i could have a shot to just play my real shit to people really listening. a lifelong pursuit.

amster damn

2007-09-20T10:26:00.000-07:00

how nice of my brother howie to show up at my house by surprise and take me to the airport. to offer me his miniature trolley which proved invaluable after i disembarked the flight with my luggage afterwards and had to make my way not only to the train station but onto the downtown bound train. i liked the strange nose egyptian lady next to me on KLM who talked so fondly of mississuaga. what a strange thing to confess something amorous towards.

onto calling anna sanders in amsterdam who i found via couchsurfing.com . what a damn life saver or at least a savings of $300 plus the taxi to the airport which howie saved me plus the extra baggage costs that the ticket counter woman at KLM save me by insisting i could take my screen. craziness!!

i enjoyed the natural foods store people and their place down the street from anna's and talking with her guy pal kariem about morroco, jews. the flemish and babes.

the show was so so for me. the sold out crowd naturally there for Leslie but i had no sense of people "getting it" that would be me they weren't getting. but they were still pretty loud when she played though of course also very attentive in parts. part of the curse of success is many people attending just for fasion, just because you are on the radio etc.

Leslie has a great thing going on with her way of playing. she respects the audience and is playful. it's a cool time in her life and fun to watch anyone up close going through it gracefully.

2007-09-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

the 40th birthday party for tyler. sean cullens story about the lower deck in halifax. that great bass player gord. heino moving to los angeles. the guy who was a model in the 80's is a caterer now. howie and the israeli/ jewish talk with me and magali. jill and her sisters. displaced keith.

a europa

2007-09-15T07:09:00.000-07:00

whirlwind of getting ready to tour with leslie. cds to europe. 150 in a case will cost me $150 and what happens with customs when i arrive? and when i arrive with my screen and instruments? don't turn me back boys.

the drama of whether i had to pay for renting space on the bus was exhausting but the lady who used to book the rivoli comes through and we're on and there's no bullshit.

now how much for my extra shit like the accordion and casio. so sad since they are small. probably another $150 ea. and then the small airlines to dublin and glasgow but at least i am actually playing there. yippee.

2007-09-04T14:32:00.001-07:00

getting ready for march 2008

uranium

2007-09-02T00:37:00.000-07:00

click here to view

the boyfriend of a young puppet realizes why she died so young.

this film was the idea of becky johnson http://www.ironcobra.com
the song is by me and is from my multi platinum record "it's true" which you probably cannot find unles you are a detective.

phog

2007-09-01T14:24:00.000-07:00

tom at phog has that energy and sincerity that is behind the primary people who make shit happen wherever throughout history. what a dude. strange night factoring in the unexpected fireworks, the race-car event, the jazz thing going on in detroit and of course the fucking speeding ticket on my way back to toronto. but hearing about his podcast, and telling him about "as it never happened" was a great part of this worthwhile trip. i hope to return with a lone comic like maybe kathleen or levi and add to their amazement.

born to love you

2007-09-01T00:51:00.000-07:00

click here to view.
this is the story of bob who died just
after realizing what was his purpose in life.
the song is by bob wiseman and is from his million seller "it's true" available through
http://www.blocksblocksblocks,com
the film was directed and created by adam and dave http://www.adamanddave.com

in seven (hands together)

2007-09-01T00:28:00.000-07:00

CLICK HERE TO VIEW

left, right, hands together
this is an instrumental piece which i used to play with these two men when they were my band many years ago. don kerr and hugh phillips. last year a light bulb went off over my head and this film was made.

the butler

2007-08-12T22:59:00.000-07:00

last white bone show tonight. what a fabulous time even though i never introduced myself to barbara gowdy which saved us both the embarrassment of me gushing over mr. sandman which destroyed me. nice that her guy, christopher, got the musical references right away. excellent acting excellent directing. generally a love in. these people in their early twenties. amazing to be around them and pick up on the place they are standing. they are at the front end of a mystery. i am in the middle trying to not be eliminated by the butler.

last victorian day

2007-06-27T19:04:00.000-07:00

seeing the play by the late thirties actress about her son and her life and essentially her flirtations a la sex in the city i suppose. hard to not reveal that i didn't like it. afterwards at the party a couple blocks away from the theatre totally lovely to hang with the two who's play was much more what could be worthwhile in these festivals. dirk and julie? she is very talented and might not know that i wasn't joking when i asked he to act in one of my little films because she could be 15 actors!

my hot peppers in the broccoli thing kind of ruined dinner for magali but not necessarily everyone else, kirsten, bill and danielle. danielle was so kind to help us out but i am not so good with these air blown mattresses though they seem to be all the rage these last 4 years. so we headed to a howard johnsons this last night off. need a good nights sleep. the guy at the hojos thought my name was like a musician he used to know that wrote "travel agent".

the cat under the hood of the old car

2007-06-17T22:08:00.000-07:00

what drama. pumping the gas, late at night in the heat, bugs buzzing all around me. a cat cries. filling the gas checking the oil. cat cries again and again. i recognize the pitch from my own cats. sounds like it is from above. i wonder if a cat is stranded above the pumps somehow. i don't see it even though i hear it. the lay of the land makes for hallucinatory listening. magali asks what i'm doing and i explain i hear a cat crying from somewhere but don't know where. there is an old car parked there. it is for sale. from the 50's. i realize the cat can only be trapped under the hood. there is no other explanation. dude inside, burly right out of deliverance. i ask if i can open the hood. he doesn't give a shit. sure enough there is a kitten trapped. how many fucking hours in the heat. what a painful idea and maybe death and maybe somewhere else some critter died from an accident like this. anyway i am a hero in my imagination for the next three hours.

hollywood downtowner

2007-06-10T03:59:00.000-07:00

bruce, rotweiler tattoo, sentimental drug days, his dr. to obtain valium when louie was crazy on halloween, the ferris wheel at the ex on acid

the endless drive to get to the beach, through beverly hills, my aching back, the hollywood hotel

breakfast with chris the amazing video dude, staying at his house, his roommates the starbuck bros., talk of the band mathemeticians(?) the twin tower ikea lamps "never forget... to turn off the lights"

spaceland, where's brian? hearing from bruce

sunshine

2007-06-03T09:05:00.000-07:00

this place, the sunshine coast has so many ghosts, of jamie, selina, the curling rink, liz, the dances at roberts creek, the smorgasboard that awaited us when first we came, the signs on the highway.

but the heritage playhouse is a wonderful spot and i am amazed when i actually get a fucking piano to play. woman at the end upset about scott's poetry. damn i thought i recorded her.

no sleep at joe's through no fault of his place being excellent. but sometimes it just goes that way. i am once again ruined until i can fall asleep.

den

2007-06-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

on denman island getting more familiar with keith.
left the pepper spray with him and meagan.
damn the border morons.

las queti

2007-05-31T09:11:00.000-07:00

jenny rules.

sleeping at u of w

2007-05-09T22:23:00.000-07:00

windsor at the phog. they were n love and say it will be packed next time.

toronto story

2007-04-12T03:46:00.000-07:00

guy busking at yonge station with thumb piano while on my way to have a blood test at st.clair and yonge. i noticed another guy that looked possibly drunk and homeless, walking like he was out of it, bent down. i thought he dropped some change into the busker's case. odd i thought and testament to how out of it he was that he gave money to the guy busking when he was possibly very much in need. then i realized the sun glasses on the thumb piano busker were because he was blind. and a minute later as the subway was pulling out he bent down to feel for what money he had collected and there was none. the other guy in fact bent down in one move and stole the blind buskers money.

earlier i got an email from monica in italy. wants to book me through europe. eventful morning.

best sleeps of recent years today and yesterday. i really need no pressure in order to sleep. quiet and dark and room to roll over. damn.

glen and me going to rona getting shit for soundproofing the understairs. especially after sleeping well i think the next move must be tearing down the addition and getting our upstairs bedroom happening.

too good

2007-04-06T21:16:00.000-07:00

what a day. met mez at the subway on his way to use my van, gave me his metro pass. wow. guy at second cup at queens quay told me about the water taxi and then he offered me a free ticket. these shadow theatre people are amazing willing to work on libelous with me. a brilliant afternoon. then lysh comes aboard to be the fourth person on the tour. too good.

the party for exclaim

2007-04-04T22:07:00.000-07:00

me and cleave back in the room from 20 years ago. that's the coolest part, the secret knowing of another lifetime. fun to see ian too but i didn't recognize him for an instant. seems like everyone suddenly is grey, jola, ian, cleve, me.
good to talk with steve with whom i had strange relations when the dim crook was more frequently in my orbit.

2007-04-03T02:26:00.000-07:00

strange to be at an event to mark remembering a time of slavery.
but only jewish slavery. one might think that a focused religious
person would attempt to see the wholeness of all slavery and
possibly realize that if anyone is a slave then we who create this time of reflection, are as well. not
just those of us who are circumcised.
repelling me further is the game of speaking in other languages which
aren't understood. if it is a game to recite something like a 1rst year
swahili class then so be it. but this situation is suppose to be about
ideas and it falls short of the mark. especially when the person leading
it, fresh from lecturing us about mystical insights of godliness needs
to make ill feelings in the room and establish his moral superiority.
too bad i cannot seem to lead him towards seeing that the god he "worships"
probably would be closer to him if he could behave more saintly.

tinto interview

2007-04-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

interviewed by craig from beat route and afterwards i lugged him along to pick up drywall and sonobase. i realized afterwards that a copy of an interview like this would be a perfect template for the 2cnd scene in the battistella film where an interview happens upstairs at the blacksheep inn.

2007-03-28T22:44:00.000-07:00

what order of things?
penelope publicity. needs music of all three.
ac for the van
need to firm up
windsor, saskatoon, salt spring
los angeles, tucson, atlanta & memphis

hammer

2007-03-23T20:12:00.000-07:00

nice to have enough to leave mr. mannequin more than he probably assumed because we had a good guarantee thank you mr. cincinnatti. that good guarantee originated with the addition of a woman who spells her email backwards and the juno award winning negotiating skills of mr. lesage holdings. geoff and i had to leave during the wax set. geoff forgot his coat but was pleasantly surprised by the guarantee. the presence of the doctor is weird. what to do with such weirdos. and of course dylan! the screamer. cfmu dude. my brother maybe.

casa

2007-03-23T20:10:00.000-07:00

jonathan cummings wrote an amazing article, a preview for the show. i was so pleased to see him there. also bri of the constatines and steven evans and whatshisname from snailhouse attended the show. a great night. sold out. ida opened as well. stayed at lysh and madisons' place. madison catching a plane to ? @ 4 am...i didn't really sleep but was appreciative anyways. courtney was sick.

pbro almost killed

2007-03-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

end of night peterborough guy at pizza give me a ride for gas please. my car broke down, it's over there. wow. i can't believe i didn't give him a ride and in retrospect the dude would have rolled me. horrible frightening story.

i thought yolanda was the opposite of who she was. very funny.

sadlier house, a perfect place for future performances.

playing carmaig's song together. it was video taped too i think.

blacksheep out

2007-03-20T15:49:00.000-07:00

what weirdness - after paul who runs the blacksheep inn in wakefield makes racist jokes about arabs and quebecers, i respond by calling him on it and he rotyally fraks out.
black sheep inn no thanks anymore

london

2007-03-16T15:44:00.000-07:00

with bob snider at the london music club as the weather got bad i wondered if i really screwed up knowing we would be driving back at 2 am and the rust under my celica is dragging against the snow. really bad bob. other bob's cough was troubling though he insisted it was worse for the listener than for him. "have you ever seen a doctor?" "yes, once in 1973 for a back problem, i had to for my job." "that was the last time? 30 years ago?" "uh huh. i don't want to hear what they might want to tell me."

he commented that there was much death in my new work.
the straights love bob. the owner was all over him. excellent adventure for about $40 ea. after gas. not.

2007-02-24T15:50:00.000-08:00

velvet elvis and my 'lil confrontation got geoff thinking i would get my head kicked in. but i know the power of what sarah spracklin did all those years ago while being heckled and for better or worse i have to jump into the fire. but i was appreciative of liisa. what
a gal. and anhai ruled and geoff discovered her like everyone else did 15 years ago and that was worth the price of admission.

full of shit jim

2007-02-10T06:35:00.000-08:00

some computer problems what with the screen saver commencing it's "help" when i don't need it, like in front of a good sized audience. not as packed as i would have liked it and i guess that is because they had a grand finale at a church down the street. but the recognizable laughter was pretty encouraging but lolita the dreaded vegan from the southern states and on thopposite side phil with whom i stayed a few days ago with his wife shelley too. what a great painter she is and thank goodness she helped make the signs for "young conservatives against the environment".
fun talking with amelia chester about making that film, and activism and the man who co-stars in "she only wanted misery" .
heather from years past in toronto and vancouver, now mother of 3, was in the front row equipt with two(?) cameras. had her up for the encore, which she requested but we were only in unison. trick changing the note on the fly.

does any of this have to do with the dream i had where jim puts down the shoes i'm wearing and i get defensive and explain their no cruelty background. afterwards i'm pissed that i even reponded. i think this is possibly the same as the many dufus plastic horrible people that i meet at these places who act like we're pals or have some real meaningful experiences in common - L from the luna dans l'hammer. RW who is doing his best ron sexsmith imitation. help me i'm barfing. and finally J who i never heard but you can predict a few things from who is associated with what and though sometimes i am entirely wrong this guy was in fact a cure for insomnia.

platinum

2007-02-04T07:09:00.000-08:00

rothesay which does not pronounce the "th" was pretty wonderful. jeff who booked the show was a gentle pro though it was amusing that his emails leading up to the show indicated a worrying sort of personality. funny that he managed the northern pikes. but the big deal was meeting kenny maclean of platinum blonde and gossiping about terry brown, johnny lovesin, alanah miles
and his position at the rock and film setting in saint john. i very much look forward to the picture jeff shot of us. "i'm not good at posing" he said. "ya right" i said. then he assumed a very funny 80's mock shot and i jumped into the frame.

freddy

2007-02-03T07:13:00.000-08:00

i like the anarchists. always have. but i don't assume a nice place to crash and when i got to the underground cafe i made the assumption that i would be better off going back to saint john - knowing what the space would be like. so despite the kind offer from the young girl who worked there i called claudine and arranged to be there by midnight. i played first.
though the guy who played after me introduced himself as a friend of bill and kirsten's in victoria.

he did beat box stuff to lyrics about the revolution we are apparently all wanting to be part of. i think in the second piece when he divided the audience into a call and response "when i say HUMAN you say RIGHTS" i left.

i was reminded of the scene in "blood in the face" when the nice neo nazis are trying to make their point ot the cameraman, and present themselves as eductaed reasonable racists and then their third colleague starts explaining the unltimate truth as dictated from a numeralogical perpective and the former talking heads are noticeably annoyed.

me and beat box man are probably on the same page politcically but he doesn't know lectures-as-entertainment don't mobilize the troops. it does the opposite.

george a good man. i hope he is still there if i come back with bob snider. i would like to make george some money.

the kinks were playing when i walked in. it was hard to watch a young guy ask what was playing and then find out it was the kinks and then remrak they sound just like the beatles. he is so lucky that i am a pacifist.

guild

2007-02-02T07:26:00.000-08:00

charlottetown was so great. what sort of cute bomb has gone off since i was there last?
tat farmers' market especially. nice to meet maggie helwig's father as well.

and several times while i played the show i thought to ask the crowd if anyone knew carol le claire. but i forgot.

amazing projector. the best my films have ever looked and for an encore i got out "bob and choice". damn perfect. i wrote levi, nathan and scott afterwards to tell them how good showing that film was.

staying with gary and susanna and their daughters. her stain glass work was totally arresting.

jethro tall. i must do something for him next time. apparently he is a chef as well. each me some tricks jethro.

toilet

2007-02-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

sackville. apparently that drummer who insulted me so perfectly a few years ago was the person i met with the artist in residence when i first got there. i always want revenge though the jan cox thing i recently read about how everything is absolutely perfect is a better short circuiting concept.

that shit aside sackville was fun though small crowd. john is an interesting man and in common we have stuff from karen houle to cartalk on npr. i'll possibly come back for a peformance talk or something like that? his show "pause" i would like to hear.

my humble apologies to the guy from the hotel who didn't take me up on my offer to use the plunger myself to fix his backed up toilet.

paddock street

2007-01-31T07:42:00.000-08:00

this was unique for many reasons. claudine and the maple syrup scotch, the wood floor apartment, the frostbit siamese ears, the farmers market, the guy from toronto next door and the carved outsider decoys in his window, the promoter and his sister's unknown pregnancy(!) his offer to stay on the ground in his bedroom, god bless him , his love of kids in the hall, the journalist and the "in her dream" photo they ran. the indie record store guy, gavin(?) who might get involved with another show especially with bob snider by absorbing some costs. i also offered to do an instore.

volfie

2007-01-30T08:55:00.000-08:00

discovering andy who played with jaymz bee and bob and knew ronnie from an early look people video was interesting and his free video software. rick, mercedes, justine and ellis. must send th hidden fortress and the king of hearts their way.

hamiltonia

2006-11-08T02:28:00.000-08:00

the geoff berner hamiltonia show and the guarantee i wanted seems to have fallen into place. tonight playing with the twins from halifax who offered their parents car for my east coast tour. somehow i expect some memory loss when we get closer to this actual eastern tour but i will enjoy believing them for now.

mr. l. how could you say at the end of the show "how was that for you?" classic cop out response. probably because of the beligerant dj from cfmu screaming "born 2 love you".

dionne warwick

2006-10-24T23:19:00.000-07:00

listening to her sing burt.
can't help myself from crying.

Perfect

2006-10-23T22:25:00.001-07:00

somebody pinch me. jason trachtenburg of the slideshow family players, confirmed earlier today that he is into touring with me and magali through canada and america. this is too good. So east coast bob tour in feb followed by 2 weeks with geoff berner, march dates with scott thompson, may and june with magali and jason. AND annebella in september. Damn.

ida nilsen on high rotation

2006-10-21T22:09:00.000-07:00

magali thought something was dead in our apartment. it was old onions. note to self. cook no onions for magali.

setting up feb tour with geoff berner.

setting up more scottastrophe shows in ontario.

must speak with matt suhar about how to do the bloomington show, maybe kaiser cartel will do it with me and then i'll approach the art hospital? need to get that visa extended.

Secretly Canadian

2006-10-17T11:40:00.000-07:00

Trying to find a label for bobby in america - moved forward again after meeting mark, the drummer from Magnolia Electric Co. last night at the west end cultural centre in Winnipeg who suggested i would be correct to try and play Bloomington in order to showcase for the Secretly Canadian guys who have previously rejected my work. They are in good company since my work has been rejected by K, Killrockstars, Merge, Domino, Bar/None, Thrill Jockey, Touch and Go and more who right now i can't recall. So now we must book a show at the Art Hospital and find another act to up the liklihood of Secretly Canadian people actually coming to the show.

wpg

2006-10-15T23:37:00.000-07:00

scott was so pleased to meet my mother. and she him. damn funny!
scott held back from his usual. magali and i both agreed it was because of my mothers' presence. who knows. a wonderful final show. the next day we had lunch at elaines. i'm so pleased scott was moved by her painting. dom from the west end such a great guy to work with. so funny to see my long ago 8x10 on the wall signed to my friends at kelekis!

saskatoon

2006-10-14T23:43:00.000-07:00

always wanted to play the broadway and now i know i was right. the best damn place to play in saskatoon. ryan and lysh are pretty great. scott in the backstage bathroom! so tell the whole crowd why don't you?

mount royal

2006-10-13T09:57:00.000-07:00

christina. you are so cool. josh smart setting up like a concert. i don't think they ever do that here. line up outside the door. almost every night. shower in the bathroom downstairs. the sandman inn, only 4 hours to sleep. marathon to saskatoon tomorrow.

favalicious

2006-10-12T10:05:00.000-07:00

thanks alison, kristin, aaron, joel
sold out sweet patootie
though strange menage a trois were inevitable.
scott so excited. once every 25 years i do it with a girl.
and that guy from the dead trolls. amazing.

regina

2006-10-11T22:36:00.000-07:00

the strange israeli guy at the end who asked scott to sign his ass? great crowd here in regna. amazing actually maybe the best show? liz and steve i dragged 'em to the front. steve didn't even bail to get to his postie job. scott was in excellent form and damn we sold a lot of t-shirts afterwards. greg. what a prince and the rest of them there at the exchange. and their projector is so much better than mine. i never saw the images look so crisp. what gives? colder than whitehorse outside.

franks slide

2006-10-10T10:11:00.000-07:00

driving on this day off which started in the morning getting our equipment from the arts station discovering jenifer wantd to hitch a ride, no problem, to surprise her bf. we stopped at frank's slide. always amazing. jen's story pretty interesting about her mther and fathers' lives and her many siblings. ate lunch at johnnies(?) in some small albertan place like lethbridge(that aint it) and got into an argument sorta about thanksgiving. scott-magali-me so when scott left a signed autograph he made it out to happy thanksgiving. crazy.

fernwood

2006-10-09T10:15:00.000-07:00

ah fernie finally at the arts station. perfect place to play and hopefully keep going back to. troy'as wife's humus. the absolute winner. mike who taught troy in high school. my diplomatic response to mr. smelly's picture on the wall. "he never paid his band dude". and the nice hotel with no remote control or water in the pool. so sad.

vulcan whole earth catalogue

2006-10-08T10:17:00.000-07:00

wowser. what a fucking beautiful place. wonderful people. dude opened who is expecting to be a father any second. it was filmed. i would like to see it especially since we paid for it and cott broke chracter to talk to a young boy at length. really funny. "i'm ruining you". what a community event with pastries and tabouli on the counter and the woman (rabia?) that we stayed with with her special chair being brow beaten by a regular earlier in the night when she tried to put her chair on top so she could see. jesus what silly bullshit. what a thrilling place and life raboa has and damn of tamara doesn't have the most magical place i have ever seen. sounds like magali and i might be able to do some trading with them. horses, sheeps, dogs and cats and little birds.

son of nelson

2006-10-07T10:22:00.000-07:00

finally the capitol theatre. if only michael could have made it too. jamie, jillian and tracey? wow what a great night. too bad we ordered a steak for scott which he didn't have because he got room service instead. the only person i ever met on the road that orders room service.

jamie and jillian rule the world.

neil was great too. and gin. who'd a thought?

guy on his cellphne while checking scott. too much.

horse

2006-10-04T22:25:00.000-07:00

whitehorse. returning to that beautiful art space theatre. right on eric man so hard to reach. with similar facial features as ed the theatre guy in toronto. big screen! and magali did the slides from remote location. i liked the guy, forget his name, tech guy who helped. thought he might be a good person on the road. the hotel with the wood patterned carpet. and susan was there too who i stayed with at frostbite. so cool. great crowd. tried to attend the jam afterwards but it was over. later read about it in somebody's blog. sheesh.

futurepast

2006-10-04T07:18:00.000-07:00

day 5 of rawness. no difference in weight. but always feeling full. amazing rawhich from rawlicious rivaling herbivore. exciting to know. played napanee last night. the owner who i liked very much when we met him at shelter valley turned out to have much less in common with me than the good feelings when we met in september. starting with telling me about cousins of jims who live nearby. moving onto his friendship with mr. gout from the 80s. then showing me a video he and his pal made of palestinian rights during gaza filled with quotes about malcolm x, mandela etc. so then i asked him about shawn brandt etc. which is among the local issues and he gives me some history including articulating how the natives don't really like shawn and how he isn't really an indian because he's partly polish. the very way jews talk discrediting about palestinians. he tells me all this in a whispered language. there never was a palestine bob. those poor people, he talks some of that perspective those poor aboriginals i wish i could help them blah blah blah i tell him how confusing it is that he has not involved himself in any other political issue especially this one right here in his backyard. he gets upset and fucked up asks if i'm upset with him. yes i say. he gets more tongue tied and upset about how he's tryoing to be "how should i be?" etc. i don't want him this upset and i feel bad but shit it's not easy to hold my breath and not say something when it's so weird that he wants points for his militant side and it's just a fashion statement. in the video he's all like an army rock singer. fucking do it for first nations everywhere especially in canada then.

beachcombers

2006-10-03T22:30:00.000-07:00

so nice to play the heritage playhouse. hope i alwyas do that from now on there. joe, what a prince! and the next morning holding court for three hours at the gumboot. scott changed the split because he wanted me to take charge of the setting up of interviews. a few cracks about me being passive aggressive (which aren't true!) but anyway i am pleased to set it up now because it really isn't hard to do and it makes more folks come out. i guess this was partly the aftermath of vancouver? "hello robert's creek!"

ubc

2006-10-03T22:29:00.000-07:00

what happened to vancouver? nobody knows? the commercial drive friends say they never saw any ads. bizarre? everywhere else sold out and $20 a ticket?!

futurepast

2006-10-03T08:31:00.000-07:00

dreamed about being in kingston which is interesting because in fact i am playing napanee today. tom st. louis was walking round looking much skinnier than present day. told me last time he was here it cost .25 to stay here. then i saw ben stiller walking round i introduced myself and tried to put on no airs.
"ben, hi, i'm bob"

he wore a stroke of blue make up over each eyebrow, had very blue eyes, and something else was blue like his ears. it was crazy. i thought that the effect on his eyebrows was laughable here yet probably ordinary even brave in los angeles. i thought it makes sense that this is a trend that has happened or will happen.

i play napanee today and wakefield tomorrow. the wakefield show is with two other artists.

futurepast

2006-10-02T08:35:00.000-07:00

dreamt david's mother died. she was only 71. and david was still alive. i don't remember much more but the disorientation upon waking up. i felt sorry for her. i always have. i should send her the song she asked for before it's too late.

2cnd day raw. fruit for breakfast. salad for lunch. smoothie later. dinner with howie at live. sparks fly talking about the film ban re: tel aviv in light of me hanging last night with yael etc.

finished june's new film and left the music in her mailbox. if she had joined us for dinner howie would have been all over her for sure. i don't know whether it would be a good thing.

quadra and johnson

2006-10-01T22:34:00.000-07:00

ah what a relief to have the first of many magic shows. but really important to land a magic show tonight in victoria. perhaps it was because we were so familiar with this town after rehearsing here all the week before? scott signed somebody's ass afterwards.

futurepast

2006-10-01T08:39:00.000-07:00

the gladstone party had me soundchecking at 6 and laura told me i would be on last. of course whether she knows it or not this is the worst possible slot because people will probably no longer be there. and that is what happened however the packed crowd talked through every performer before me so that made it easy and desirable to play last. there were maybe 20 people by then. especially fun to watch other famous folks deal not so well with the chatter during their performance. i love that because my films solve the problem. now if just the world would get excited too. had a nice talk with keith before things started about where he lives, his cat that was named after the ballet move for juming. those people kelly, gillian, heather and andrew were such a lovely moment of 2001 and 2002. really fun rehearsing in the stairwell with heather. rocking back and forth to that cliche by ian tyson.

spoke with yael about the film fest. praised her courage to stand and take the heat. i think she probably appreciates hearing it and i confessed my confusion. she told me that their letter was not about a ban a boycott but that the media redirected it that way. very interesting. oh enduring hanging at gordie's listening to anat and ken's wife talk about how pathetic these jews are who would be critical of israel. an impossible group to talk openly with so i just sit there like hanging with cult members barking.

thabbey

2006-09-30T02:25:00.000-07:00

in the morning, in denman, we went to keith's on the other side. woke him up. what a beautiful spot he has. great long talk and then back to cafe to hopefult meet kirsten and lyle but no luck. however the young man/girl who carved avocado pits had a good opportunity to gift scott. the show that night at the abbey was so very good and a shot in the arm. folks were freaking out over him.

first scottastrophe

2006-09-29T02:22:00.000-07:00

at the end of the night there was much fire in our fearless leader for the blonde and curly haired lyle who with kirsten travelled from victoria to camp and watch this first show. vig, the king, was pleased to see it all go smoothly and what good green room ditties. snart of me (maybe) to request humus each night? the thai raw food guys. norma and the massive trees in the forest. talk of flin flon and entry passages to the underworld. the old man limousine service from los angeles with whom i spoke on the ferry.

nashville

2006-08-23T20:09:00.001-07:00

here alone in a nice hotel room in nashville waiting for chinese delivery sans msg avec spicey tofu, i am enjoying the time to double check on the scott thompson preparations for the fall, edit the radio pieces for cbc and go through the backlogue (is that a word?) of emails piling up from film festivals, record people, agents and taxmen!
sheesh

misc. may day

2006-05-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

3rd floor soon empty. the pressure is on to fix this up before leaving in august to tour with final fantasy.

emma has made amazing redesign of In Her Dream. now Theme and Variations must get finished.

still no deep sleep as far as i can recall but maybe some dreams.

sleepless

2006-05-23T06:04:00.000-07:00

still passing so many weeks with no real memory of any deep sleep. how can i still be alive? i don't get it.

new jersey with chris harford was worthwhile. good thing magali and i went back at the end of the night.

who to ask

2006-04-19T13:04:00.000-07:00

looking likely to travel with owen in august and september, must have that new cd ready. it sure is fun to have someone else involved with listening when i record. who to ask...kyp? busy with kids. someone that makes me nervous yet comfortable.

should i run for the board of lift?

lift workshop

2006-04-12T23:46:00.000-07:00

finished the workshop at lift again and realize a few things. i must call the potential students next time and impress upon them the importance of submitting something before the thing commences. a .mov - also people like it if i show them song tv things i've done and talk about what happened with the directors and me. should show the super 8 stuff by martha colburn with and without music.

two vancouver nights

2006-03-30T23:35:00.000-08:00

at rime wednesday and thursday. the first night with leah and the second with fond of tigers. the guy who books the place, cem, pronounced jim, wasn't able to see the wednesday show. i ate there the second night. better to enjoy my special vancouver places next time. tom of old toronto days was there as was nola and jason's friends and a woman who knew many winnipegers from my own past. plus mr. cadell who thought my photocopy of my album cover, which made it appear like crosshairs, was intentional and possibly smart. so disappointed to admit none of that was actually going on. ida & dave of the buttless chaps were there too.

stayed at nola and jason's. email down the street where the woman asked me the first day if i was alright and then told me to take it easy. what the fuck?

that play leah and i went to on march 30th was so good. well one good one shit. the first one about a reality tv show, so good. the woman next to me, her name possibly camille(?) was so good. as was the jewish looking girl that played the tech person who had a kniption in the middle of it all.

cumber bun

2006-03-27T23:42:00.000-08:00

ah emma's overhead of a cumber bun for the cumberland show was funny if only to me. the barber with the older woman drinking under her smock and vig the sound guy were excellent highlights. daniel and cathy too.

nanny

2006-03-26T23:53:00.000-08:00

who would expect to find these israeli's here in nanaimo? the guy who owns the thursday camel and the woman with him who is getting her pilot's license. i think she was not the least bit interested in talking about israeli politics etc. though he was actually very interested in 911 conspiracy theories. perhaps he has an unknown slant on it all? the fact is he had very good tahini and showed me how to cook eggplant without drenching it in oil. now if only there was a crowd at that show. nice people though. the woman from london and the one who more or less ran the place, were pretty nice.

stayed at the house of the former stepfather of the guy from the radio station. guy was out of town on an oil rig?

victor

2006-03-26T15:20:00.000-08:00

so two nights in victoria thanks to bill and kristen though money was lost. so sad. great crowd for a living room but i need 4 times that many people to make these things work. hopefully i'll just keep doing it and shit will gather momentum from the uniqueness of the films? maybe not. the interview woman from cfuv was great. the massage i exchanged for cd's and some cash, the next day with someone else also great. bought that bicycle shirt for magali there. yet lotus was not as amazing as the last time with courtney. in fact none of the food was. even in vancouver. what is wrong with the world?

the ferry in the morning from port angeles. memories of mark, ken and david //// floating through my attention. killing time walking around that place. slippery elm bark at the health food store, flirtatious waiter at the internet cafe, leah's camera forgotten momentarily at the greasy spoon.

so glad to be back in canada and not worry as much about her car breaking down. damn window cannot be rolled down. sheesh.

port townsend - little boys! pee!

2006-03-24T15:24:00.000-08:00

what a surprise. not a big crowd but fascinating. hanging out that night with drunk drummer dude while he tried to pick up drunk single mother.he played in that band that played with the hidden cameras one time. then his friend offered us another place to crash instead of drunk guys trailor in the country. whew! but friend's place had no fucking heat. so sad. and other drunk rap guy at friend's recording studio. seemed scary to both leah and i. potentially violent loser dude. but then there was the quiet rocker who gave us an amazing outsider art cd. whew! and dude who set up the show was really amazing too since he recieved no promo yet honoured the guarantee.

by the way leah if you ever read this. i stole that dude's cd of outsider rock.

mississippi studios

2006-03-23T15:33:00.000-08:00

what a highlight and magical show that was not least of all because my cousins were there and i saw my dad's sister earlier but due to the crazy communications between me and the owner which seemed dubious re: doing the show.

i guess i fucked up wiith promo once or twice in this tour. damn it i did so much so often how could i miss this?! when i sent jim an email following "the know" show requesting the admittance be less than the advertised $12 he wrote back with an urgent tone wanting to cancel. andras insisted i do the show when i saw him in olympia. insisted he would persuade jim too. i don't want charity or to owe somebody.

what a surprise to have a blurb in the willamette weekly from that guy jeff who interviewed me possibly 8 years ago. that helped. and amanda and adam and kris calling people. so good.

jim loved it. i can easily go back. he will be a good person to count on in the future i bet.

K records

2006-03-22T15:38:00.000-08:00

well that was a waste of time except becky was there. how did that happen? so pleased to see her and have her see "uranium" and how i set the text at the front. hope she was impressed. leah hit it off with her too. doing andras's radio show earlier was excellent. what a good idea. magali and i must do it here in toronto. the people at the show dug it but were too few. tried to find ANYONE at K records but couldn't get passed the 18 yr. old kid who answered the door of some old synagogue. it gets me so annoyed when i am sure these people would like to get behind what i do. and the mecca normals insist on the truth of this too. but maybe if these people remain out of orbit with me, i should just give up the concern about them. like it's their loss. HA!