welcome to the new scallen.com -- a text only adventure kindof like Zork, but not really.
in an attempt to keep your attention over the next six weeks while i am travelling with atom and his package through europe, i will give you "1000 words of the day" (instead of a "photo of the day")
to check the photo archives please click on the links below choosing the date you wish to view.
20.10.01
11:50am - riemst - it's saturday morning and this will be quick as i am not in the greatest mood, i am typing on a french keyboard (you have to hit shift to get numbers and the A, Q, Z, M, N etc keys qre noved around) and there is a basketball game a brewing
yesterday was a pretty good day -- on the way from the hague to riemst we stopped at a three level go-carting facility for 12 minutes of insanity. our one hour drive was doubled due to weekend traffic, but i saw a plethora of cool birds and animals along the way - a pheasant, a heron, a daggle of ducks, shetland ponies, geese, swans and a llama. this area is pretty rad with all the farms and wild animals. wildlife makes traffic bearable.
we played at the of De Plekker youth centre, a converted school which hosts concerts, movie nights and other youth events. they convinced the government to purchase this school and help set them up and they run it with money made from liquor/soda sales. (the drinking age is 16 here.) ralf and the other people putting on the show were amazing, as was the food. there was a good turnout and the whole show reminded me of awesome shows i have experienced in Lindsay or Belleville, Ontario, where a show in a small town brings out all the local kids from surrounding areas.
pre-show highlights included mike parsell and sean from good clean fun shredding up the quarter pipe and mini ramps out front. show highlights included atom playing "meatball" several times to piss off mike pyhte and good clean fun as they hate that song. luckily there was no reciprocal attack on atom, and atom even played a cover of youth of today's "break down the walls" for issa, out of guilt.
after the show i checked my email and found out that the students' council at carleton univeristy voted to shut down the darkroom facility that i have managed for the last year and a half and been a member of for the last 15 years. even though i was pretty sure that they would close it, no matter how logically we argued each of their points for closing the centre, i am in a state of shock and it will probably take a day for this to sink in and for me to regain my fight. after two months of dealing with the bureaucracy of the students' association and the university i am drained. last night a very important part of me, and the carleton community died, hopefully it can be ressurrected.
15:03pm - hasselt - today is a short drive so we decided to stop along the way to kill some time. hasselt is a small town outside of antwerp. we drove thru town and ended up finding a movie theatre. the best that was playing was the pledge. mike and atom went to see american pie 2. as much as i could use some light humour, i couldn't justify spending an afternoon in europe in a movie theatre so i walked downtown to look around. checked out a flea market (no video game cartridges :( and found my way to the library to post the stuff i typed out this morning before the computer crashed, check indymedia.org about the nearby protest in gent and try send off a couple emails to start mobilizing the troops on the photo centre front.
the libraries in belgium and netherlands are so amazing. huge CD and multimedia sections. i think i am going to check out the film stills section.
we were supposed to play with propagandhi tonight, but they cancelled, apparently due to the protests this weekend and they didn't want to take kids away from the rally. it sucks that i won't get to see them, i missed them in lodon due to jet lag and was looking forward to tonight.
i think i'd rather be in the middle of tear gas and protesters right now too.
city of the day riemst, belgium (off to kontich)
sounds of the day les savy fav
book of the day reflections fanzine
food of the day spicy noodles with pineapple/bell peppers/mushrooms, spiral noodles with broccoli, spaghetti and tomato sauce
atom's whine/complaint of the day still none yet
posted by shawn scallen 2:05 PM
18.10.01
6:13pm - rotterdam - i'm at a public library right now. i snuck on to check my email earlier without a library card or paying. oops. no one was staffing the little wooden kiosk. i came back here with milemarker's sound engineer rachell so she could check her mail. we sortof got noticed this time around so i paid for 30 mins. rachell got to check most of hers before getting caught. i'll be quick so she can use the remainder of my 30 mins to finish her email.
there is lots of bad (and not "bad" good) grafitti in belgium along the way to the show, the stuff along the train tracks from the amsterdam to the hague was way better, kindof like the wall at central tech in ottawa -- an endless string of 10-ft tall tags all looking pretty stylish.
we got stuck in traffic on the rotterdam "ring road" and mike decides we should get off of it and do a u-turn and go the other traffic-free direction on the beltway. 20 minutes and several u-turns later, totally lost, we manage to miraculously navigate our way to the club from the other side of the city. once we actually find the club it takes another 20 minutes to get to it as we pass by it twice missing the sharp turnoff. we end up in the wrong lane and cross over a bridge to the other side of the river. we try to get on the next bridge up, only to be stranded on an island and then have to circle around all over again. when we don't know where we are going we manage to get there, once we have our destination in sight we can't get there.
yesterday i was wandering around the area around the club, before the show, and ran into rachell near a crazy area with three 100 ft towers with pyramid cages umberlla-ing down from the top and rack of pitchforks on a pulley system in/under the cages. there was also netting overtop of what seemed like the "player's bench" areas. the "playing area" was butted with a bar with a windowed wall adjoining the "field". we were perplexed as to what the sport was. peering into the bar, we could see photos of 4-5 person "teams" and trophies, but no firm indication of the mystery sport. rachell pointed out an aviary nearby and we wandered over there to check out the birds. it was near a stream that stunk like crazy -- open sewage or waste products? we got out of there pretty quickly. when we got back to the bar and asked stevie (one of the promoters) about the sports area he explained that it was for archery. i wonder what they put on the "pitchforks". dead animals?
locals hitch opened the show last night. they were really good. atom played a solid set too. highlights included atom having to shout out song numbers for mike parsell to push play on the "package" as it was plugged into the soundboard instead of into a Di box on the stage. mike was fucking with him a bit. it was funny. mike added an extra second or two pause in the pause in "waiting room". milemarker were pretty crazy too, i got some good shots of both bands.
while i am selling merch, sum guy comes up to me saying he has all of atom's songs downloaded from the internet, and asks me why he can get 30 atom songs using morpheus, but can only find three milemarker songs... i thank him for supporting independent artists like atom and exude disinterest to get him to go away. later on in the night when milemarker talk about how crazy things are in the world these days and how we're at punk shows to enjoy ourslves but should also take that opportunity to communicate, some guy starts yelling "shut up and play". you guessed it -- morpheus dude.
xavier from hitch was the promoter along with his friends hein and stevie. they were great guys. thanx for the amazing food and an equally amazing show.
2:23am - the hague
we are back in the hague staying at coalition records with friends of atom's. a quick recap of tonight's show -- dinner was good -- roasted potatoes, rhubarb, pears, beets, green beans, pineaples, salad and apple pie filling without the crust for dessert. tonight was the first of three shows with good clean fun and our last with milemarker (sniff). atom toured with good clean fun last year and they have had a friendly perpetual rivalry going on. tonight it was rekindled...
during atom's set mike phyte (good clean fun bassist) thru a condom and a couple beers at atom while he was playing. atom was pissed off and needed to get revenge during their set so he jumped up on stage and tackled phyte. then issa stomps off side stage and attacks atom, flipping him over his shoulder and carrying him out to the stage and body slams him to the ground, pinning him in a headlock in good clean fun. i have pictures of the whole ordeal. after carrying atom on stage, issa says "sure atom, sure' you're 90 kilograms".
city of the day kortrijk, belgium (yesterday), rotterdam, the hague
sounds of the day fugazi (end hits/argument), old at the drive in, modest mouse
book of the day soul on ice by eldridge cleaver
food of the day yet another amazing vegan feast, incl. vegetable fritters, braised fennel, mushroom/zucchini stew, fried tofu (yesterday night)
it's 4:33am and i can't sleep. not (entirely) because atom/mike snore, nor because i am worried about the photo centre) but due to the fact that i seem to have got a second wind, something i haven't had in a while. perhaps i am slipping back into north american time zones or a bit of alison "i do not sleep" mosshart, has rubbed off on me through osmosis... or maybe because i know that other people will be in charge of getting me from point A to point B tomorrow and i can try sleep in the van.
i managed to get to Amsterdam in one piece. easyjet.com was pretty good and super cheap -- 22.50 pounds one way. one of our flight attendants looked like Eric Idle (of Monty Python) circa 1970 and was kindof funny. when he came around asking if we wanted any refreshments i was going to ask him "do you have any cheese?" buy he probably wouldn't have picked up on the joke... customs was a breeze, like london -- take the "nothing to declare" ailse and no one is there to even question you... i missed the soonest train to The Hague so i logged into one of their internet telephones and checked my characters on edrugtrader.com (which was kindof fitting considering where i was). i had to snap a shot of that.
the train ride to The Hague was amazing -- windmills scattered on the horizon, boats in the middle of fields (irrigation canals) and bike paths everywhere. i think i want to move here. (let's see how many times i say that over the next few weeks).
my mood/perspective changed a bit in the next hour as when i arrived at the SCSI cell i felt like a complete outsider for the first time in ages and it was sobering. (not thru the fault of the kids at the show or the promoter by any means.) usually when i go to shows i know a couple people, even when i have travelled to Quebec City, Philadelphia, Winnipeg or where have you. and in all those cases i can speak the language -- english or french. tonight when i got to the show (after trying to navigate a Dutch payphone -- phone $2.50 guilders, shawn 0) the promoter wasn't there yet, neither was atom and the gang (mike parsell and stephane the driver) so i introduced myself and sat down to read and wait. i didn't expect everyone to start talking in english or to coddle me or anything, but it was weird and very alienating. food was offered, it was amazing! (see below) and the promoter Bas De Wit, popped in shortly thereafter and we chatted. i am definately going to be more cognisant of new kids at shows i put on in the future. i usually go out of my way to make a new face at a show feel comfortable and thank them for coming out, but i think i need to do this even moreso.
atom and the guys got there an hour later and big hugs were had all around. i was really exicted to see him and mike. it was good to meet stephane, our driver for the next few weeks too. (i'll figure out the correct spelling of his name for the next update.) once they had a chance to stuff thier bellies with the amazing vegan spread provided by Dennis the dreadlocked master chef, atom set up his merch and mike and i headed out looking for some guilders and a phonecard. mike got some money from a cash machine, but all the change kiosks and corner stores were closed. we did manage to pick atom up his requested french fries with peanut sauce and made our way back to the show. i think we should have ordered the "freaksaus" instead.
we missed one of the openers joyphilter (Denmark) but did manage to catch lack (also from Denmark) who were great. they started the set with some nice planned, building, feedback (as opposed to the unintentional/uncontrolled kind) and blasted into an intense set. it's been a while since i have seen a band and a crowd go off and it actually inspires me to shoot some pix. usually it's some cookiecutter straightedge or emo dreck which makes me yawn and i shoot a couple shots for my files... lack had elements of 80s so-cal hardcore (Black Flag?) combined with early 90s (real) emo and "post" rock. hell lets throw metal in there too while i am genre-fying them. check out their website or see them live. to top it off the vocalis had a semi-severe dental problem and managed to pull off an amazing set nonetheless.
the crowd was pretty wild, jumping around in the 20x20 foot club, hanging off 10ft balcony and crowdsurfing (grrr), well more like picking each other up and holding the "surfer" on their heads. the weird thing is that at least two audience members (both male) had their underwear pulled off them while their pants were still on. i didn't see it happen, but did see these guys walking around confused with bits and pieces of their boxers around their neck or hanging out of their pants...
atom played "happy birthday ralph" instead of my request of "happy belated birthday shawn" but as he was going to kick into his "generic b-day song" and dedicate it to me, dude in the crowd declares it is his b-day and i got the shaft. atom i forgive you.
during "shopping spree" a couple was making out in the balcony and atom commented on the romantic nature of the song. it took the Hague audience three songs to request atom to play "shopping spree" again. check out the story behind the song to understand why they did. i plan on keeping a running tally at future shows.
i did merch throught atom's set and developped big plans to streamline and organize the whole process. watchout! all my years of seeing bands do merch at my shows will finally pay off.
oh, i forgot to mention that Dave and Graham half-heartedly tried to get me to drink a beer for my birthday. well, mike and atom have plans to buy me a kiwi later today. we'll see if the straight and narrow path will prevail.
food of the day amazing vegan feast at show, incl. tofu/seitan kebabs, deep fried mushrooms/broccoli/zucchini, peanut sauce, noodles and apple/lettuce/pickle/pickled onion salad
my birthday started off crappy by trucking all the way to the czech embassy only to find out that it's a one week wait for a visa. thanks alot canadian foreign affairs for instituting visas for czechs. i checked my email and then headed all the way out Ladbroke Grove to the Rough Trade record shop and grabbed a great box lunch at a great little restuarant with "Grain" in the name. finally i got some London rain, which made my trip authentic after four days of sun.
in the evening i met up with ex-Ottawa pals Dave Moodie and Graham Russell (my gracious host) and we went to Mildred's (58 greek street). i wasn't terribly hungry after scarfing down another small tub of avocado hommous a few hours previous, but had a nice veggie burger. Dave, after his fourth 18-hour day in a week (he works for NBC in London as an engineer/cameradude) went to Nadine's instead -- "hey, it was a woman's name and on Greek street"). after having a beer and some middle eastern snacks i called him on his mobile and alerted him to the real location.
Mildred's is right accross from Thai Vegan (10 greek street) which has an amazing all you can eat buffet. i ate a little more than "all i could eat" the previous day, only to wander by Govinda's (9-10 soho street) on my way back to the tube and be invited in for their free Sunday feast. i almost threw up on the spot at the thought of more food. luckily i didn't, thanked the krishna dude for the offer and got out of there. i think most Govinda's use dairy products anyway, unlike Ottawa's Govindas. (speaking of which, this week is Feed The World week and i suggest you check out Ottawa's Govindas -- around 240 Somerset E, just down the hill from Ottawa U -- free vegan food all this week for lunch and dinner).
after dinner, and the amazing double chocolate cake, i met up with Alison (sonic states of america, ex-discount) and her friend Kellie (from Florida, via Munich) we went to a club night called Trash near Tot-EN-HAM tube station (Moodie and Graham were always giving me shit for pronouncing names wrong). French/German duo Stereo Total was playing at this club night. they were pretty good, minimal disco/indie stuff. a small drum kit with a Sega Genesis controller hooked up as a trigger of some sort and a bunch of electronic gizmos.
good things about london: graham, alison, dave, kellie, shopping in camden market with the promise ring, night busses, the elephant's head pub, pubs closing at 11pm so you get to see drunks in the streets at 10pm as opposed to Ottawa where drinking starts at 10pm, easyeverything and a plethora of other internet cafes, Thai Vegan, Mildred's, taxes are included in the prices, the new Nintendo game system is out here...
bad things about london: super expensive film (£4.99 for what i'd get opn sale in ottawa for $2.99), they are all about organic/non-GMO food but they still have leaded gasoline and they have very little recycling initiatives, everything is expensive
gotta go catch a plane.
xoshawn
city of the day london, england (leaving in three hours)
sounds of the day stereo total (at midnight), the smiths (now)
food of the day double chocolate pudding (aka cake) with mocca syrup
posted by shawn scallen 11:39 AM
15.10.01
so, i fly from ottawa to philly to london. i get to the ottawa airport 1.75 hours early only to be wisked through security in 15 minutes. it would have been quicker but i had to remind the baggage checker to listen to my walkman to make sure it worked and explain that my lomo wasn't a single lens reflex camera and she should really open it up to check it instead of just looking through the viewfinder.
the flight was uneventful. i get into Philly with four hours to kill and no phone numbers for Philly phriends, so i decide to spend $11 US on a round trip train to 22nd and Walnut - Gianna's - home of vegan Philly cheesesteak. i grab two, eat one in Love Park and hop on the train back to the airport.
i get back to the airport with 1.5 hours to spare and there is a 200+ person lineup for my terminal, Terminal A. i am asked which airline i am flying and was rerouted into the shorter line. phewf. i get through in 30 minutes and even have time to check my email at a free terminal.
i am running out of computer time, and will leave it at that for now. i am in London and i leave for the Netherlands tomorrow morning.
hopefully i will manage to scan/upload some pix over the next while too.
it's my birthday and i can HTML if i want to
xoshawn
city of the day london, england
sounds of the day the humming of the dirty fan on the PC i am on
