Wednesday, June 10, 2009
5 minutes and 46 seconds
This is how much time i have left on this computer im not in the mind frame for recollections and re organization of past events, so only present events and future thoughts will be inserted now Im at the library and my stomache is grumbling for sustinance bread wine and cheese will do but i doubt this will happen The show is over here or just there abouts and tonight we have no place warm to stay everyone has the park if one were so inclined to saturate ones clothes in sweat and filth this may not be recomended by your doctor or anybody so for now I am thinking about food and someones bed preferably with a pillow this is rare you know so why do we not have a plcae only these individuals who dont like to share know this no matter however im off to get new shoes.
strange experience in old montreal
day in day out we seem to in need of a host to crash with. we have been couchsurfing for only one night, and wake up each day with the dread, and anticipation of possibly not finding a couch.
we went to the metro really far in one direction in search of a punk house called the squaler. we ended up in a huge factory district that smelled of rotting chickens, brewers yeast, and the occasional sugar cane. we hunted and hunted but the address we received must have been wrong, as the house did not exist.
we then found out that couchsurfing was having its 10year birthday meeting in montreal and we thought we would be able to find a host there for sure. we went to this really rich neighbourhood that actually had detactched housing and front lawns (different than what we have seen so far). a man named Yan said we could stay with him. he was a low talker who seemed very reserved.
when we arrived at the meeting it was just closing up, and yan threw a dishrag at dave and i and said something and pointed at the dishes.
we met someone from romania who was in the process of straightening her teeth with braces in montreal because back in romania her teeth would bleed and ache because they tightened them too fast.
anyway we did the dishes and yan turned off the light and told us we were going somewhere. again the language barrier. he gave us keys to a loft in old town montreal that we could stay in for the night. we arrived after passing the oldest building in montreal 1600 something, to an old decaying, seemingly abandoned space. i remember the light most vivdly, a pale flourescent light shone from the top floor down the stairway emitting a greenish glow over the peeling paint and broken tiled walkways. we went up three flights of stairs down a few corridors until we reached room 12. again we didn`t hear anyone or see any signs that this building was even in use. he gave us the keys and left. we opened to the door ro reveil an amazing space, fully furnished and nice, a complete surprise to what we waded through outside of the door. we were still really creeped out and decided to search the place to find out if this guy was crazy. we found a dresser full of elaborate womens clothing, paintings of naked men, and a television that only played static. i kept thinking of psycho, or american psycho for that matter. we decided we werent going to sleep very well and hit the streets of old montreal and finally slept around 4am.
awoke early as yan said he would swing by to pick up the keys. i left the loft to go accross the street for a coffee and wait for dave and yan. heavy rain was coming down through thick grey clouds. on my way out of the building i hear a televsion voice and some horrible rap playing through some of the doors, realizing that the space was in fact in use.
i sat with a coffee no later than to see dave walk into the cafe with plastic bags over his feet, slish-sloshing about. his shoes were ruined in the rain and gave off a putrid smell of decaying rodents.
yan came in about 2 hours late, and we gave him the key and talked to him waryingly, about the night, the loft, and about him. the place is used for the fringe festival, and the whole loft is underconstruction. everything made sense.
im currently in the grand biblioteque at berri uqam metro with 3 minutes remaining on my internet usage, its crazy how fast an hour can go by. and also how fast 3 and a half weeks can go by.
we went to the metro really far in one direction in search of a punk house called the squaler. we ended up in a huge factory district that smelled of rotting chickens, brewers yeast, and the occasional sugar cane. we hunted and hunted but the address we received must have been wrong, as the house did not exist.
we then found out that couchsurfing was having its 10year birthday meeting in montreal and we thought we would be able to find a host there for sure. we went to this really rich neighbourhood that actually had detactched housing and front lawns (different than what we have seen so far). a man named Yan said we could stay with him. he was a low talker who seemed very reserved.
when we arrived at the meeting it was just closing up, and yan threw a dishrag at dave and i and said something and pointed at the dishes.
we met someone from romania who was in the process of straightening her teeth with braces in montreal because back in romania her teeth would bleed and ache because they tightened them too fast.
anyway we did the dishes and yan turned off the light and told us we were going somewhere. again the language barrier. he gave us keys to a loft in old town montreal that we could stay in for the night. we arrived after passing the oldest building in montreal 1600 something, to an old decaying, seemingly abandoned space. i remember the light most vivdly, a pale flourescent light shone from the top floor down the stairway emitting a greenish glow over the peeling paint and broken tiled walkways. we went up three flights of stairs down a few corridors until we reached room 12. again we didn`t hear anyone or see any signs that this building was even in use. he gave us the keys and left. we opened to the door ro reveil an amazing space, fully furnished and nice, a complete surprise to what we waded through outside of the door. we were still really creeped out and decided to search the place to find out if this guy was crazy. we found a dresser full of elaborate womens clothing, paintings of naked men, and a television that only played static. i kept thinking of psycho, or american psycho for that matter. we decided we werent going to sleep very well and hit the streets of old montreal and finally slept around 4am.
awoke early as yan said he would swing by to pick up the keys. i left the loft to go accross the street for a coffee and wait for dave and yan. heavy rain was coming down through thick grey clouds. on my way out of the building i hear a televsion voice and some horrible rap playing through some of the doors, realizing that the space was in fact in use.
i sat with a coffee no later than to see dave walk into the cafe with plastic bags over his feet, slish-sloshing about. his shoes were ruined in the rain and gave off a putrid smell of decaying rodents.
yan came in about 2 hours late, and we gave him the key and talked to him waryingly, about the night, the loft, and about him. the place is used for the fringe festival, and the whole loft is underconstruction. everything made sense.
im currently in the grand biblioteque at berri uqam metro with 3 minutes remaining on my internet usage, its crazy how fast an hour can go by. and also how fast 3 and a half weeks can go by.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
couch tarde
todays forcast:
rain, not vancouver rain, but showers. a build up of of evaporation for months, that finally glosh it all out in a few hours. the kind that takes leaves off trees, wallpaper off walls, chewed gum off the side of bus shelters, the kind that generally cleans everything.
a day in history:
rented bikes on a day that was hot. biked along a two lane bike path through old montreal to ile sainte helene. biked underneath huge rollercoasters by la ronde (6 flags) and saw the biosphere and some more deserted olympic events. these ones had trees growing straight through the concrete stairways, and hundreds of swallows already called the place home. saw a bike trail that goes all the way to vermont. parc du la fontane with beer and italian food. met up with Tamas from vancouver at a venue he owns called lab sythetique. the show was really artsy and abstract. the venue is cool. in the vending machine if you press orange crush you get beer. a film was shown that was too abstract just for the fact of being abstract. it seems realism is a harder thing to do. the music that was "played" sounded like a dead voicemail machine with a pulse that had been microwaved, high reverb and set on repeat. actually i think it was.
next day
had to get a new couchsurfer near berri uqam. ran into steve from vancouver. he hopped a few trains to get here. he was with a huge crew from vancouver, some dave knew. the people we stayed with one is a graffiti artist, the other a mental health worker. they took us to their studio near metro place st. henri. this is clashing neighbourhood of huge 50 foot highways and small houses placed right underneath them. most of the houses were used in the early 1900`s by the tanners who worked at huge factories (now studios and artists lofts) that were probably nice then, but now are low income housing that are all facing eviction. their loft is a huge wooden loft with a view of a train yard and highways looming in the sky.
couche tarde is their version of macs corner store. which means staying up late. oh and KFC chicken is PFK.
went to the tam tam festival on mont royal park. its a huge drum/sword fighting festival that happens every sunday. all the people that play dungeons and dragons come out wearing medieval clothing with chain mail and home-made swords, bows and arrows, spears, and javelins and there are two teams and they battle it out in the forest. theres about one hundred people involved in the fight that happens every week, the rest of the few hundred watch first in comedy, then in a bewilderment as the people are serious about this shit! i think the festival is about the french fighting with the english, the famous battle, but don`t quote me on that.
fuck the keyboards here are all messed up with accents and weird symbols.
horsemeat is a big deal here. they come from old horses tourists ride in old montreal. oh fiddleheds too are good.
rain, not vancouver rain, but showers. a build up of of evaporation for months, that finally glosh it all out in a few hours. the kind that takes leaves off trees, wallpaper off walls, chewed gum off the side of bus shelters, the kind that generally cleans everything.
a day in history:
rented bikes on a day that was hot. biked along a two lane bike path through old montreal to ile sainte helene. biked underneath huge rollercoasters by la ronde (6 flags) and saw the biosphere and some more deserted olympic events. these ones had trees growing straight through the concrete stairways, and hundreds of swallows already called the place home. saw a bike trail that goes all the way to vermont. parc du la fontane with beer and italian food. met up with Tamas from vancouver at a venue he owns called lab sythetique. the show was really artsy and abstract. the venue is cool. in the vending machine if you press orange crush you get beer. a film was shown that was too abstract just for the fact of being abstract. it seems realism is a harder thing to do. the music that was "played" sounded like a dead voicemail machine with a pulse that had been microwaved, high reverb and set on repeat. actually i think it was.
next day
had to get a new couchsurfer near berri uqam. ran into steve from vancouver. he hopped a few trains to get here. he was with a huge crew from vancouver, some dave knew. the people we stayed with one is a graffiti artist, the other a mental health worker. they took us to their studio near metro place st. henri. this is clashing neighbourhood of huge 50 foot highways and small houses placed right underneath them. most of the houses were used in the early 1900`s by the tanners who worked at huge factories (now studios and artists lofts) that were probably nice then, but now are low income housing that are all facing eviction. their loft is a huge wooden loft with a view of a train yard and highways looming in the sky.
couche tarde is their version of macs corner store. which means staying up late. oh and KFC chicken is PFK.
went to the tam tam festival on mont royal park. its a huge drum/sword fighting festival that happens every sunday. all the people that play dungeons and dragons come out wearing medieval clothing with chain mail and home-made swords, bows and arrows, spears, and javelins and there are two teams and they battle it out in the forest. theres about one hundred people involved in the fight that happens every week, the rest of the few hundred watch first in comedy, then in a bewilderment as the people are serious about this shit! i think the festival is about the french fighting with the english, the famous battle, but don`t quote me on that.
fuck the keyboards here are all messed up with accents and weird symbols.
horsemeat is a big deal here. they come from old horses tourists ride in old montreal. oh fiddleheds too are good.
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