2005-06-23 - 11:31 p.m.
What I'm listening to: Digging for Some Words-Juluka.
This song is from one of the first albums I remember buying myself. Rather, I didn't inherit it. My big sister bought it for me-from International Musicland in St. Laurent Shopping Centre in Ottawa. I still remember the price-$14.99 in 1984. Just outrageous. I'll have to make sure to thank her again for buying me that record the next time I'm home.
That was the only place in town that had the record, as it was an import if I'm not mistaken. IM is a musician's store with instruments and sheet music, and more than just the standard commerical fare as far as music goes.
This band was big in the mid 1980s. They changed before the decade ended to "Johnny Clegg and Savuka". A somewhat politically conscious, but commerically acceptable anti-aparthied band from South Africa. The lyrics are a mix of English and Afrikaans (sp?) I believe.
Last night I ran into a few friends and famliar faces at the grad pub. Ended up chatting a lot, and chainsmoking. The conversation turned to romance novels. I have been keen to explore these for some years now out of sheer curiosity, and how funny some of the titles are. I journeyed to the McGill library, and much to my chagrin I couldn't find any in the collection. I searched for such title keywords as "husband", "temptress", "marriage", "affair", even "stallion". Nothing. How sad that this form of narrative isn't circulating in an academic setting.
Smoker-friendly cafes also came up in conversation last night, as well as how fucking pretentious Jean-Luc Godard films are. Sheesh. I saw Masculin-Feminin at Parc cinema the other night. The only redeeming quality was that I got to see a nice big black and white print, of a film where people chainsmoke. I miss watching celluloid. A friend of mine from film school said once that she thought the sexiest sound in the world was the sound of the flickering light from the film projector.
And I thought that I was a purist...
I was hopeful to revisit this film. This one was my first 'real' entry into Godard's cinema. I saw 'Breathless' in first year, but that doesn't really count. As another friend from film school once said: 'seeing a film in first year is like adolescent sex. you're so overwhelmed with the experience that you can't appreciate the subtle nuances of what's actually happening'.
So I saw Masculin-Feminin when I was in second or third year, and I had been around a bit, so to speak. But this rescreening was painful. What a horribly arrogant, pretentious, misoginist film. I expected more from Godard. Out of the two, Truffaut still is my favourite, but that's the subject for another post.
At least I got to see people chain-smoking in black and white on the big screen. This turned into a conversation about various smoker-friendly cafes in town. I went to one in Mile End that was recommended to me. It was fantastic. The light coming into the window was really pretty, and everybody's working and smoking. I got some fantastic writing and thinking done. The coffee is stellar as well.
After working, the exploratory of the city continued. I went east along the bike paths and ended up in Rosemont. Along the way I saw a lot of old factories that are still used as factories and aren't condo-lofts yet. I also found the famous place for topless breakfasts-the servers that is. I had heard about this place, but I never knew where it was. Cool, now I know where to take out of town guests for fine dining. When you visit a new place, it's important to take in the local culture.
The journey will continue this weekend. I'll be out of town, on a search and resuce mission. A very dear friend is going through a really rough time-a really messy divorce. I have a free weekend, so moral support is no doubt needed.
I've been searching for creative avenues outside of the university context. I love my project, but I also need to interact with those who are creative, but who also use other outlets besides writing. I've been thinking about starting an artist's co-operative, where painters, illustrators, sculpters, etc. can gather to engage in the creative process. I've been painting more these days, and wouldn't mind throwing ideas around with like-minded artisans.
This search has inadvertedly developed another creative outlet-spinning. I'll be spinning at Saphir (3699 St. Laurent) on Wednesday July 6th. I'll have about an hour on the tables, and it's a dance night. Should be fun, because the time is short enough that I can play what I love-disco, the ultimate in dance-hedonism and orchestral beats.
I'm also spinning at my friend's wedding next summer. That'll be great, and I'm so happy that her and her partner are getting married. They are wonderful people, and with any luck they will procreate and make more wonderful people. We need more wonderful people in the world.
In other news another wonderful thing has happened. I received an email from a former prof, who I have an undescribable amount of respect for. I took one class with him-a theory course back in undergrad. Intellectually, we clicked instantly. While everybody else in the department was doing political economy, he was a history-classics type of guy. He did more communications over media studies.
His course was a refreshing change, and way more up my alley. He ended up writing one of my grad school letters, while on sabbatical and in Europe. He's the one who inspired to 'think' about Heiddegger. Not just read and write about Heiddegger, but 'think' about his personal and professional life.
We exchange update emails maybe about once a semester, about happenings professionally as well as personally. But when those emails shoot back and forth, it does make my day.
When I stop and think about it, I've been really lucky regarding the people that I've met along the journey.
