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/ OCTOBER 2007
+ OCT 31st, 2007
NOW PLAYING:
The Most Serene Republic - Population
While I was preoccupied jackhammering that weird brown Halloween
taffy out of my dental work,
someone beat me to the punch and made the greatest art the world has
ever known. Aw man, that's totally what I wanted to do.
So now I'm officially falling back on my Plan B:
Professional Camel Jumper.
Much Love & Stuff;
COOP
+ OCT 24th, 2007
NOW PLAYING:
Great Lake Swimmers - Ongiara
*who says there's no trees downtown?
Toronto, ON - Photo by SC
I hate Future Shop, but I am absolutely in love with
THIS
COMMERCIAL.
I've been making a point of keeping my iPod off this week while walking
into the studio. Most days I really love having a soundtrack for my
walk, but it is amazing the things you notice when music isn't consuming
your thoughts.
This morning I was in tune with the routines of the animals. So many
people out walking their dogs, squirrels foraging in the planters along
the road. Cats sitting on their stoops waiting to be let in...that
always gets me wondering what they were up to during the night.
Cheeky little buggers. I was standing in front of a Shoppers Drug
Mart waiting for it to open, and I watched some nuthatches (hehe, nuthatch)
clamoring around this newspaper box up against a telephone pole. One
bird would jump on the side of the pole, stand cocked on a 60 degree angle
and hang out until another one came along, pecked at it, and knocked it
off to the newspaper box below. For some reason it was THE spot to
hang out in, and dammit each one wanted to be up there and would take
their turn to challenge for the coveted pole position.
This went on for several minutes, then finally a much bigger (and entirely
different species of) bird came along, wailed the position-holding
nuthatch off, perched himself sideways on the pole and pooped all over the
nuthatches on the paper box below.
Oh! I forgot the best part -- the nuthatches ate the poop.
Haha!!! I could barely contain myself writing that. "Nut"
and "poop" in the one sentence!! C'mon!!
Much Love & Stuff;
COOP
+ OCT 18th, 2007
NOW PLAYING:
KD Lang - Hymns Of The 49th Parallel
*a Pismo Beach sunset balances out my rage,
San Luis Obispo, CA - Photo by SC
I've been dabbling in a fun little Eco/Urban TerrorismŽ project (a la
Fight Club) behind the scenes. I assure you I'll put all the
details up here (as it will involve you) and explain another day.
The reason I'm writing is that I'm often surprised at how quickly and
easily one can access and draw upon repressed anger. My initial plan
was to write out 5 "irreverent & impactful" statements, and within
2 minutes I had 18 of 'em. I honestly don't know where it comes
from. I gots issues, I guess.
I was walking home the other day, and I saw a man in a car and a man on a
bike yelling and screaming at one another. Not that unusual I guess,
but as I passed, the guy on the bike turned to me and screamed "...and
fuck you too, buddy!!" I didn't even look at them, or do a
single thing to provoke. Just walkin' by. So I laughed.
Dude's anger was so random and misdirected it actually made me laugh out
loud. I didn't know what else to do. Of course he didn't like
that much and let me know, but I ignored him and just kept walking.
This clearly wasn't about me, so I refused to get involved. (A
sidenote: people in the city should be more careful about who they
antagonize. I mean, I'm a total pacifist, but he doesn't know
that. I could have been the fella more than willing to give him
two free tickets to The Gun Show.
So I guess I'm glad that I've been able to find a creative outlet for my
repressed rage, rather than screaming at strangers for no apparent reason.
Interestingly enough, my aforementioned project was born out of the
realization that I am incapable of screaming at the barrage of
inconsiderate, rude, planet-killing strangers I encounter daily.
I'm, like, so mad at those peeps right now.
A friend of mine once told me, that most of the things that other
people do to immediately piss us off all stem from having a core personal
value stepped on. I think he's right.
For example, when I order breakfast and only get two measly strips
of bacon...I get really angry. Which is obvious because, who doesn't
really, really value bacon? Dammit, that's just not enough bacon and
I'm not gonna sit here and take it. A pox on your house!
OH! Run, don't walk, to your local vidjeo store and
rent/buy "Away
From Her". Not only will you be helping support one of the best
movies this country has ever produced, you will (more importantly) learn
something you didn't know about real love. I have never seen a more
patient, poignant, human, and heartbreaking story. Ever. It
will devastate you. Then, it will inspire you!
If I know anything at all,
it's that our time on this earth is a drop in the bucket.
Much Love & Stuff,
COOP
+ OCTOBER 15th, 2007
NOW PLAYING:
Weakerthans - Reunion Tour
*spooky barn HDR photo test, Wyebridge ON - Photo by SC
I walked by an elementary school on my way into the
studio this morning. I could clearly hear the strains of "O,
Canada!" escaping onto the city streets, through a propped open
classroom window. Only it wasn't a crackle-y, ancient instrumental
recording blasted uniformly over the PA system that children were singing
to. I stopped and saw that it was a man playing a trumpet.
Right there in the classroom. It sure was a beautiful thing to hear.
Maybe it was a special day, maybe it was a daily thing for these
particular kids. I wouldn't know the answer to that, but knew for
certain it was a warm and safe place to be on a chilly, rainy October
morning.
I've been purposely avoiding picking up my guitar these days to write.
I will practice my current crop of tunes for shows and stuff, but I will
not stray. I've been so burnt out on the process, I just don't want
to risk opening that particular can of worms and losing focus on my
current batch of tunes. For some reason this morning, I picked up my
nylon string at my desk and a new tune came effortlessly rolling right out
of me. Those moments are always tough to explain. Maybe it's
just being in the right place at the right time, or maybe it's been lodged
in the back of my brain like the name to a face I couldn't recall until
days later.
Much Love & Stuff,
COOP
+ OCTOBER 5th, 2007
NOW PLAYING:
Basia Bulat - Oh My Darling
*surveying and drinking, Big Sur CA - Photo by Cookie
I'm on the cusp of another birthday, and I've been so busy the last while
I haven't sat around thinking about it in my usual over-prepared way.
So I guess I'm in a bit of denial. I have a longstanding beef with
aging (sure, we can call that denial while we're at it!). I am a
total child, yet somehow this patchy, pathetic beard I've been growing is
somehow sprouting a lot more grey this time around. How can
that be!? I'm like, what, 14!!!??
I love the years that I get to share my birthday with other events.
Takes the focus off. This weekend I get to deflect attention from
myself with Thanksgiving shenanigans, and my cousin's
sure-to-be-a-hootenanny wedding reception. It's great, I'll just
drink a lot, eat some wedding cake, and no one has to go to any effort or
make a fuss over me. I love it. Birthdays are no big deal -
I've had lots of them! I'll have some more.
Some people are serious birthday people, which is great, but it makes me
uncomfortable when they project their "it's MY special day"
standards on me:
"So whaddja get!? Where is Stacey taking you for breakfast,
lunch, dinner, cocktails, late-night snack, late-night drinks,
morning-after birthday brunch?"
Here's what I've been working on this year. Take responsibility for
your life and the decisions you make. Make no excuses or
justifications for the things you do, or do NOT do. Laugh a lot.
Take nothing seriously.
And please, stop reading Perez Hilton.
Much Love & Stuff;
COOP
+ OCTOBER 3rd, 2007
NOW PLAYING:
Stars - In Our Bedroom After...
*waiting for whales, Big Sur CA - Photo by Timmy Timer
I've really had enough of the celebrity obsession stuff. I'm not
talking about standard fascination with the stars. That's been
around for ages. I understand the desire in knowing more about the
people that make movies and music that you love. I know why you like
Brad Pitt. Trust me, I really understand the Scarlett Johanssen
thing.
That's not what I'm talking about. It's the people that everyone
seemed obsessed with as of late that bothers me. The Britney's,
Paris, Lindsay's.
[Heckler insert: no sport like shooting fish in a barrel, eh
Cooper?]
The reasons we find these types of people so appealing has nothing to do
with talent or them being interesting people with something to offer
society. We watch because these people have all the things we dream
of on a silver platter (money, fame, opportunity = supposed happiness) and
they just piss it away. La-dee-da. This display somehow
validates our boring and unfulfilling lives and ultimately makes us feel
superior to these twits.
Seems to me that watching the fuckups fuck-it-up, is as important a
past-time to the North Americans psyche as football or church these days.
The rest of the D-level morons are on the radar so when detection of a
downward spiral is brewing, you know a bit about the players before the
game. It's the scouting report for the big dance, really:
[Insert NFL announcer voice: pre-game scouting report dialog]
Johnny Drama has been in 5 feature films, dated Pam Anderson for 3
minutes, has a nice 3-level spanish style home in Malibu, and has a soft
spot for Thai ladyboys, Bacarat, and Oxycontin/red bull cocktails. Give
him 3 months and he'll be broke, in rehab, or HOPEFULLY dead!! Watch
it unfold live here, only on E!
Much Love & Stuff;
COOP
+ OCTOBER 1st, 2007
NOW PLAYING:
Jose Gonzales - In Our Nature
*no point in screwing around, CA - Photo by SC
I finally had myself a super relaxing weekend for the first time in at
least 8 weeks. It still takes me a while to get into relaxation
mode, though. A little bourbon always helps. I think making
music has made me almost incapable of sitting still. I used to chill
with the best of them. In fact, doing nothing at all was often
considered the best something you could possibly do. So today I put
"Relearn To Relax" on the old to-do list. I put it right
after "Great White Shark Cage Dive in South Africa."
Nuit
Blanche was on all weekend. It was neat, kind of like the entire
city was camping. People were up and out all hours of the night,
running around checking out nifty art instillations and stuff. Today
I feel a little guilty for not taking it in, but nothing was gonna stop me
from getting a couple good night's sleep and some snuggle time with the
Cookie. I drag that poor lass around non-stop, I tellyawhut.
Fear not though, for I'm already back on the horse, producing a record for
my friend Sean Nilsson. He has a righteous outfit called
Sheltered In Sound
and these amazingly intimate songs/stories of loss, age, experience and
the search for hope in the big city. It's beautiful stuff, I can't
wait to watch all your heads explode when he puts this music out there.
I feel great to be a part of it.
Regardless, it feels great to be back at it, and even better focusing on
someone else's music for a change. You probably never thought it
would happen, but yes, I'm quite sick of me. I look in the mirror
and barf. Then I clean the mirror, and admire my sweet Windexing
skills. Then I see my stupid face looking back at me, then barf
again. This continues until either a.) I run out of Windex or ii.)
the dry heaves set in...
Much Love & Stuff;
COOP
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