Photo: In Toronto you can get a veggie dog off the street.. the cold, cold street. Here I have two veggie dogs and I'm holding them with mittens!
Sorry it's been so long, friends.
Adrian and I were a little disoriented. I woke up at 6:30 and it was white with fog and pretty cold in Portland. Amelia was kind enough to take Adrian and I to the airport and see us off with love. We hopped on the plane to Chicago after booking through the airport as soon as we were told we were "incredibly late" for our flight. We made it. We made it on and all was well. Just after landing Adrian and I revealed to each other that we had both been thinking very dark thoughts on the plane.. at takeoff and landing mostly.. crashing, etc. Anyway, I also came to the conclusion that flying isn't as fancy as it feels to me at first. I'm always like "Woah! Airplanes! I'm traveling in an awesome way!" But no, man. Planes are just louder, more uncomfortable busses. FUG IT. Of course I'm grateful to be writing this in Toronto, the very same day that I woke up in Portland, but come on... MAKE IT COOLER.
So why is it that I keep meeting the most friendly and kind people over and over? I think that I'm super lucky. Seriously. Adrian and I got off the plane, went through a pretty grueling immigration process then walked outside to the cold. Adrian lit up a cigarette and this nice kid walked up to me. Meagan and Angus. Holy moly. These kids drove an hour and a half to come get us at the airport, take us an hour away to Hamilton for a show, take us an hour back to Toronto, then drove home another hour and a half to Waterloo. Not only did they do all of this driving but they also brought us a bag full of jelly beans, swedish fish, Baba Ganoush, pita, dried banana slices and apple soda. Jesus, kids! THANK YOU!
I love Canada so much! Not just this amazing city Toronto, or the east side.. but the west side too! The shows Khaela and I played with The Hidden Cameras in Victoria and Vancouver B.C. were so awesome! After Vancouver Amelia and I went to Richmond B.C. to an amazing Asian mall. I know we have Chinatowns and patches of Asian stuff here and there, but it seems like Canada has bigger, more densely populated and authentic (or something) Asian-fueled areas. Right now I'm walking to a place to buy a pair of non-leather Nike knock-offs. I'm excited. Pets Wonderful? I'm excited.
Steve Kado took us to pick up the repressing of Final Fantasy for his label Blocks. I was always under the impression that there were about 4 or 5 big CD plants in North America that everyone used.. I didn't know about actual factories that you could go to. Here's a little moving of the plant using Steve's camera:
Picking Up Final Fantasy CDs
(2.8 MB - VIDEO MP4)
On our winter tour Khaela introduced me a new bathroom phrasing about going #2. It's called "big jobs." You can say something like "I have a big job to do," or "I have to go work on my project," etc. Maybe I shouldn't be writing about this.. Anyway, while we were in the CD plant I saw this sign and it made me laugh.
We married Toronto. Khaela and I taught Adrian and our awesome Toronto friend Greg Collins some Blow songs and played half the show as an alternative rock band. Then we married the audience. Khaela made about 200 yellow-paper conversation hearts with words like CREAM on them. Toronto, we love you. Like, so much.
Toronto is Cold, Toronto is HOT!
(6.4 MB - VIDEO MP4)
Wow, three movies Jona? Yeah. Well, this last one isn't just a movie.. It's the new Blow video. FOR YOU! It's all for you. The idea for the video belongs to Mike Merrill, the camera was operated by Justin Lowe and E*Rock did the animation. I think this is a bit of a rough edit, but it's too exciting to keep secret anymore. We hope you like it!
Knowing The Things That I Know
(19.7 MB - QuickTime)
Oh wow.. FOUR MOVIES!? Yeah. Greg just sent me a link to some more video we both took on his camera.. there's a little overlap with my stuff, but some real good extra stuff too! CHECK IT OUT! Thank you Greg! TORONTO IS OUR BRIDE.
Hello, Jona. Seeing that video made me want to reinstate all of my magic card playing from fifth grade. Unfortunately, I sold them all. I do still, however, have all my Doomtown cards, which is a similar game, but in the wild west. Also, today I looked through a movie guide book for all the really good "turkeys" (1 star). Some of my favorites were "Billy the Kid Vs. Dracula", "Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter", "Zombies on Broadway", and "Blood and Donuts" (among others). Sorry this is such a long "post." I s'pose an email would have been more appropriate. I hope you are well. I am glad Toronto was lovely.
Love,
Cole
Hey Jona, that's nice! No, thank YOU!! The weekend was amazing. I especially loved the show at Sneaky Dee's. Alt-rock, yeah!Let us know when you're coming back. I totally respect your vows to Toronto, but you know...is monogamy natural? Sometimes people and cities don't know. Explore your boundaries with WATERLOO!
i missed you playing in MY HOME TOWN!! aaaarrgggghhhh!!!! being un-rich and in scotland messes things up! i'm so glad you had THE BEST time in my neck of the woods. the kids at home said they LOVED you and khaela and adrian. it was serious heartzzz all around. <3 <3 <3 see you this summer. HUGS! xxx
who is that playing "rock and roll mcdonalds"? all video = good. i hope that you guys are doing well.
Wow, deep Enya references. I actually believe that the maximum number of vocal overdubs was 500.
That compilation is still totally going to happen.
Love.
yo but i love magic
WHERE IS THAT ARCADE DUDE?!?!?!?! IS THAT SHIT IN CHINATOWN!?!? SOMEONE HOOK ME UP ALL I EVER DO ON SPADINA IS RENT KENSHIN EPISODES
Scott! We have to get Steve Kado in on this.. but I can tell you that the arcade is in a place called Pacific Mall... it's north of Toronto.. deep. Where exactly? I don't know..
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jona, the knowing the things that i know video is so good. soooo goooood. come back here soon. thanks.