This week, my cousin Nichole sent out an e-mail to her family and friends describing her new life in Taiwan. She has been hired as a teacher and is working for a woman named Emily Hsu at a small school called Columbia.
I wrote the following reply to her.
Thank you for the e-mail, even though it was generic: It was great to hear from you!
The last two weeks have been really crazy hectic for me. Here are a couple of the highlights:
I just bought The "Rocky Horror Picture Show" DVD... It was finally released last week! It looks great on DVD, and they added a second disc full of "gimmicks": outtakes, games, etc...
As for other news, Well there really isn't any, LOL! Can you believe it? Buying a DVD was the highlight of my week!
It's been a crappy boring week , but EXTREMELY busy! I wonder why the crappier the week is, the busier it seems, LOL!
I also wanted to let you know that I am interrested in the last little sentence of your e-mail: "my boss Emily is really desperate to find 2 English teachers for January " ...who do I have to kill to get this, LOL!
Seriously: I am very interrested in this opportunity! Please let me know what I should do in order to put forth my candidacy! ..and of course you have my permission to give Emily my e-mail address if you like!
... and with that little e-mail, I started my Taiwan oddysee!
Sunday, October 15, 2000
Thursday, October 5, 2000
Saint Etienne in concert! A highlight during my hectic week!
I finally got to see one of my all time favourite bands in Concert!!!
I am a huge fan of the British indie-pop band SAINT ETIENNE, and they just played in Montreal for the first time (October 2nd)!! I am not a big concert goer in general, but I am really happy that I finally got to see them!
My best friend Pierre bought me the tickets for my birthday and he came to the show with me. We also met up with fellow AVENUE member, Nathalie Q.
...and then to top it all off, I got to go backstage and meet them! Talk about cool! (I got some pictures,too, but I look like a dork in them!).
Another highlight of the evening was that I got to give the band's keyboardist, Gerrard, a copy of the CD I made for AVENUE: "Under The Covers With Saint Etienne". (copies for Sarah, Pete, and Bob were mailed to them in London).
"Under The Covers With Saint Etienne" was a project that I worked on for a couple of months, and then made available to members of AVENUE. It was a double CD that compiled many of the cover songs that Saint Etienne had recorded over the years, along with the original versions of those same songs.
One disc was all the versions as recorded by Saint Etienne, and the other disc was all the same songs, in the same running order, but as performed by the original artists. In keeping with the spirit of Saint Etienne's earlier recordings, there were snippets of dialogue from films and television between some of the songs. There were also a few snippets of interviews with the bandmembers themselves.
My favourite bit of dialoge was the disc openers.
Disc one opens with dialogue taken from the BBC television pogramme Doctor Who. In it, the Doctor (as played by William Hartnell) explains that "we are now traveling through time and space", and the disc then proceeds to present the various songs as recorded by the original performers. These songs span the decades with songs from the 40s all the way through to the 90s.
Disc two opens with another clip from Doctor Who (this time as played by Patrick Troughton for the first time). The Doctor has just changed his appearance (regenerated) for the first time, and he explains to his disbelieving companions that life is about change. The disc then procees to present the same songs as disc one, but this time they are all performed as interpreted by Saint Etienne.
Pretty clever, if I do say so myself! :)
Here is a review of the concert that I wrote for AVENUE (the Saint Etienne mailing-list):
I just got in the door (It's about 1:30 in the morning here) and I simply have to say that I was blown away by tonights concert. I am not the type of person who normally gushes, so I am going to try and tell you all a little about the night's events without getting too freaked out! :-)
Nathalie and I spoke to quite a few people before and during the show: we were both amazed by the number of people who had never even heard of Saint Etienne before SOW! ...and also by the number of people who had only ever heard of Good Humor!!
There was an opening act: Lullaby Baxter Trio. (A sort of country/blues/jazz/acoustic kind of thing ...I didn't think that they were bad at all, just very mellow for a crowd that wanted to get hyped.) They will not be accompanying the band on the rest of the stops, as I believe they were only booked as a one-off local band.
The crowd started out rather small, but filled up the place nicely, and they started to dance and sway almost immediately!
I was unable to get a set list (they went very very quickly!).
Now: highlights of the music....
"Filthy" was really wonderful live, and although Sarah didn't rap at all, she did sing the chorus, which was lovely (of course!) ...My God that bass line is unbelievable when it's played that loud!!! talk about a kicker of a show opener!
...I thought that my legs were going to melt and dribble out from under me when they did "Only Love Can Break You Heart"... it was that good! It is actually one of my least favourite songs by Saint Etienne (probably due to it being played to death... cause I loved it when it first came out!) They managed to make it even funkier (and somewhat heavier) than the original, but also, they played it very much like the "Mix In Two Halves" version by Andy Weatherall! It was a far superior version than the studio version: and Sarah's voice on it really created a new feeling to the song as well!!
...."How We Used To Live" is beyond amazing as a live track! Wow! I'm not sure how to really describe it, except to say that they really did a fantastic job at re-constructing that song for a live band! The backup singers were, as a few people have stated, wonderful! ..and Sarah's voice soared! It was...well, just... Wow.
Their guitarist really pulled a few tricks on us during the evening! He did some very heavy feedback stuff during "People Get Real", and he did a phenomenal guitar solo (not the first thing I imagined hearing at a Saint Etienne concert!) during "How We Used To Live".
...Most of the songs were extremely well received (judging by crowd reaction, and sudden fits of dancing in the gallery).
Some other of my personal favourites from the show were: "Lose That Girl", "Sylvie", "Shoot Out The Lights", "Like A Motorway", "Nothing Can Stop Us", and "He's On The Phone".
They also played a great version of "Sycamore", "Heart Failed", "People Get Real" and "Ready or Not" (but I wish they had chosen to do "Coastal Town"!)
...then the show was over! Nathalie, myself, and her friend (who's name escapes me again: sorry!!) hung out for a bit .... there didn't seem to be any guestlist being tended by the ape-like bouncer guy; so we hung out and chatted together for a few minutes, then we wandered quietly backstage!!!
Meeting Sarah and Pete was a blast! They are, as others have said, extremely personable and very pleasant! (I almost got the feeling that they were genuinely pleased that people like their music!) I spent a little time with them, snapped a few pictures, and got a couple of autographs... loads of fun!
I mentioned to Sarah that I really like "Judy Don't You Worry" which seemed to please her, as I got the impression that she is rather proud of it. She asked Gerard if he had heard that I liked that track. I told her I was a little disappointed that "Downtown" isn't on KELLY'S LOCKER: she kind of cringed and said she's not overly fond of it, LOL!
I gave Gerard a copy of the COVERS PROJECT, he seemed really excited about it, as did Sarah and Pete... (Sarah asked me twice where hers was, LOL! When it quietened down a bit I told her that it was waiting for her at the HEAVENLY offices in London!)
Gerard was really excited by the Doctor Who samples that I used on the CD: he's a bit of a fan.
Pete cracked up when I described Dishwalla's "Interview With Saint Etienne"... it seems he'd neither heard of it, nor heard it!
I spent the next couple of hours talking with Gerard about all kinds of things... many of which might be of interest to you: here are the highlights...
New York City is the last stop on the tour, then it's back to London... any concert that you see listed as being AFTER the shows in New York is not going to happen! ...sorry!
"Thank You" was originally intended to finish side two of SOW, but after "How We Used To Live", it felt wrong to have another full song... so they recorded "Place At Dawn" to round out the album, and dumped "Thank You" in the b-side bin.
"Shoot Out The Lights" was released on the Japanese version of SOW to satisfy the contractual need for a minimum of 4 bonus tracks... but as it is, the track is still unfinished, and might possibly be worked on further before it gets released on "Interlude"...so the version there will likely be slightly different than the one that is currently available.
The stuff that people have been asking about on AVENUE lately, the songs that Bob was playing while Deejaying before the saint Etienne shows on the West Coast, is basically the same material that he plays on his "Monday Monday" gig in London.
The intro to SOW is actually someone named (I believe) Nathan, who is friend of Bob. It is NOT from a live album, it was recorded specifically for SOW, with Nathan speaking into a microphone plugged into a guitar amp and Gerard messing with the feedback.
It came about because a few people were referring to SOW as Saint Etienne's prog rock album. ...Tongue firmly in cheek, this intro was conceived.
"Heart Failed" was originally written in all major chords... but was switched to minor chords to change the mood. ...this gave the song a reprieve because, aside from being too peppy for SOW, it didn't sound right in all major chords and was nearly chucked. (** see footnote)
....Well, I can't think of anything else to say! I had a fantastic time and I am still on a high: so if I rambled, sorry!
The last hour of the evening was spent celebrating Trevor's birthday! Trevor is the sound-guy, and he did an amazing job tonight! ...So Sarah was passing around the champagne after Trevor blew out the candles, and everyone was wearing really cute little party hats and blowing noisemakers (yes, even Pete, Sarah and Gerard).
(The major-chord version of "Heart Failed" has since been released in demo form on the 2006 fan-club only CD "Nice Price" - Editor)
I am a huge fan of the British indie-pop band SAINT ETIENNE, and they just played in Montreal for the first time (October 2nd)!! I am not a big concert goer in general, but I am really happy that I finally got to see them!
My best friend Pierre bought me the tickets for my birthday and he came to the show with me. We also met up with fellow AVENUE member, Nathalie Q.
...and then to top it all off, I got to go backstage and meet them! Talk about cool! (I got some pictures,too, but I look like a dork in them!).
Another highlight of the evening was that I got to give the band's keyboardist, Gerrard, a copy of the CD I made for AVENUE: "Under The Covers With Saint Etienne". (copies for Sarah, Pete, and Bob were mailed to them in London).
"Under The Covers With Saint Etienne" was a project that I worked on for a couple of months, and then made available to members of AVENUE. It was a double CD that compiled many of the cover songs that Saint Etienne had recorded over the years, along with the original versions of those same songs.
One disc was all the versions as recorded by Saint Etienne, and the other disc was all the same songs, in the same running order, but as performed by the original artists. In keeping with the spirit of Saint Etienne's earlier recordings, there were snippets of dialogue from films and television between some of the songs. There were also a few snippets of interviews with the bandmembers themselves.
My favourite bit of dialoge was the disc openers.
Disc one opens with dialogue taken from the BBC television pogramme Doctor Who. In it, the Doctor (as played by William Hartnell) explains that "we are now traveling through time and space", and the disc then proceeds to present the various songs as recorded by the original performers. These songs span the decades with songs from the 40s all the way through to the 90s.
Disc two opens with another clip from Doctor Who (this time as played by Patrick Troughton for the first time). The Doctor has just changed his appearance (regenerated) for the first time, and he explains to his disbelieving companions that life is about change. The disc then procees to present the same songs as disc one, but this time they are all performed as interpreted by Saint Etienne.
Pretty clever, if I do say so myself! :)
Here is a review of the concert that I wrote for AVENUE (the Saint Etienne mailing-list):
I just got in the door (It's about 1:30 in the morning here) and I simply have to say that I was blown away by tonights concert. I am not the type of person who normally gushes, so I am going to try and tell you all a little about the night's events without getting too freaked out! :-)
Nathalie and I spoke to quite a few people before and during the show: we were both amazed by the number of people who had never even heard of Saint Etienne before SOW! ...and also by the number of people who had only ever heard of Good Humor!!
There was an opening act: Lullaby Baxter Trio. (A sort of country/blues/jazz/acoustic kind of thing ...I didn't think that they were bad at all, just very mellow for a crowd that wanted to get hyped.) They will not be accompanying the band on the rest of the stops, as I believe they were only booked as a one-off local band.
The crowd started out rather small, but filled up the place nicely, and they started to dance and sway almost immediately!
I was unable to get a set list (they went very very quickly!).
Now: highlights of the music....
"Filthy" was really wonderful live, and although Sarah didn't rap at all, she did sing the chorus, which was lovely (of course!) ...My God that bass line is unbelievable when it's played that loud!!! talk about a kicker of a show opener!
...I thought that my legs were going to melt and dribble out from under me when they did "Only Love Can Break You Heart"... it was that good! It is actually one of my least favourite songs by Saint Etienne (probably due to it being played to death... cause I loved it when it first came out!) They managed to make it even funkier (and somewhat heavier) than the original, but also, they played it very much like the "Mix In Two Halves" version by Andy Weatherall! It was a far superior version than the studio version: and Sarah's voice on it really created a new feeling to the song as well!!
...."How We Used To Live" is beyond amazing as a live track! Wow! I'm not sure how to really describe it, except to say that they really did a fantastic job at re-constructing that song for a live band! The backup singers were, as a few people have stated, wonderful! ..and Sarah's voice soared! It was...well, just... Wow.
Their guitarist really pulled a few tricks on us during the evening! He did some very heavy feedback stuff during "People Get Real", and he did a phenomenal guitar solo (not the first thing I imagined hearing at a Saint Etienne concert!) during "How We Used To Live".
...Most of the songs were extremely well received (judging by crowd reaction, and sudden fits of dancing in the gallery).
Some other of my personal favourites from the show were: "Lose That Girl", "Sylvie", "Shoot Out The Lights", "Like A Motorway", "Nothing Can Stop Us", and "He's On The Phone".
They also played a great version of "Sycamore", "Heart Failed", "People Get Real" and "Ready or Not" (but I wish they had chosen to do "Coastal Town"!)
...then the show was over! Nathalie, myself, and her friend (who's name escapes me again: sorry!!) hung out for a bit .... there didn't seem to be any guestlist being tended by the ape-like bouncer guy; so we hung out and chatted together for a few minutes, then we wandered quietly backstage!!!
Meeting Sarah and Pete was a blast! They are, as others have said, extremely personable and very pleasant! (I almost got the feeling that they were genuinely pleased that people like their music!) I spent a little time with them, snapped a few pictures, and got a couple of autographs... loads of fun!
I mentioned to Sarah that I really like "Judy Don't You Worry" which seemed to please her, as I got the impression that she is rather proud of it. She asked Gerard if he had heard that I liked that track. I told her I was a little disappointed that "Downtown" isn't on KELLY'S LOCKER: she kind of cringed and said she's not overly fond of it, LOL!
I gave Gerard a copy of the COVERS PROJECT, he seemed really excited about it, as did Sarah and Pete... (Sarah asked me twice where hers was, LOL! When it quietened down a bit I told her that it was waiting for her at the HEAVENLY offices in London!)
Gerard was really excited by the Doctor Who samples that I used on the CD: he's a bit of a fan.
Pete cracked up when I described Dishwalla's "Interview With Saint Etienne"... it seems he'd neither heard of it, nor heard it!
I spent the next couple of hours talking with Gerard about all kinds of things... many of which might be of interest to you: here are the highlights...
New York City is the last stop on the tour, then it's back to London... any concert that you see listed as being AFTER the shows in New York is not going to happen! ...sorry!
"Thank You" was originally intended to finish side two of SOW, but after "How We Used To Live", it felt wrong to have another full song... so they recorded "Place At Dawn" to round out the album, and dumped "Thank You" in the b-side bin.
"Shoot Out The Lights" was released on the Japanese version of SOW to satisfy the contractual need for a minimum of 4 bonus tracks... but as it is, the track is still unfinished, and might possibly be worked on further before it gets released on "Interlude"...so the version there will likely be slightly different than the one that is currently available.
The stuff that people have been asking about on AVENUE lately, the songs that Bob was playing while Deejaying before the saint Etienne shows on the West Coast, is basically the same material that he plays on his "Monday Monday" gig in London.
The intro to SOW is actually someone named (I believe) Nathan, who is friend of Bob. It is NOT from a live album, it was recorded specifically for SOW, with Nathan speaking into a microphone plugged into a guitar amp and Gerard messing with the feedback.
It came about because a few people were referring to SOW as Saint Etienne's prog rock album. ...Tongue firmly in cheek, this intro was conceived.
"Heart Failed" was originally written in all major chords... but was switched to minor chords to change the mood. ...this gave the song a reprieve because, aside from being too peppy for SOW, it didn't sound right in all major chords and was nearly chucked. (** see footnote)
....Well, I can't think of anything else to say! I had a fantastic time and I am still on a high: so if I rambled, sorry!
The last hour of the evening was spent celebrating Trevor's birthday! Trevor is the sound-guy, and he did an amazing job tonight! ...So Sarah was passing around the champagne after Trevor blew out the candles, and everyone was wearing really cute little party hats and blowing noisemakers (yes, even Pete, Sarah and Gerard).
(The major-chord version of "Heart Failed" has since been released in demo form on the 2006 fan-club only CD "Nice Price" - Editor)
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