Wilderness

Well, as the last week has shown, the Volta region is pretty spotty when it comes to internet access. Today we finally managed to get online from an internet cafe at an incredibly beautiful beach basically at the Togolese border, but we've obviously been out of access for a while. That's because, despite the "urban" in our program's name, we've been in the tiny town of Klikor, in what amounts to our private compound. The purpose of that is pretty clear - we've basically been spending day and night learning music intensively. Every day has been including four solid hours of drumming (or dancing, but given the choice I'm always going to choose to drum), on two Ewe rhythms called Gahu and Atsiagbekor. They're both played on a wide ensemble of drums, most of which are played with sticks, and both include several simultaneous supporting parts. It's very intensive, and very rewarding - I can feel my technique improving enormously, and I now now 6 supporting parts and how they all fit together, not to mention the bell and rattle parts which form the base of the rhythm. Tomorrow we start learning lead parts, which excites me rather a lot. The lead drum is both beautiful and interesting - it's very long, and tapers from a very wide middle to a crazily small head. The beats are played half on the head and half on the side. Should be great. I'm also getting Jordan to teach me some guitar basics in our considerable amount of downtime (in exchange for some drum technique pointers), which opens up a whole new dimension.

The other aspect of our relative isolation is lots of bonding time. And by "lots of bonding time", I mean ridiculous amounts of time with nothing to do but sit around, talk, and play music. So the thirteen of us are getting to know each other rather well, I'd say. I'm not spilling any gory details here, but it's been interesting, to say the least. We have a great group; I'm planning to write a whole entry about this crowd sooner or later. Safe to say, this is one of the best unaffiliated sets of 13 people one could put in this small of a proximity for this period. I'm enjoying it greatly.

I've also gotten a good deal of reading done; I just read a local book by the name of The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, which is absolutely amazing - seriously one of the top two or three African books I've ever read. The blurb on it compared it to Sartre, and I wouldn't say it's wrong. Highly recommended. Also, I've somehow managed to read a sizable chunk of the Hardt and Negri tome Empire, which is incredibly frustrating yet rather rewarding. Not for the faint of heart, but if Neo-Marxist global vision interests you and you have serious time to kill, check it out.

Gotta go; will write again when possible.

Do You Remember the Days of Slavery?

We've just returned from our weekend at Cape Coast, and it was quite the amazing time. We had a wide variety of adventures, but the clear standouts were the visits to the slave castles at Cape Coast and Elmina. It was incredibly effecting - seeing the pens in which hundreds of people were held at a time with no light, food, air or water was intense enough, but then seeing the church which was directly above it and the bargaining table at which local chiefs exchanged their own people for guns with which to kill others was an incredibly poignant lesson as to what brutality lies in our past, and indeed what our economy was built on. It was truly intense, and extremely worthwhile.

On the lighter side of things, Cape Coast is absolutely gorgeous. It's all gentle hills dipping toward a beautiful sandy coast, with an intriguing mix of colonial buildings and current shanties. We swam a couple times, which served to remind me of how happy the sea can make me, and was a nice break from the intense cultural/historical experience we've been having. Along the same lines, we visited the national park at Kakum forest, and went on the canopy walk. It wasn't all that different from the one I was on in Peru (the engineering was identical), but it was still incredibly gorgeous and very relaxing.

We also had the luck to be on the street in Cape Coast when Ghana won their first World Cup match ever, and indeed Africa's first match this World Cup, against the Czech Republic. The madness was incredible - people were dancing their hearts out, Taxis covered in people escorted enormous crowds down to the beaches, flags flew everywhere... it was a great time to be had by all, even us foreigners who don't really care all that much about football. Unlike the riotous events of the sort in Croatia, I felt both safe and uplifted there. A great addition to an overall wonderful weekend.

I know all this would be greatly augmented by pictures, but I'm still on a really slow connection so I can't do that. If and when I get to a better internet spot, I'll load some up.

And speaking of different spots, today's our last day in Accra for now. It seems like our time here has been really short, but yet really long. I'm fine with moving on, even though I'd love to see more here - the Volta region awaits.

Snippets

-I'm getting a djembe made, to my specifications, by a guy I was introduced to by Kendra (who's been here a month already, so knows a thing or two). I'm getting a good deal, and it looks to be a great piece of work judging by what I've seen of his wares. I'm also getting the chance to help him out with it a bit. Colour me excited.

-We're going to Cape Coast for the weekend, for what's going to probably be the most touristy thing we do. Should be amazing, though, especially as it's our first time out of Accra.

-I'm probably not going to post pictures here any time soon, since the connection is ungodly slow. Sorry.

More at a later date.

Sound, but no fury

We've been getting rather intensely into the music here, as you might expect from the subject of this program. Both the theoretical and practical parts are pretty major - we've had several great lectures on various aspects of Ghanain music, from the influence of the African diaspora to the significance of the church. This is all new to me - I haven't really taken any proper music courses of this sort before, so I'm learning the approach at the same time as the content. I feel like it's going well, though - everything makes a lot of sense, with the exception of a visual representation system I argued with the teacher about for a while today. But all in all, I'm learning a huge amount - far more than I can put into writing right now. In fact, I feel like I've learned more in the last week than in some of my courses at UCU last semester (gee, I wonder which?)

Perhaps more exciting has been the practical aspect. We've had a good deal of instruction by now, including both group and private classes. I've learned atenteben bamboo flute, kpanlogo, gome and djembe hand drums, as well as cowbell,and xylophone.Of course, the drums are my focus - right now, I'm focusing on kpanlogo and fumefume rhythms, but it'll be changing a bit as we move from place to place. My callouses are developing quite nicely. That and I'm going to learn how to make some of the drums if possible.

We've also been to a couple performances recently. Saturday was particularly crazy in this respect - we went to three neighbourhoods, each of which had a short performance for us. First was Nima, a mainly Muslim community, who gave us a Northern dance with marked similarities to Saharan and Senegalese styles when compared to most of what we've been hearing. Then was the Centre for National Culture, which contains a huge and wild cultural market; we saw a performance from a drummaker and puppeteer by the name of Ras Kobe, which was rather entertaining. Lastly, we went to an area called Russia for reasons unkown to me to see a ritual dance at a shrine of Tigari, a folk religion with an emphasis on anti-witchcraft ceremonies. This was probably the most elaborate of the performances till then, and was clearly spiritual in nature.

That night we ended up going to a big Ga funeral, marking the 6-year anniversary of a chief's son's funeral. It was a big spectacle, with a sound system, at least four dance groups, and us even being called up to perform to the audience\'s delight. That was probably the most exciting night so far. The next day we actually went to another funeral, which was rather different. It was in a poor neighbourhood, and put on by an Anlo-Ewe funereal society. It was thus far more ritualistic and somber, but still fascinating. We had a couple of performance-free days, but last night went to the Alliance Francaise (how colonial!) for a really great highlife show, which was a good time.

There will be lots more to say soon, I'm sure. Till Later, S.

Surrealism and Me

This is gonna be a short and focussed update since I've been drumming for 5 hours today and it feels like someome dropped a house on my hands. I just want to relate the tale of this friday night, which was one of the most surreal experiences of my life.

It all started with Francois, my drum teacher, drummer in Hewale sounds, and all around good guy. He tells us "Hewale has a performance tonight, why not come?", and tells us the venue - a hotel, which we didn't find remarkable at the time - without much more info. We say it sounds good. So, at 6:30, off we go to La Palm Royal hotel, which turns out to be on the beach. What's more, when we get there the size of the gate alone tells me it's a fancy hotel. And how. When we get inside, we find that it's the sort of place that could be anywhere except for things like the patterns on the curtains, withe prices like it's America or Holland. I feel like something's odd here, but we're there for Hewale so we push forward. Oh, and it's important to note that it's hurricane-esque weather outside.

So after going through a rather long corridor to the conference hall (it was a damned big hotel!) we get there and realize that this isn't really a Hewale Sounds concert. No sir, it's a fashion show, and a rather highbrow one too. The tickets, we're told, are 250000 cedis (25ish euro) - a hell of a lot here. We decide it's not for us, and start to walk away... and this busybody type guy comes up and asks us where we're going, offering to get us in. I feel like something's even weirder now, and like we'd be intruding, but I'm in the minority so we end up getting in for free(!) after promising to give him some contact info. So we're escorted into a fancy conference hall, which is mostly empty at that point. Our friends in Hewale are secluded in a corner, not really on a stage - I guess they were sort of a side attraction - so we move from the seats we were put in to that corner. By this point the situation seems kind of comical - we're a bunch of scruffy western college kids sitting in a classy hotel getting free drinks and watching neotraditional African music before a big fashion show. I feel more out of place there than in any unfamiliar Ghanain situation - I know this kind of place all too well, and avoid them mostly. I probably wouldn't have been let in if this were somewhere else - I'm wearing a T-shirt from the band who recorded "Let's Steal Everything", for god's sake!

So we're sitting there, acknowledging the absurdity of the situation but enjying the free drinks and the fantastic music. The music is a bit off though - it's a good lesson about the importance of context, really, what with the acoustics dulling the interplay of the xylophones with the guitar, the microphones making the atenteben sound really artificial, and most of all the lack of dancing and audience excitement. It's weird, but still great. Then the lights go out. That's right, the big fancy hotel had its power knocked out in the storm. You'd think they have a generator, but there's just a few emergency lights on. Hewale continue playing like nothing's changed. I actually feel more comfortable in the dark - that way I can forget where I am and focus on the music. Soon enough Hewale slow down a bit (probably getting bored with the stale atmosphere) so we decide to head out (skipping the fashion show). Somehow our busybody benefactor notices us going, and gets us to write down names and email addresses (claiming he wants to watch the world cup with us or some such). I slip out with James when he's not looking (without giving my info) and wait out front so James can smoke a cig, getting wet in the insane wind and rain.

The lobby is a weird scene - people running in soaking wet, others not sure where to go since the lights are out, but the reception absolutely normal, people arriving for the show, and the pianist at the restaurant and the restaurant itself going on like nothing's happening. We wait a bit, and then Jordan comes out and finds us, saying Rachel and Mysteena are hungry so we're going to sit at the restaurant a bit. We go and sit a bit, with those two apparently having ordered bread; it's really feeling like some bad movie concept at this point. We order drnks, and wonder where the bread is, so we ask. We're told "We don't serve bread here, try the other restaurant", so we're a bit perplexed - Rachel goes to find some. We start on a very odd conversation - topics include the physics of the atenteben and why James is blind enough that he probably shouldn't be allowed to drive - and Rachel comes back with some bread she was able to scrounge up. A few minutes later, after we've been in this crazy conversation long enough not to be weirded out by our surroundings, the lights suddenly come back on. Turns out we're sitting in the middle of a fancy Asian restaurant - sushi buffet and all - with just a bunch of drinks and a plate of bread, looking incredibly lost. We want to get out of there ASAP, so we drink up, and the waitress gets mad at us for being in the restaurant and not ordering food. We eventually get out and have to brave the storm to try to return home. We first try to get a taxi, but we need two and none are stopping so we decide to relocate. We cross the road, which is more of a lake by now, and almost get hit by an empty tro-tro (minibus) which we then hire to take us home. After another crazy conversation, I realize we're at my junction and hop out just in time to narrowly avoid getting run down by a police car. I make my way up to my house, and manage to get by the guard dogs, and finally can relax. It feels like it's been an eternity, but it turns out the whole thing finished before 10:30 - before I'd even be going out in Utrecht.

That was a night to remember.

I'll post a more substantive update tomorrow; I just wanted to record the madness of Friday night. Saturday was quite wild too, but that's a story for another day.

Too Much Too Young

So the last couple of days have been a huge flurry of activity. Homestay, lectures, performances, lessons... It's hard to say where to begin.

I guess the most immediate thing to discuss is the homestay. My family is wonderful. Three generations actually live in my house, which is more like a complex than a simple house. The main hous has two wings: the grandparents (and heads of household) live in one with their cook/maid (who as far as I can tell isn't related to them), and the other houses guests - they apparently put up a lot of people, though there's only an Ethiopian guy other than me right now. One of their daughters lives in the other house (the entirety is maybe sic times the size of my house in South Africa) with her family, who I haven't actually spent all that much time with yet - I've mainly been getting acquainted withthe grandparents so far. They're very interesting - both used to teach at the university, him economics and her fine arts. They've traveled a good deal, and always have something interesting to say. Generally, I'm really pleased with my family and look forward to getting better acquainted with them.

The ethnomusicology aspect is also absolutely incredible, both theoretically and practically. We've had several great lectures, mainly from Dr. John Collins, one of the foremost scholars in the field of African popular music, as well as several other topics such as Ghanaian history and so forth. I've been learning a lot - I feel like these last few days have been as informative as several weeks at UCU. That also has something to do with the experiential part of our music component - we had our first proper lesson, in the atenteben bamboo flute, today, which was an interesting experience considering the last time I tried to play a wind instrument was the recorder in 5th grade. This isn't actually that dissimilar - it's like a more resonant, organic recorder with far more style. It's not really something I see myself playing much, but it's fun and we got our own from Gavin with no extra cost. I'm probably starting private lessons in a day or two - I'm learning a type of peg drum whose name I constantly forget and the Gome, which is a frame drum that doubles as a seat. I'm also hopefully going to learn at least some of the process of drum-making. I can't wait.

The performances have also been fantastic - we've seen two scheduled ones, a neotraditional group called Hewale Sounds (who we may be seeing again soon) and the Ghana Dance Troupe. There have been a few spontaneous drum sessions which have been amazing. I'm running out of credit at this internet cafe, so I'm not going to add details now, but I'm having a great time and it only looks to be getting better and better. 'Till next I write.

You May Find Yourself In Another Part Of The World

One full day later, here I am blogging from Ghana. This isn't like South Africa - no ultramodern city to ease one into the experience of being Elsewhere. No, this is Africa proper. In a way, it's less shocking - there isn't the experience of driving out of the airport and seeing the city, looking like it could easily be western Europe, on one side, and the townships, in all their raucous poverty, on the other. This is fill-immersion - rather than a nice Westernised hotel, we're staying at the Ghanain Registered Nurses' Association hostel. We've done a day of orientation at the University of Ghana, and tomorrow we venture out into the realities of Ghana - in fact, we're already starting homestay. The excitement is incredible, yet I'm pretty clam - I guess I have an idea of what to expect, plus in a way I welcome the promise of the Unknown. This will be an experience.

Into the Unknown

Excitement builds. Almost gone.
Tension subsides. Preparations done.
Time shortens. Not long now.
Mind fills. Things to remember.
Dreams build. What comes next?

Ghana tomorrow.

Live Show Review: Buzzcocks

June 2, 2006, Live at Močvara, Zagreb.
I had the luck to be in Zagreb at exactly the right time to see the Buzzcocks, with no real margin of error - two days later and I would have been in Ghana. Needless to say, the prospect of seeing one of the few remaining '77-vintage bands was pretty exciting, and the fact that I was going with my father made it all the more amusing. That's actually a good example of the character of the crowd: it looked to be mainly split between older people, who had listened to the Buzzcocks in their heyday, and younger folks who think of them as "classic". This led to perhaps a slightly less animated crowd than Močvara usually draws, but everyone was very engaged by the show regardless of their energy.

Unusually, there wasn't an opener, so the show started rather late - the doors only opened at 10:30, and the show an hour later. Despite the excellent pre-show Djing, which was mostly '77-'8o punk, the crowd was visibly impatient by the time the band took the stage, cheering wildly in anticipation every time a roadie showed his face. But the wait proved well worth it, as the Buzzcocks took the stage just when it looked like the crowd was getting genuinely annoyed, and after a huge round of applause and a quick exchange between Steve Diggle and the soundman, they broke directly into the title track of their new album, "Flat-Pack Philosophy". Being mainly acquainted with their early material, circa-Singles Going Steady, I was pleasantly surprised by how solid their new material sounds, considering that they've been around so long. On that note, I was particularly impressed by their sheer energy level - they had far more energy at an average age of 45 or so than the majority of 18-25 year old bands out there. Pete Shelley was all over the place, which was particularly wild since he's this short, chubby good-natured looking guy with incredible energy and a maniacal voice. For his part, Diggle was flailing his guitar like a weapon, and took a lot of pleasure in interacting with the crowd during songs - holding out the microphone, engaging singalongs, and so on. There wasn't really any other time for them to banter with the crowd; no pause between songs lasted more than ten seconds, with almost all of the hour and a half-long set being filled with consecutive songs.

And what songs they were. The band played a good deal of newer material - I didn't recognize many songs other than "Flat-Pack Philosophy" and "Sell You Everything" - but leaned heavily on their early material, a move which the crowd adored. The thing about hearing those songs live is that they really bring out the punkiness of the Buzzcocks far more than any recording. Recorded, Singles Going Steady sounds poppy and almost harmless, but live, songs like "I Don't Mind" and "Autonomy" sound downright ferocious while still being extremely tuneful. The band performed incredibly - the trademark high-pitched guitar lines propelled the songs with incredible energy, Tony Barber's bass was a force of nature, and new drummer Danny Farrant was spot on. The crowd played their part well too: the entirety of the nearly-full club was clealy ecstatic, with a lively and well-tempered pit forming, but never turning too wild. Unfortunately, I'd spent most of the day coughing my lungs out, so I didn't venture in too deep, but it was a great crowd nonetheless. And the band deserved the response - they played their hearts out, blasting through a huge amount of material in quick succession. They took a break for about a minute in the middle, dividing the night into two sets rather than a set and an encore. This worked well, as they never suffered the loss of momentum a pre-encore break might cause. Instead, they constantly built up force, culminating in the highlight of the show, a full-throttle rendition of "Noise Annoys", complete with the entire band going spastic on their instruments for an interlude that was very noisy indeed. They wound up with "Boredom, which was even more ironic than usual considering how contrary that sentiment was to the mood of the show. Afterward, Shelley and Diggle must have shook hands with half the crowd, and retreated in a mass of applause to get some well-deserved rest. Though the crowd of course wanted more, we were clearly well-satisfied with the fantastic show we'd gotten.

And it was just that, overall - an amazing show put on by a band that's been going for two and a half decades and is still incredibly strong. I would say "catch these guys while you can", but they're not going anywhere. Instead, catch them for the incredible show they put on. While it of course wasn't absolutely perfect - they excluded certain favourites, and an opener would have made the show all that much better - this was one of the best shows I've seen recently. A 9/10.
Partial setlist, in vague order:

• Flat-Pack Philosophy (opener)
• Sell You Everything
• I Don't Mind
• Harmony In My Head
• What Do I Get?
• Autonomy
• Why Can't I Touch It?
• Love You More
• Ever Fallen in Love? (First set closer)
• Promises
• Breakdown
• Noise Annoys
• Orgasm Addict
• Boredom

(Also submitted at Punknews.org)

Friday Random 10 #1

Stolen with utmost respect from any number of superior blogs, here's my first Friday Random 10 and self-audit.
1. Mission of Burma - "Academy Fight Song" (1980 Single) - What a way to start off! I was obsessed with this song for a long time; still am, really. It's a fantastic piece of poppy post-punk, arguably the most accessible Burma song, and it's the sort of song that sticks in my head forever and I want to listen to again and again. And again. 10/10.
2. Darkwood Dub - "Prostor Između Nas" (O Danima, 2005, B92) - Ah, Serbian psychedelic dub. In all seriousness, I rather enjoy this band's weirdness, and their unique sound is very relaxing while still energetic. Plus it's amazing music for getting stoned to. This is probably the best song on their new album, which is generally a little toned-down and too fascinated with repetition. 8/10.
3. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - "First to Finish, Last to Start" (Hearts of Oak, Lookout!, 2003) - I love Ted Leo's brand of upbeat, happy indie/punky rock, especially in the summer, but this song is weak. It lacks energy or expression, and the melody doesn't really go anywhere. 5/10.
4. Gang of Four - "Damaged Goods" (Return the Gift, V2, 2005) - Possibly the best song the post-punk innovators ever wrote, full of clever lines and with a bassline to die for. But this is the rerecorded version from their recent reunion, which just doesn't quite have the visceral power of the original. The drums gain a lot of force, but the guitar seems almost self-indulgent, and the whole thing lacks the clculated minimalism that mde the original so well-crafted. Still a fantastic song, it only pales in comparison to the 1979 version. 7/10 (original would be a 10)
5. Grateful Dead - "Operator" (American Beauty, 1970, Warner) - Yeah, I have a bit of a hippy-dippy streak, it's my upbringing. The Dead have a special place in the mythos of contemporary music, and I have mixed feelings about them. They're a bit too cult-ified for my taste, really. Still, they're of classical importance, and this song is pretty decent. 5/10.
6. The Ramones - "Mama's Boy" (Too Tough To Die, 1985, Sire) - Th Ramones. Enough has been said about them. They're amazing and incredibly important. This is a really late song, though, and a bit too close to hard rock and far from their simplified roots for me - Joey's attempt at sounding tough is just a bit much. It's still a good song, and the lyrics are great in their moronically confrontational way. 6/10.
7. Black Flag - "Clocked In" (Everything Went Black, 1983) - Black Flag are legendary enough in hardcore crcles, and deserve it. This isn't them at their best though - it's an outtake, and it shows. Basically, this is an early version of "Clocked In", a song which I never particularly liked at its best, with Keith Morris (my second-favourite BF singer, after the obvious Rollins) singing like he never tried the song before. It sounds awful, honestly. 4/10.
8. The Velvet Underground - "Sweet Jane"(Loaded, 1970, Warner) - Hey, another over-mythologized band! They deserve it, though - they basically shaped all underground rock-ish music that's come since. This is perhaps their best song, with a classic riff and brilliant lyrics presented so perfectly in Lou Reed's idiosyncratic speak-sing. 10/10.
9. Desmond Dekker - "Tips of My Fingers" (Shanty Town Original, 1994, Drive Archive) - RIP. Dekker has perhaps the most beautiful voice Jamaica ever produced, and used it incredibly well. His dying just a week ago colours my rating a bit, I'll admit, but this isn't on of is better songs. It's simply soppy, and the backup vocals suck. Dekker's vocals alone make it a 5/10, though.
10. Wire - "Pink Flag" (Pink Flag, 1977, Harvest) - More post-punk perfection. Pink Flag is one of my favourite albums ever, because it took punk to its extreme - where punk cut down on everything unnecessary in rock and roll, cutting back on the excesses of the dinosaurs of their their time, Wire minimized punk - few songs in Pink Flag go over two minutes, many have only a single chord, and all of them sound amazing in their simple glory. This is the longest song on the album, and it's rather dynamic while including only the most minimal of guitar and drums. The tempo goes crazy over the course of the song, and it has one of the only extravagant moments on the album (the additional drum roll closer), but it's rather iconic nonetheless. 9/10.
Overall: 6.9 average. Pretty high, mainly due to the presence of three absolutely brilliant songs. I may have to work on controlling my high ratings in the future.

Music Rant #1 - Civilize Reggae

Harken unto the first of God knows how many installments of my Music Rant.
As anyone who knows me can confirm, I have opinions about music. A lot of them. You could easily call me a music geek, or an elitist, or an annoying audiophile. As such, I like talking about these opinions, mainly because there's no better feeling than getting people to broaden their horizons or try new music based on your recommendations. That and venting my musical frustrations is very soothing. So without further ado, here's Music Rant #1.

Reggae is a genre which gets hopelessly misunderstood by a lot of people in the circles I end up in. Too many people's knowledge of reggae ends after Bob Marley. Or worse, they listen to slow stoner music made by white guys with a slight reggae-ish rhythm, and think it qualifies as actual reggae (you know who you are!). Don't even get me started on derivative-of-a-derivative dancehall. That kind of lack of knowledge is a shame - reggae, at its best, is one of the most soulful and resonant genre-sets out there. Marley really doesn't capture the spirit of the genre well, which makes sense since he was always the tame, white-accessible artist who most Jamaicans considered behind the times. There's a whole list of greats that anyone with real interest in reggae should check out, but I'm going to start out with the man who recorded the first roots reggae single: Burning Spear. Born Winston Rodney, the Spear has been setting the standard for roots since 1969, when his single "Door Peep" basically invented the style, with a lot of help from the legendary producer Coxsone Dodd. Rodney has one of the most distinctive and strong voices in reggae, and his backing instrumentals are no slouch either. He may be rather less accessible than Marley for the average listener, especially since he's far more confrontational politically (he dwells upon subjects like Marcus Garvey, pastoralism, and slavery), but listening to him is incredibly worthwhile, throughout his 35-year career. Enough talk, though, here's a song:
Burning Spear - "The Ghost (Marcus Garvey)"; off his "Marcus Garvey" album (1975, Mango)
I know the upload sucks, but I'm looking into a better format for the future. Enjoy, and expect many more Music Rants in the future.

Coming soon...

I started this blog at this specific moment for a reason. That reason is travel logging. Seeing as I'm about to go to Ghana, I figured that rather than send annoying group emails which would invariably exclude people, I might as well just consolidate my observations and experiences into a blog. Saves effort, after all. So expect my next two months of updates to mainly be travel-based.

So I got a blog...

...How conformist of me. And yet how cutting-edge and innovative at the same time. Eh, it's not about cultural significance, it's about convenience and expression. This is not a political blog. It's not an MP3 blog. It's not a travel blog. It's not an art blog. It's not any kind of specialty blog, really - it's just a place for me to post whatever the hell I feel like so that people who are interested can see it. Any of the above may be included. If you are reading this, enjoy, but don't make any assumptions about what you'll see, even if I mention something upcoming. If you know me at all, you know that around me, the only safe assumption is that nothing can be assumed. Oh, and [insert nonsensical prize here] for whoever figures out the reference in the blog's title.