Remembering Why We Love it Here

At times Meredith and I get lonely down here in San Diego. Most of our friends and family live in the Toronto area and that can be very hard at times. However, sometimes when we're feeling lonely, we see something that reminds us of why we love it down here so much.

Southern California sunsets can be absolutely awe inspiring and tonight was no exception. All of these pictures were taken from our front apartment window about 10 minutes ago. This is a prime example of the kind thing we see on at least a weekly basis down here. I still can't believe we live here.... Enjoy!

New York New York

I spent most of this week in New York. I was finishing up the JANSEN recordings. When everything is mixed and mastered, these songs are going to sound amazing. I can't wait for everyone to hear the finished product.

We spent most of our time in the studio. As a result of this I didn't get to see too many of the New York sites. However, the city is amazing. It is easily the biggest thing I have ever seen. After our plane landed we took a train downtown to meet our ride. When we exited the train station we were right in front of Madison Square Garden. This was quite an overwhelming experience. There is something going on everywhere you look. I have never seen anything like it. Downtown Toronto is very busy and exciting but New York is on a whole other level.

We spent most of our time in a very cool neighbourhood in Brooklyn. It wasn't as busy as downtown but there were still a lot of people. It was a great neighbourhood. Anything you wanted was within walking distance. They don't have big grocery stores. They have markets and delis where everybody who lives in the neighbourhood does their shopping. The best way I can think of to describe it is that it was a small town vibe on a much larger scale. As a result of this you don't know everybody and the rent is outrageous. It's still very cool though.

Musically we had a great experience. We recorded some really good stuff and met some cool new contacts. We meet this guy, this guy and to a lesser degree, this guy. All the pieces are gradually falling into place. Hopefully, we can do something great with this.

I definitely want to visit New York again. If you haven't been there, check it out. It's something else.

Oilers Are In The Finals! City Of Edmonton Erupts Leaving Thousands Dead!

The other night the Edmonton Oilers eliminated the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in Game 5 of the NHL Western Conference Finals. This will be the Oilers first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals since 1990 when they last won Lord Stanley's Mug. The final minutes were tense but when the third period buzzer sounded it was over. The Oilers were going to the finals and the city of Edmonton erupted.

The current death toll is estimated at over 3,000. However, there are still several thousand hockey fans missing. Edmonton's mayor, Stephen Mandel, has released the following statement:

"This is a bittersweet day for the city of Edmonton. We've lost a lot of our fine citizens. But our beloved Oilers are in the Stanley Cup Finals. I guess this is what happens when the Oilers are doing well. I can only assume that the explosion was caused by the overwhelming enthusiasm of our fans."

Geologist Joan Matthews is completely baffled by the situation.

"I don't understand it. Apparently there's an enormous active volcano beneath the city of Edmonton. How did we not notice that before?"

Tragedy aside, Edmonton's hockey fans are very excited to see the Oilers in the finals for the first time in 16 years.

"I bleed blue and orange, man. The Oil are going all the way. WOO!" said one hockey enthusiast donning his vintage Andy Moog jersey.

However you look at it, this is a very interesting situation for the city of Edmonton. The Oilers are in the Finals. A massive eruption destroys most of the city and kills thousands of its citizens. Never before has so much excitement caused such carnage.

Yosemite Sam Can Go to Hell

Last weekend Meredith and I visited Yosemite with our friends Abbey and Mark. To say that it is an amazing park is an enormous understatement. If you ever get the chance to visit Yosemite or any other part of Northern California, please do. It is breathtaking!

Anyway, we came home with some wonderful pictures. So here they are for your viewing pleasure.

JANSEN Update

I just want to give a shout out to all of my friends in blogland about what's going on with my band. We are now known as JANSEN. We also have a couple of new tunes posted on our MySpace site. They're live recordings of a show we did at Blind Melons on April 24, 2006. I think they turned out well. Click here to check it out.

We're still working on our studio recordings. We will be flying out to New York in mid May to finish up the four songs we are currently working on. When we're done those we're going to promote the heck out of them and see what happens. It should be fun!

I apologize for not posting for so long. My creative energy has been elsewhere lately. I promise that I will do a fun post very soon. Until then keep listening to the music and have fun.

Peace!

Studio Adventure