Things get violent, but in a disney, family friendly kind of way

Living in Vancouver's west end, once a year residents have to put up with something called the "Symphony of Fire".

A few years back I referred to it as "Apocalypse Now" as if presented by the Disney company. I stand by that description, for four days a year I have to put up with literally a quarter million people wandering by my living room and bedroom window.

Until 2-3 in the morning teenagers in body and mind feel compelled to scream at the top of their lungs as they meander past, under the influence of wine coolers and fruit flavoured schnapps. If that were not bad enough, I also have to put up with helicopters equipped with high power searchlights combing my neighbourhood looking for god knows what.

The big difference this year, I don't have to get up at 4:30 in the morning this year, the new job doesn't require my attendance until late in the afternoon so hopefully I will be able to get my square 6 hours sleep. Watching movies will be out of the question, as will reading, listening to the radio or anything else that requires any modicum of attention. I'm beginning to think that perhaps going out to a movie is a good idea.

Now, one may be asking yourself, why not go to the fireworks and enjoy the show? I feel honour bound as a resident of the west end, NOT to enjoy the show. Watching things go boom is not my idea of high brow entertainment.

Wednesday or Friday?

One of the strange things about working in the service industry is that your weekend usually falls mid-week. To most people, today is Wednesday, except for people in Australia, where it's Thursday. However, for me, it's Friday, meaning my weekend starts tomorrow. Tomorrow is also payday which means I have to go into work and pick up my paycheque so really I don't get a complete day off. Payday on a weekend also means that I have to spend most of my day off running around taking care of "my duck problem" meaning that no matter where I look, I have a giant bill in front of me.

Daniel Lanois

I went to the Daniel Lanois concert last night http://www.daniellanois.com/ the second time I've seen him live. It seems the master is coming into his own as a live performer, a lot more confident and in control of what's happening on stage. When I saw him in 2003, he seemed just so eager to please the audience that the people yelling in front of the stage were the ones determining the playlist.

Last night in a different venue, it was an older, more respectful crowd, who seemed more inclined to sit back and let the music sweep over them.

There aren't many artists who will create music that creates "atmosphere". In much the same way comedy has changed in the past 20 years, emotional music has become more "ham handed".

Giants, like Lanois, Fripp, Eno have seen the style of music they created in the early 70's ambient, warped into some bizarre dance style enjoyed by people taking ecstasy.

Makes me sad.